Information Management

Library Services provides various information management services to all Open University staff and projects.

University Archive

The University Archive service:

• acquires and manages collections of all formats which reflect and represent the University’s heritage and its teaching and research outputs
• facilitates access to archive materials through an enquiry/help service
• provides professional knowledge, expertise and experience in archiving and long term preservation
• aids strategic decision making, provide policy and standards of good practice in print and digital archiving

Information and Records Management

The Information and Records Management service

• offers advice on handling, organising and looking after OU business documents and records created and used daily in the organisation
• develops and manages the university folder structure (a logical and systematic framework of folders) which can be implemented in university information systems allowing staff to store and share business documents and records
• develops and maintains the university retention schedule advising on how long to keep high level business documents
• develops and delivers information, document and records management skills training materials to develop awareness, confidence and competency in handling information in the workplace
• uses their expertise, knowledge and experience to advise/influence/develop University policy, standards and change/improve practice across the University, with regards to; finding content quickly and easily, reducing costs, ensuring compliance and legal obligation, reducing business risk

Metadata

The Metadata service

• creates metadata for Open University authored resources
• supplies guidance to OU Web Developers and applies metadata for OU web pages and documents on the web
• provides quality assurance for user generated metadata applied to resources in Open University institutional repositories
• develop models for how content is captured, organized and the language used to describe that content, in a consistent manner
• uses their expertise, knowledge and experience to advise/influence/develop University policy, standards and change/improve practice across the University, with regards to applying and using metadata effectively