At Technology from Sage our purpose is to support libraries in advancing teaching, learning and research. We can’t achieve this mission without the work of the talented team at Technology from Sage, so we’ve launched a series of posts for you to find out more about the team.
In this A Day in the Life post, we’re joined by our new Customer Success Consultant, Julia Dougherty at Technology from Sage. Read on to find out more about Julia – including what it’s like starting a new role remotely, her librarian background and love of thrifting!
Hi everyone! I am the newest Customer Success Consultant on the Technology from Sage team based in Houston, Texas.
Right now I’m onboarding, but I’m looking forward to working with and supporting current Technology from Sage clients daily via support, regular calls, and catch-ups.
I’m most excited to combine my librarian experience with my sales and customer support experience in this role. I look forward to speaking to people in the academic library space every day!
I am pretty new to both Talis and Technology from Sage, so that’s yet to be seen! I can definitely say I appreciate the open communication channels we have between teams.
I am directly involved with the Operations team. Although it can be complicated to connect as a team that all live in different countries from yourself, it seems there are regular efforts to chat and catch up.
It can be a bit daunting to start a role on the other side of the Atlantic from the rest of your team and in different time zones from yourself. However, I enjoy getting to know people from around the world, and my team has been very supportive thus far.
I’m a lover of music and have played piano for over 10 years. I also love traveling, dogs, and thrifting.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at Julia.dougherty@technologyfromsage.com. Cheers!
Unlocking the Power of Teaching & Learning Technologies: Honest Insights from Asking the Students June 26, 2023
At our inaugural Tech from Sage Insight event in April, we had our breakout session “Ask the Students: Honest insights from students using teaching & learning technologies”. This was an interactive session, with a panel of students discussing their university experience, pedagogy, and the features of different digital tools including: Talis Elevate, Lean Library and Sciwheel.
Check out the recordings from our studio sessions at Tech from Sage insight below.
The panel was facilitated by our Development Manager (International), Christopher Lewis, and the students on the panel were:
In this blog post, we’ll explore the challenges students face in their undergraduate university journey and provide the key takeaways and insights from the students which resonate with their experiences of using digital tools.
University life presents its fair share of challenges, but the integration of digital tools has played a pivotal role in overcoming these hurdles. Students shared their experiences and highlighted how digital tools have addressed common issues faced in their academic journey, including not owning a laptop, or as Stefan says below, being able to ask librarians for support:
“When I think of going into the university library it’s always quite hectic, or at least in the foyer of people coming in and out … Rather than doing that, [wouldn’t it] be good to have somewhere I can go and ask questions about how I can do research?”
Stefan
The integration of digital tools has also had a positive impact on their students’ learning journeys, making learning resources easily accessible and eliminating the need for students to navigate through multiple platforms or physical materials. With everything in one place, students can save time and focus more on their studies. Here are some key points that arose from the session:
Digital tools, like Lean Library, have eliminated paywall barriers, enabling students to access a vast array of scholarly articles and research papers effortlessly. This accessibility has expanded students’ knowledge and enriched their research projects.
I started using it this year. When I started researching my dissertation, and I realized I couldn’t possibly go through 20 different pages of Google Scholar, figuring out if I had access to them. It’s saved me a lot of time.
Sam
We asked the students where they begin their research journey, with many of them beginning their journey with Google rather than the library:
“I tend to just go straight to … the source of a public street to JSTOR, Cambridge, or something like that, rather than navigate the site itself?”
Cameron
Collaborative work has been greatly enhanced through tools like Talis Elevate, giving students the option to participate in discussion anonymously online, giving the silent majority a platform to participate in the conversation. Chris asked the students how they found their experience of using Talis Elevate for their modules:
If you have to look at the content again, for the seminar, you then come with a bit of understanding of where you can be talking about issues you can already see maybe the key themes that are going to be coming up, everyone’s asked along similar lines.
Stefan
Being able to read other people’s comments was like, maybe this means XYZ, it helps me go to the seminar more prepared and get a better understanding of the content.
Sam
Chris asked the students how they felt about referencing regarding their university work:
We have a proprietary referencing system based on MHRA. The university provide us with style guides. Enjoyable is not a word which would apply to referencing in most cases. I personally struggled quite a lot with referencing. It was only in my third year that I discovered reference management softwares, and I used Zotero. I enjoyed it but most reference management software doesn’t adapt to the style guide you’re using.
Annabelle
Annabelle revealed she got signposted to reference management software in her third year of university, in a dissertation skills preparation module, and that it was up to the students to decide which reference management tool to go with and teaching yourself.
