2.1 For excellent research

2.1.1 Digital Humanities: Tools and Cooperations

With the support of four new team members, the Digital Humanities Center (DHC) 2023 further expanded its advisory and support services. As part of DH Day #5, which was dedicated to the topic of “Sustainable DH in research and teaching”, the DHC promoted exchange within the DH community at RUB. In addition, the conversion of room 0/08 in the University Library into DH Space, a working environment for researchers and students in the digital humanities, was launched.

Furthermore, several new tools and research environments have been made available, providing the RUB DH community with an extended range of working options. These tools include Nodegoat, VocBench, Skosmos, eXist-db, TEI-Publisher, Cantaloupe, MinIO and eScriptorium.

In addition, the development of a cooperation agreement was successfully completed, which serves to strengthen and further develop projects in the field of digital humanities and creates a clear framework for cooperation between projects and DHC.

© RUB, Rosenkranz

2.1.2 Research Data Management (FDM)

In 2023, the Research Data Services (RDS) team developed a concept for the expansion of RDM services at RUB, on the basis of which important personnel resources could be secured for the coming years. This strengthens the basis on which requirements in the handling of research data can be met and enables RUB researchers to be optimally supported in this regard.

As part of numerous consultations, the RDS team was able to respond to a wide range of requests, especially in the area of data storage and in the context of project applications. These consultations helped researchers to organize their research data efficiently and sustainably.

In addition, the training of scientists, especially young researchers, played a central role. In various workshops, which were offered in both German and English, participants received practical introductions to central RDM topics such as open and FAIR data, data organization and the use of the repository software ReSeeD. These training courses help to further increase awareness of the responsible handling of research data.

At regional level, cooperation within the Ruhr University Alliance has been further intensified. A joint strategy paper from the three universities is being used to pursue close coordination in the RDM strategy in order to exploit synergies and ensure a complementary focus.

2.2 For international visibility and reception

2.2.1 Bibliometrics

The University Library supported researchers and the university administration with numerous bibliometric services. The analyses helped to make research achievements more visible and to make well-founded decisions.
One focus was on advising the central university administration. These analyses related to various organizational units, including several research departments, and covered a wide range of issues: from faculty and organizational analyses to project and personal analyses and the preparation of complex evaluations.

The SciVal tool was mainly used to carry out the analyses, supported by the RUB University Bibliography. The evaluations had various objectives, including benchmarking and the preparation of appointment procedures. The contribution to the university's strategic planning was particularly important, for example in the context of perspective planning and the excellence strategy.

2.2.2 University Bibliography

The RUB University Bibliography (HB) has once again recorded a large increase. More than 16,000 new publications were added, about a third of them through the automated import via ORCID. Two thirds of the new records were editorially checked during the year and further enriched with metadata to ensure the quality of the entries. The affiliation details in Web of Science and Scopus were also subjected to a comprehensive check, as a result of which almost 150 new name variants for the RUB and its organizational units were identified and corrected.

Advice on the use of HB is in growing demand, with most inquiries coming from the Faculties of Philosophy, Electrical Engineering, Psychology and Mechanical Engineering. Frequent topics were ORCID and the ORCID integration into HB as well as the new publication list service, which has proven to be user-friendly and stable. In addition, over 200 other RUB academics have successfully linked their ORCID profiles to HB, bringing the total number of links to over 1,500 by the end of the year.

2.2.3 Provision of e-journals and the promotion of open access

In 2023, the trend of more and more transformation contracts being concluded in the field of journals continued. This gave RUB academics the opportunity to publish Open Access (OA) at special conditions in addition to reading access. The DFG-funded publishing fund for articles in Gold OA journals was well utilized in 2023, particularly in the fields of medicine, psychology and biology.

Two new OA journals were published in 2023 via the Open Journal Systems (OJS) and Open Monograph Press (OMP) publication platforms provided by the University Library: The trilingual "Zeitschrift für Katalanistik", which was put online retroactively since 1999, and the journal "Fremdsprachen und Hochschule" (FuH), which was newly transferred to a digital OA format in 2023. The total number of journals made available on OJS by Bochum University Library thus rises to 17. In 2023, as in previous years, a total of 500 RUB dissertations were accepted in the University Library's exchange and university publication office, 392 of which were also in electronic form. The number of full texts published via the document repository has been increasing for several years. These are predominantly OA secondary publications.

