Goal: KSUL seeks to advance an open information ecosystem, increasing access and removing barriers to knowledge. This initiative involves supporting open access publishing, sharing the scholarship and data of Kent State openly with the world, and advocating for the adoption and development of open educational resources and open educational practices.

Objective 1: Open Access Publishing Support

Increase communication and outreach about open access publishing support for faculty and grad students. 

Strategies:

1. Enhance our partnership with Research & Economic Development (R&ED). 
2.  Develop plan to centrally collect data and results from OA efforts. 

Tactics:

1. Use existing UL communication channels to share information to the University community about Open Access. 
2. Continue to maintain and develop the Open Access Publishing LibGuides. 

Objective 2: Onboarding Faculty to Ohio Innovation Exchange

Increasing visibility of Kent State faculty in this centralized database of faculty experts and resources across Ohio universities with the purpose of connecting research and industry experts to create opportunities for collaboration. 

Strategies: 

1. Re-train faculty in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering in order to complete their profiles by the end of fall semester 2026.
2. Onboard at least one additional college or institute onto the OIEx platform by the end of the 2027 academic year.

Objective 3: Digital Collections Collection Development Guidelines

Review and refine collections guidelines for our disparate digital collections platforms and apply those guidelines to review the locations of existing collections.  

Strategies: 

1. Differentiate the overall collection vision for each digital collection platform, including Specto, Omeka, OAKS, Veridian, and others. 

Tactics: 

1. Evaluate existing collections against newly defined guidelines. 
2. Create a front door/portal for information seekers and visitors to access our various digital collections. 

Objective 4: Mapping the data ecosystem:

Map where Kent State researchers are storing their data to understand the options being used and to uncover opportunities to better guide faculty in making these choices.
(Group is still developing strategies and tactics) 

Objective 5: Data Management Planning

Support and improve data sharing for faculty and researchers, as well as increase adoption of data management plans. 

Strategies: 

1. Increase faculty and researcher adoption of data management plans (DMPs). 
2. Improve accessibility and discoverability of Kent State research data. 
3. Build researcher capacity in open data and data sharing practices. 
4. Support compliance with funder and publisher open data requirements. 

Tactics: 

1. Education & Outreach: Deliver training, workshops, and consultations on DMPs, open data, and FAIR principles. 
2. Infrastructure & Tools: Promote repository use, standardize DMP templates, and support data documentation practices. 
3. Partnership Development: Align efforts with faculty, research offices, and external open scholarship initiatives. 
4. Ethical & Inclusive Practices: Provide guidance on responsible, equitable, and secure data sharing.