After the students played around with Sciwheel, here is what they had to say:
One of the best benefits of Sciwheel is the personalised referencing. Sciwheel responded to customer feedback and got this issue fixed right away. Now that’s resolved, I wish I had a time machine to use Sciwheel for my projects.
Sam
Annabelle and Stefan made the points that they like making references by hand, as they can see where they are in their work, but they can see how reference management tools can be useful for group research projects.
Digital tools have made learning more flexible and convenient. Students can access resources anytime, anywhere, allowing them to tailor their study schedules to their individual needs. This flexibility promotes a better work-life balance and empowers students to take control of their education. We asked students how librarians can encourage student uptake of these tools:
It’s easier to get a different perspective on things via word of mouth. I don’t know if all universities have a network of Student Reps. I’m a Student Rep for my year, so I can signpost students to digital tools or problems in terms of formatting or how to improve library workshops.
Sam
Participating in the workshop and reflecting on how during my studies I was taught using various digital tools reaffirmed to me the importance of intertwining university libraries, teaching, and technology. Universities are continuing to expand, with lecturers’ time further limited and accessing physical resources becoming ever-increasingly difficult. Being able to … use Talis Elevate to unpick say, a 14th century legal document – and see classmates’ comments – accelerated my understanding of topics and made my studying more efficient. Using these sorts of technologies isn’t spoon-feeding students, rather ensuring in the digital age they have possibility to not only learn but learn well.
Stefan
Providing the tools for students to succeed, such as through showing them how to use certain software and digital tools, is conducive to fostering independence within these students, and enhancing their skills development. Students are not experts at studying and researching, and as such, need more guidance to develop these skills.
Sam
The insights shared by students highlight the transformative power of digital tools in higher education. From organisation and accessibility to collaboration and flexibility, these tools have revolutionised the university experience for students. There are still lots of elements to consider for universities and academic libraries, including providing guidance for students on developing these digital skills and encouraging uptake of these tools within the student community.
At Technology from Sage, we are committed to continuously improving our solutions to meet the evolving needs of students. Their honest feedback and experiences are invaluable in shaping the future of teaching and learning tools.
Meet our North America Sales Director, Jessica Clemons April 21, 2023
At Technology from Sage our purpose is to support libraries in advancing teaching, learning and research. We can’t achieve this mission without the work of the talented team at Technology from Sage, so we’ve launched a series of posts for you to find out more about the team.
In this Meet the Team post, we’re joined by Jessica Clemons, the North America Sales Director at Technology from Sage. Read on to find out more about Jessica.
I began my career as a science librarian and thought I’d always be in libraries. I feel that is still true while working and serving libraries from the vendor side. I loved learning about all the different areas of librarianship, helping students, and engaging with faculty.
I’m leading the North American sales team to grow awareness of Technology from Sage and help customers deliver best in class, student-centered solutions. I get to talk to many different librarians about their strategic priorities, how they are providing value to their organization, and work with them to accelerate their vision.
So many things! I think I have some of the best colleagues who are talented, professional, and a lot of fun. We are strengthening and growing our partnerships with other vendors and that kind of collaboration is much needed. Most importantly, I am fortunate to be able to connect with so many different academic librarians who are working so hard to deliver the best services to their patrons, wherever they may be.
It seems like every year there is always a new “threat” to the academic library. Our solutions help librarians deliver on their core mission of access and engagement in modern ways, all while elevating the impact that the library can have.
Librarians are our focus and we want to help their work to be more impactful, engaging, and connected across the teaching and learning ecosystem. I’ve been connecting with many engaged and forward-thinking librarians who have the ability to see where they need to be in order to adapt to changing student and faculty needs.
Our solutions help librarians deliver on their core mission of access and engagement in modern ways, all while elevating the impact that the library can have.
There are so many examples to choose from here! In sales, it is usually when you hear a “yes” from a customer who wants to use our solutions to solve the problems they have and help their patrons. But realistically, my best day is any day where I’ve been able to help my colleagues, help customers, and take the time to be grateful for the opportunities that I have.
A Notepad, a coaster my daughter made for me and tinted lip balm.
In Love by Amy Bloom. I love her writing in fiction because it is filled with strong females living lives that are complicated and honest. In Love is a work of non-fiction that painfully and beautifully describes the loss of her husband to Alzheimer’s. I can’t get it out of my head or my heart.
I try and tune into my inner Yogi with a daily affirmation app. I like the variety and it helps to positively adjust my mindset and approach the day ahead with an open heart and a sense of joy.
I love this question because I’m a planner! I’ll want to take care of my growing menagerie of pets and farm animals, go for a hike or bike ride, make a treat with my kids, and play some games as a family. And perhaps I’d end the day with a gorgeous cocktail.
