MyAV·¶

MyAV·¶ Library Services has been moved from MyAV·¶ Professional Services to report to the Vice-Provost (Research), Prof David Price, with immediate effect.

Dr Paul Ayris, Director of MyAV·¶ Library Services, has been appointed Pro-Vice-Provost.

As Pro-Vice-Provost, Dr Ayris (who will continue as an ex officio member of the MyAV·¶ Senior Management Team) will: develop MyAV·¶'s scholarly communications offering, building on the current successes of the Open Access activity, MyAV·¶ Press and research data management; and continue the Library's activity in collection management and collection building, in both paper and digital formats, while seeking out collaborations with other collections, both in MyAV·¶ and further afield in London.

The MyAV·¶ Library Strategy lays down that its mission is to "Provide an information infrastructure to enable MyAV·¶'s research and education to be world class". The new reporting line better reflects the Library's mission as an academic support division.

Recently, Dr Ayris has served as President of LIBER, the Association of European Research Libraries. He also chairs the UK Negotiation Team for JISC Collections which has struck a multi-million pound deal with the publisher Elsevier for access to Science Direct.

Dr Ayris said: "These changes reflect the success of the Library Strategy and the great visibility that our facilities and services have across the whole of MyAV·¶. They underline the strong, historic links between the Library and MyAV·¶'s activity in teaching, learning and research. We will continue to enjoy collegial links with MyAV·¶ Professional Services. I have been asked, for example, to carry on as co-chair of the Organising Committee for the MyAV·¶ Professional Services Conference in February 2017."

Professor Price commented: "Since his appointment in 1997, Paul's service as Director of MyAV·¶ Library Services has been as model of how Professional Services can work to support the university's core academic and research mission. He is a true leader - and internationally recognised as one - in such areas as scholarly communication, open access, research data management and innovation in collections management. Paul's appointment as Pro-Vice-Provost in my office is a welcome recognition of his outstanding service and, more importantly, his team's potential to make an even greater contribution to MyAV·¶'s research and academic performance."