July 2015 Vendor Partner Interview: Emily Scott, Oxford University Press

At WiLS, we want to bring valuable information to our library partners, including information about the missions and big ideas of the vendors they may already do business with.  Each month, WiLS will interview a vendor partner in order to bridge the gap and open the door to valuable collaborations.  This month, we are delighted to share insights from Emily Scott, Network Account Manager with Oxford University Press.

These interviews are part of a series of interviews with both WiLS library and vendor partners.  Your feedback is appreciated.  If you have any to offer on this article, or suggestions for upcoming interviews, contact Andrea Coffin at .

Tell us about your company’s background.

Oxford University Press is the world’s largest university press, with a history dating back to 1478. In 1586, the University of Oxford’s right to print books was recognized in a decree from the Star Chamber. This was enhanced in the Great Charter secured by Archbishop Laud from King Charles I, which entitled the University to print “all manner of books.” Delegates were first appointed by the University to oversee this process in 1633, with minutes of their deliberations are recorded dating back to 1668. The structure of Oxford University Press (OUP) as it exists today began to develop in a recognizable form from that time. The University also established its right to print the King James Authorized Version of the Bible in the seventeenth century. This Bible Privilege formed the basis of OUP’s publishing activities throughout the next two centuries. OUP opened an office in New York in 1896 as part of its initial expansion.

Why do you, personally, choose to work with libraries?

Books, reading, and learning have been an important part of my life from a very young age. My dad is a college administrator who has spent his career overseeing campus bookstores, and as a child I would often accompany him when he went to check in on things. The bookstore staff kept children’s books on hand so that they could read to me, and later so I could practice reading to them. I would have moved into the public library had my parents allowed it. In high school, my dad took me for my first lessons on how to use a college library for the research papers I was writing, so I was already had some experience when I arrived in college myself. After graduating, I spent six years as a high school teacher, where I made sure my students got ample media center time. I spent most of my planning time working and hanging out in the media center myself, since the librarians were always some of the most important and helpful people in the school to know. With my long history of love for libraries, it was a real honor and pleasure to come work for OUP and specifically serve libraries of all shapes and sizes. They are incredibly important – and too often underappreciated – institutions in our society, and they do so much to nourish and help their communities, especially those who otherwise lack in resources.

What do you like to know about the libraries you work with? What helps you better understand their needs?

For academic institutions, I like to know about what programs they offer and what curricula they teach. For public libraries, I like to know about how their visitors use the library and what services and materials they utilize. Every library is unique, so by taking the time to learn about an institution’s specific needs my colleagues and I can customize our offerings to best suit each one. It allows us to assist librarians in helping the people who use their libraries access all of the resources that a library provides.

It’s also very helpful to know how libraries are evolving in how they use technology. It’s incredible how much things have changed in a relatively short amount of time. We strive to develop our online resources to meet the ever changing needs of libraries, especially as students become more accustomed to getting their information in an online format. Anything librarians can tell us about their users’ technical needs and expectations and about how they are finding new ways to deliver material is incredibly valuable.

What big ideas are being worked on at your company? What problems are being solved?

We are always watching and studying the latest developments in what librarians need to best serve their community. We seek to be innovative and flexible, so that is driving how we are making our scholarly content available in print and in electronic formats, and in how we offer it in collections and on a more individualized basis. We have initiated a number of pilot projects on collaborative print and electronic purchases of monographs, and we continue to expand them to other groups of libraries and adjust them to work with the needs of each group. We are also focused on how to best work with discovery services and usage data to help libraries get the most out of their purchases and subscriptions.

How can librarians become partners in product or training development?

We are always grateful for feedback to help us build better products, so just let us know what we can do. I’m always impressed by how much of the development of both new and existing products is influenced by what librarians tell us. We also do a considerable amount of research on what libraries need, so we consult with our Library Advisory Group as well as ask for volunteers to give us their thoughts. Let us know if you want to participate in such efforts and we will let you know the next time we have an opportunity. You can also sign up for our Librarian Newsletter (https://global.oup.com/academic/librarians/librariannewsletter) to see what we are working on and how you can become a partner by sharing your ideas and suggestions for how we can continue to improve.