Working to advance higher education is where I find the most reward and I hope that I’ll always be able to do that. But, if I had to pick something else, I think it would be fun to be a brewmaster and make delicious craft beers for everyone to enjoy.
The role of the library in supporting patron reference management April 20, 2023Back in March we were delighted to present three sessions at ER&L Conference 2023 in Austin, Texas on how libraries can amplify their value on campus. In this blog, we round-up 5 key insights from one of our sessions, Right place, right reference: The role of the library in supporting patron reference management.
The session investigated issues around referencing that researchers face, and the role of the library in supporting them. It looked at practical institutional experiences of adopting different reference managers.
Read on for a summary of 5 key insights from the session or watch the session recording to see Daniel Horvath (Product Director, Technology from Sage), Barbara Renner (Liaison Librarian, University of Chapel Hill) and Christine Gomola (Reference & Research Librarian, UNC Highway Safety Research Center) discuss in full.
Libraries have had to adapt as services move to digital spaces and patrons adopt an “I want this now” mentality. This puts libraries and librarians in challenging situations relating to how they can best support their patrons in the post-pandemic and digital world.
In our latest report titled Librarian Futures Report Part II: The Knowledge Gap between Librarians and Students we found that 50% of students surveyed see the library’s role in supporting studies as “providing access to academic resources”. This shows the importance of finding new ways to equip libraries and librarians to support their patrons. You can download the report here.
Liaison librarians help users select which referencing tools to use for their research based on sets of criteria and systematic reviews. For example, mobile access, reduplication, identified notes, sending to Excel and many more. Researchers needs are different by project and not necessarily by type of user. These charts help librarians talk to each other across the different disciplines and choose where to put their funding.
UNC Highway Safety Research Center have added guidance on their webpage about Citing and Writing tools. Users can register for instructional support classes, for example, an introduction to Zotero or advanced uses of Sciwheel. Users can either attend in-person workshops for the induction training or watch it virtually via Zoom. The role of the librarian is to educate themselves on what their users need and advise users on which reference management tool is best suited for their projects.
Whether through supporting documentation, or virtual onboarding, librarians can outline the functionalities of each product, and advice students on which reference management tool best suits their projects.
When reference management tools, such as Sciwheel or Zotero, enable users to save references directly from the web and save the links as citations – it’s just beautiful (according to Christine)!
Meet our Managing Director, Matt Hayes April 14, 2023At Technology from Sage our purpose is to support libraries in advancing teaching, learning and research. We can’t achieve this mission without the work of the talented team at Technology from Sage, so we’ve launched a series of posts for you to find out more about the team.
In this Meet the Team post, we’re joined by Matt Hayes, Managing Director at Technology from Sage. Read on to find out more about Matt – including what excites him most about working at Technology from Sage, the success of Lean Library Futures at BETT 2022 and what separates Technology from Sage from other companies.
I first joined Technology from Sage in 2020 as Managing Director of Lean Library. I came from Clarivate where I had been Director of Publons, the peer review platform, helping to lead Publons through its post-acquisition growth period. I loved my time at Publons, working with some amazing people and scaling reviewer recognition globally. A personal highlight was standing up a rapid Covid-19 preprint screening platform at the beginning of the pandemic, where we were able to mobilise the Publons reviewer community to rapidly screen emerging Covid research. The Lean Library opportunity came later that year and at just the right time, as we had just finished a 2-year growth acceleration period and had completed integrating the team into the core Clarivate business. I really admired the vision of Lean Library’s original founders, to bring the library into user workflows, and was excited at the potential to build out its promise, differentiating it from a generation of access broker tools into a more comprehensive solution for libraries.
My role expanded to Managing Director of Technology from Sage in early 2022, taking on responsibility for the Talis and Sciwheel businesses in addition to Lean Library. In my role as MD, I am ultimately responsible and accountable for all aspects of our strategy, long-term planning and day-to-day operations. I am lucky enough to have an amazing leadership team to support me in this, with talented directors for each of our key functions – from Technology to Sales.
I think it’s the challenge of being a minnow in a sea of whales! Having worked for the larger players like Clarivate and Springer Nature before, I am hyper aware of the scale and resources that these companies can bring to bear in our space. So my focus is often on what we can do that they can’t or won’t. This is where our ownership by Sage is so impactful. Their independent structure, not beholden to shareholders or short-term market changes, enables us to take a long-term view as a business. So our product strategy is able to really look ahead to where libraries might go in 5, 10 years’ time, and how our products can support them along the way. This is really exciting for me, as I love the new ideas and challenges this approach brings about. It means that we’re constantly looking to innovate, and that we can take risks.