 © RUB, Rosenkranz

2.3 Diversity, inclusion and accessibility

Bochum University Library supports the RUB's efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in various ways.
The UB Accessibility team provides users with advice and support and maintains partnerships that enable us to meet the needs of our visitors in teaching and studying. In addition, the colleagues are in contact with other areas of the RUB in order to reduce barriers in our building.

In addition, Bochum University Library has a barrier-free infrastructure in various areas of the building, such as the Vokatex computer in the reading room on level 0, height-adjustable self-service bookers, height-adjustable work and research stations, as well as a digital guidance and orientation system with a barrier-free view. In 2023, some height-adjustable desks were added, e.g. in the training room and in the reading rooms. The service counter also received height-adjustable desks that can be driven under at both locations.
The University Library's web design team worked closely with the RUB's Inclusion Officer to complete the new library portal, whose web pages are continuously being optimized with regard to accessibility.

In 2023, as in previous years, Bochum University Library took part in events such as RUB's Diversity Day and workshops organized by the Vice-Rectorate for Diversity, Inclusion and Talent Development at RUB.

© Christian Nielinger – www.nielinger.de

2.4 Internationality

Die RUB vereint gemäß ihres internationalen Selbstverständnisses Menschen unterschiedlichster Herkunft. Als zentrale Betriebseinheit der RUB trägt die UB diesem Selbstverständnis mit ihren Informations- und Dienstleistungen Rechnung.
Im Kernaufgabengebiet der UB Bochum — der Informationsversorgung für Studium, Lehre und Forschung der RUB — nimmt die internationale Perspektive einen hohen Stellenwert ein: Die Fachreferent:innen der UB Bochum tragen im Bestandsaufbau elektronischer und gedruckter Medien für Mehrsprachigkeit und insbesondere die Verfügbarkeit englischsprachiger Literatur Sorge.

We continued our well-established cooperation with the RUB International Office in 2023 by contributing to the information services offered there and supplementing these with our own English-language guided tours and training courses. In addition, UB Event Management supported a number of high-profile events with links to and guests from Eastern Europe as part of its cooperation.

2.5 Sustainability

In 2023, Bochum University Library was again involved in the topic of sustainability. We continued to pursue the main areas of activity that have proven successful in recent years:
Through dialog with other libraries and stakeholders at RUB, we exchanged creative impulses and cultivated synergies. Beyond the RUB campus, our discussion partners this year included the Bochum Library of Things for the first time.
Attending training courses and workshops enabled the members of the Sustainable University Library working group to further expand their knowledge in the field of sustainability and benefit from best practice examples.
However, it was by no means all gray theory! We were active:

• at the Digital Clean-Up Day 2023 with the campaign „deleted today already?“
• at city cycling 2023 as a sub-team of the RUB team, with 3161 km and 7 cyclists
• at the RUB's Sustainability Week, to which we contributed a “Meet and Greet” for all interested parties on campus and beyond with our Sustainable University Library working group.

Apart from this, we contributed to the newly established RUB sustainability portal. In a video, interested parties can now also take a tangible look at sustainable places and measures in our building.

3.1 The digital library

We achieved a lot in 2023. The data migration from SISIS SunRise to ALMA was an important step in the introduction of the ALMA library management system. We also developed the "RUB Bib app", which successfully replaced the previous library card. This app enables authentication at self-checkouts, checkout machines and counters via time-limited barcodes. Users can also view their account, renew media and check fees. With the SIP2Alma gateway, we were able to digitize authentication via the RUB-Bib app and connect self-service bookers and checkout machines to ALMA. ALMA's user administration is now linked to the RUB's identity management system (IdM).

This procedure makes it possible to automatically synchronize students and employees between the IdM and ALMA. A newly developed internal UB portal ensures optimized management of library users. New users can be created in the IdM, users can be extended and users who are not automatically synchronized can be activated. In addition, barcodes can be printed out for authentication if the user is unable to access the RUB-Bib app, and such barcodes can be invalidated.

In addition to the work in the ALMA area, the RUB university bibliography was further developed to better support research activities.

© RUB, Rosenkranz

3.2 Library Management System ALMA and Discovery PRIMO

The major project to introduce the cloud-based library management system ALMA and the discovery system RUB PRIMO for the entire RUB library system, which began in 2022, was continued in 2023 and culminated in the successful launch of both systems in August 2023.

This innovation was supplemented by the “RUB Bib” app developed by the RUB Digital Library, which allows library users to access their library account from their own smartphone at any time, and which replaced the plastic library cards previously used in the interests of sustainability, among other things.

All teams and service areas of the university library were intensively involved in the preparation and implementation of the system change, which was flanked by a structured exchange, participation and training process for members of all RUB libraries under the leadership of Bochum University Library.

As part of the project plan designed by hbz NRW and the company ExLibris, the employees of Bochum University Library took part in 300 meetings during the course of the project and worked on almost 100 'tasks'. The considerable amount of time and personnel involved helped the RUB to successfully transition to a technically and functionally up-to-date library system, with which the RUB libraries are also set up for the future in the context of overarching and superordinate information and library structures.

© RUB, Rosenkranz

4.1 The university library as a place to learn and stay

The learning space at Bochum University Library is characterized by multifunctionality, visually appealing furniture, fluid room concepts, high-quality digital equipment and learning-promoting zoning. It offers a wide variety of learning settings and facilities that make for a high quality of stay: Individual and group workstations, lounge area, café and dining areas, bookable group work and Zoom rooms for hybrid learning, training rooms, the writing café of the RUB Center for Science Didactics, exhibitions and events.

The learning space is particularly attractive and successful thanks to the comprehensive training and advisory services provided by our library staff. The heart of the on-site advice service is our new information desk, which was put into operation at the end of 2023. It features two height-adjustable, wheelchair-accessible advice desks and is now clearly visible directly opposite the staircase to the central stairwell. By removing the old counter, two additional elevators on level 0 were opened to the public, making it easier to access all learning and existing areas.
Since 2023, Bochum University Library has been contributing its many years of experience in the design of multifunctional and aesthetically appealing learning environments to the “Areas of the Future” project for teaching and learning at RUB, the aim of which is to enable innovative university teaching and attractive studying across the campus.

© RUB, Rosenkranz

4.2 Information supply as the cornerstone of research, teaching and studies

4.2.1 Media works at the University Library

Bochum University Library successfully completed the migration to the cloud-based library management system ALMA in August 2023. In the course of the migration, new workflows for the acquisition and cataloging of digital and printed media were designed and put into practice by the employees of the Media Processing division.

As in previous years, Bochum University Library was able to provide a wide range of interdisciplinary and subject-specific digital media for students and academics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in 2023. 38,939 e-books and 6 new databases were purchased or licensed. As a result, the University Library's electronic media holdings have grown to 240 databases and 615,185 e-books. Evidence-based selection models have proven particularly useful for expanding the range of e-books, allowing e-book portfolios from major academic publishers to be temporarily integrated into the University Library's digital book collection. On a positive note, it was again possible to expand RUB's digital media spectrum in 2023 through the e-books acquired or licensed throughout the state as part of the eBooks.NRW initiative.

In addition, 6,796 printed books were added to the University Library's collection. This means that the trend of printed books being increasingly replaced by e-books continued in 2023.

E-book holdings of Bochum University Library 2017 to 2023. © RUB, Reuter

4.2.2 Teaching information literacy

Following the discontinuation of the legal regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic, we once again held more face-to-face courses in addition to the online training courses that have been tried and tested since 2020. The total number of courses held increased slightly compared to 2022. This is due in particular to the higher number of courses on literature research and basic courses for RUB members. The number of participants, on the other hand, has decreased because fewer people took part in each course.
Due to the switch to the new ALMA library system, the introduction of a new catalog (RUB PRIMO) and the relaunch of the library portal, it was not initially possible to expand the digital range of self-study materials and activities. Instead, some Moodle courses and explanatory videos had to be switched off or hidden and are still being updated. This has resulted in a downward trend in the number of participants in Moodle courses and views of the explanatory videos.

The number of consultations (117) remained at the same level as in 2022, but the number of people who took part in the consultations tripled due to the new concept of consultations for specialist work.

5.1 The University Library as an exhibition and event venue

In 2023, the focus was once again on current topics from society, politics and science.

Facts against populism - 3 lecture series of the Osteuropa-Kolleg NRW
Eastern Europe experts from Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Switzerland shed light on social and political developments from a historical and current perspective over the course of nine evenings.