(Sage’s) independent structure, not beholden to shareholders or short-term market changes, enables us to take a long-term view as a business. So our product strategy is able to really look ahead to where libraries might go in 5, 10 years’ time, and how our products can support them along the way.
I’m going to go with one of our internal values: ‘One Team’. We put this in place late last year as we started to bring each of the three businesses (Talis, Lean Library and Sciwheel) that make up Technology from Sage closer together. It’s really about saying that although we are a bunch of brilliantly different people, all with different histories and experiences, we are a single team. A team that supports each other, that achieves great things and has fun while doing it. That’s the kind of environment I personally always want to work in, and one I consider it my responsibility to help create. Playing my part in cultivating a happy team, that works well together, that can learn and progress, is one of the most rewarding parts of my role.
I think winning a BETT Award for Lean Library Futures last year. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work during the pandemic, and everyone involved put so much passion into achieving something we felt was truly ground-breaking. So it was awesome to have that recognised at BETT.
A takeaway coffee from Gail’s, my fancy new ergonomic mouse (writing up my PhD thesis has recently given me carpal tunnel!), and a huge bottle of water.
Circe by Madeline Miller. It’s so incredibly beautiful – please read it!
My hero has always been Bobby Kennedy and I love his Ripples of Hope speech: ‘Whenever someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope – which crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring can build a current to sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’ I remember first hearing it in my mid-twenties and this, and many other RFK speeches, have quite literally directed my career and life. He inspired me to do my PhD in citizenship education and is always a reminder to focus on the impact my work has. In terms of the best advice I’ve ever received, I love aphorisms and a party trick is my obsession with memorising speeches and quotes, so there’s probably too many to select just one, but this popped into my head now: ‘Everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright it’s not the end.’
A long walk on Hampstead Heath with my wife and daughters, followed by lunch at the pub.
I’ve considered the NGO sector before and once had a dream to join UNESCO, so maybe something there or in K-12 education. I think whatever I did though it would still be in this broad knowledge sector we’re in. I love the intellectual challenge of business, the personal impact I can have leading people, and the societal benefits of sector I’m a part of. ‘Be kind, be useful’, basically. 😊
Meet our Product Director, Daniel Horvath April 14, 2023At Technology from Sage our purpose is to support libraries in advancing teaching, learning and research. We can’t achieve this mission without the work of the talented team at Technology from Sage, so we’ve launched a series of posts for you to find out more about the team.
In this Meet the Team post, we’re joined by Daniel Horvath, Product Director at Technology from Sage.
I worked at Lean Library for 4 years before joining the Technology from Sage Leadership Team in 2022, which was an exciting time. My background has always been in product; I worked as a Quality Assurance assistant, did a bit of product training and consultancy – and a bit of coding myself!
I am Product Director at Technology from Sage. I lead the product teams across the businesses (Talis, Lean Library, and Sciwheel), and develop the long-term product strategy on the product suite level. Additionally, I work closely with other departments such as sales, and marketing, to align our efforts and support them in their work.
I am excited about the opportunities and possibilities we are seeing at Technology from Sage, and it’s great to be working with a team full of bright, talented and motivated people on these opportunities.
At Technology from Sage, we believe that librarians are fundamental to learning and research at their institution and that the right technology can remove barriers to knowledge. This is particularly true for the product department. The ultimate goal of our products is to make learning and research easier for our users (the library’s patrons). Therefore, we need knowledge and input from librarians when we build and develop our product suite. To achieve this, we conduct regular interviews, workshops and feedback discussions with our librarian partners (and their users!) to ensure our roadmaps are meeting their needs. On top of that, we work closely with a few libraries as development partners, who directly advise on specific products as we develop and grow.
I don’t think I’d be able to pick one particular day from the last 5 years. It has been an exciting and challenging journey, through which we have been continuously evolving, and as we’ve evolved, we face different challenges to solve. This has been keeping my work at Lean Library and Technology from SAGE ever exciting and enjoyable.
I try to keep my desk as clean as possible, so apart from my keyboard, mouse and speakers, most times there isn’t anything else on my desk (well, maybe a cup of coffee).
A quote I recently heard from Rick and Morty goes ‘Confidence is the food of the wise man but the liqueur of the fool‘. I found it to be a great and humbling quote.
You will almost certainly find me with my friends having fun by the beach or having dinner and boardgame nights.
Good question. I feel I would either work on a similar project and product, or do something totally different like video editing and videography that is my main hobby.