       
© Yuldesign

Ukraine war - “Bachmut in Bochum” exhibition
An open access catalog documenting the war in Ukraine in spring 2023 was published to accompany Victoria Ivleva's exhibition, which attracted attention in the leading German media.

For freedom and democracy - book presentation, summer school and lecture

Zhanna Nemtsova presented her story as an activist in the footsteps of her father, the opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015, in “Daughter of my Father”. “Voice of America” published the film ‘I Do Care’ for the Boris Nemtsov Foundation's summer school for journalists at RUB and Nemtsova's reading in the university library. The lecture “How to conduct research in autocratic regimes?” by Prof. Heidemann-Grüder (Bonn) was part of an international workshop of the research initiative “Ideas for Russia” established by the foundation.

In Cooperation with
Osteuropa-Kolleg NRW, Historical Institute RUB, Seminar for Slavic Studies / Lotman Institute RUB, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom, UA-Ruhr Liaison Office ADC.

Epilogue
In 2024, after long months of trench warfare, Bachmut is razed to the ground and conquered by Russian troops. We wonder whether the people shown and interviewed in the exhibition survived.
 
In February 2024, nine years after the murder of Boris Nemtsov, the opposition politician Alexander Navalny dies in custody - cause of death unknown. We wonder how many victims of political persecution in Russia have paid with their lives.
(UB Event Management)

© Plato Terentev

5.2 The UB's public relations work

Bochum University Library continued to enjoy unbroken popularity as a photo and film location in 2023. Our partners on campus used the building in this respect, as did student projects and well-known actors from outside the university who are connected to RUB members through transfer activities. For example, the Bochum University Library served as a filming location for Deutsche Telekom, which interviewed Prof. Wiesecke from the Chair of Economics.

For the first time, Bochum University Library took part in the nationwide Year of Science, thereby expanding its activities in the field of science communication. In keeping with the theme of the year 2023 - “Our Universe” - we invited Dr. Hubert Zitt to talk about “Star Trek and the future of artificial intelligence”. Together with other RUB stakeholders who contributed to the Year of Science program, our university was also represented in media beyond the campus.

© RUB, Stekanov

In addition, public relations work at Bochum University Library supported the introduction and launch of the new library management system and new discovery system for all RUB libraries throughout the year.This was done systematically and via the RUB library portal, the University Library's own social media channels, blog posts, etc., as well as via RUB-wide channels. Central elements of this information campaign are still available on the RUB library portal.

5.3 Partnerships and collaborations

© RUB, Rosenkranz
 

The Central Library in the UB building, the joint libraries in the IB and IC buildings and the Hegel Archive belong directly to Bochum University Library. In addition, Bochum University Library provides important central services for 28 specialist libraries on campus. Detailed parameters on the RUB library system can be found in the German Library Statistics.

6.1 An Overview

Infrastructure

• Area of use: 12.461 qm
• User workstations (University Library, IB Joint Library, IC Joint Library, Hegel Archive): 1.467

Media collection

• printed books – Stock: 1.759.299
• electronical publications (E-Books, Databases, Publications from OJS and OMP): 626.127
• current printed magazines: 207
• licensed electronical magazines (Campus): 64.622

Media budget

• Expenses for media advertising: 3.399.247 Euro

Usage

• active Users: 27.587
• of which external to the university: 2366
• Borrowings (incl. renewals): 297.124

Courses

• 323 (213 online courses, 110 in presence) mit 4.357 participants
• 117 Consultations with 440 participants
• 13 Moodle courses with 941 participants

Training and internships

• Two trainees in the intermediate service (Apprenticeship as a specialist for media and information services (FaMI) specializing in libraries)
• Two trainees in the higher intermediate service: To meet the demand for staff with a bachelor's degree in librarianship, the University Library started a course of study in cooperation with the TH Köln for the first time
• Different internships

Department librares of the RUB

• Number of libraries: 28
• Inventory (printed volumes): 2.589.758

6.2 Publishing services

• OA articles funded via the Publication Fund: 242
• Full texts published via the repository: 1,101
• Bochum dissertations incorporated into the collection (printed and online): 500

Number of articles funded by the RUB Publication Fund
© RUB, Reuter

Total costs of articles funded by the RUB Publication Fund
© RUB, Reuter