The Strategic Pivot: From Collection Management to Research Enablement. The Invisible Infrastructure: Why Metadata Is Now a C Level Strategic Asset. John McCullough, Executive Director, Library Management Services, OCLC. April 2026
When links break, trust breaks
Higher education libraries face a paradox. Digital collections dominate spend, yet students and researchers still encounter broken links, duplicate results, and version confusion. Sometimes the right version is not available through the library’s pathways. In other cases, the version is there but it is not clearly labelled at the point of discovery and access. Rights and reuse cues can also be unclear, leaving users unsure what they can do with what they find. The cause is rarely a system glitch. It is a metadata supply chain that has not kept pace with developments in OA , hybrid collections and rapidly changing platforms.
A new report from OCLC, Unlocking the future of e-resource management (1), builds on earlier work in OCLC’s “Managing e-Resources” series and draws on OCLC Research co-led by Ixchel Faniel on open access discovery. That research shows that users actively seek scholarly, peer reviewed OA publications but find it not very easy to search for or access.
It also underscores a practical reality. Users often start with major search engines, then disciplinary databases, with the library search page close behind. That means metadata has to travel reliably across systems and contexts, not remain confined to a single interface, if libraries want discovery and access to work where users already are.
This is why metadata has become an executive ‘C-Level’ (2) concern. It directly affects measurable value and ROI, risk and compliance around entitlements, and the credibility of the evidence senior leaders use to make funding and platform decisions.
Three things libraries can fix
- Pipeline drift. Provider changes such as title swaps, coverage updates, and URL moves do not always propagate cleanly across the knowledge base, central index, resolver, and MARC delivery. The result is links and holdings that fall out of step.
- Identifier gaps. Missing or inconsistent DOIs, ORCIDs, and RORs make it harder for systems to match records, suppress duplicates, connect versions, and produce reliable reporting.
- Entitlements that are hard to act on. In hybrid and transformative environments, title level terms and reuse conditions can differ within mixed packages. When that context is not connected to what users see, people struggle to choose the right route and staff spend time answering avoidable questions.
Metadata as infrastructure
Rather than being a background detail, metadata now functions as the connective system that underpins every stage of e-resource management. It brings together persistent identifiers, a shared knowledge base of holdings, license information, and enrichment workflows that allow discovery, access, and analytics to operate consistently across platforms. This shared layer is what enables libraries to keep pace with rising complexity and ensure that users, systems, and leadership dashboards all work from the same reliable signals.
When that chain is incomplete or inconsistent, users experience friction in the form of missing open or accessible versions, unclear version labelling, ambiguous credibility cues, and dead links. Leaders experience it differently. When holdings are not current and versions are not linked, usage and cost per use reporting can misattribute demand and hide OA uptake. That distorts the evidence used to justify spend and demonstrate ROI.
The report highlights that Persistent identifiers play a central role in preventing these failures. In particular, DOI for works, ORCID for authors, and ROR for institutions support consistent deduplication, accurate version linking, and more credible analytics across systems.
“Users do look for open versions, but they will not find them reliably unless identifiers and rights travel consistently across systems.” Ixchel Faniel, Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Research.
One pipeline, clear signals, assisted enrichment
The report proposes that what’s needed is an operating pattern that reduces day to day firefighting without adding yet another layer of tools.
First, anchor activation in a vendor neutral knowledge base so holdings and links move together into discovery and link resolution, and so provider updates flow through to MARC, the central index, and the resolver.
Second, connect licence terms to holdings so entitlements can shape what users see. In practice, that means guiding people to the best lawful copy first and making reuse expectations clearer at the point of decision. In hybrid journals, it also means surfacing legitimate OA options alongside licensed versions. For example, libraries can prioritise open copies through Unpaywall integrations, so users reach a usable PDF sooner.
Third, use machine assisted enrichment to reduce duplication and improve link reliability at scale, while keeping staff in control of local policy and exceptions.
Fourth, let evidence drive small, regular course corrections by combining COUNTER usage via SUSHI with authentication-based insight and peer context. This helps teams see not only what is used, but where access fails, who is affected, and whether collections align with programmes and comparable institutions.
Reframing user trust
Here, “user trust” is practical. It is confidence that library discovery pathways will reliably lead to the right item and the right copy, clearly identified, without dead ends, duplicates, or misleading signals. Based on the recommendations in the report, that means people can recognise which version they are viewing, understand how they may use it, and reach full text that works on the first attempt.
Trust also depends on users being able to recognise credibility cues, such as peer review context where it is available, stable identifiers such as a DOI, and clear relationships between versions, so they can cite and share with confidence. The remedy is to surface version, identifier, and reuse signals at the point of decision and to prioritise the best lawful copy, including legitimate OA, within link resolution. Interface refinements can help. However, without complete, current, and connected metadata, improved UX only reveals upstream inconsistencies more quickly.
What this means for libraries
If you want to reduce friction quickly and make progress visible to leadership, focus on a short, practical sequence.
- Start with one source of truth. Confirm that OA and licensed collections are activated through the same knowledge base and that updates propagate to discovery, resolution, and record delivery.
- Make version and reuse cues visible where users choose. Ensure version labelling is clear and that entitlements and reuse notes are connected to holdings and display, especially for mixed packages.
- Set a minimum PID standard. Agree what “good enough” looks like for DOI, ORCID, and ROR coverage in your workflows and supplier feeds, then track improvement over time.
- Turn on assisted enrichment, then review exceptions. Use automated deduplication and link improvement to reduce noise, and schedule lightweight reviews so local overrides do not become technical debt.
- Use evidence to prioritise the next fix. Combine COUNTER with authentication signals and peer context to identify the next bottleneck, then measure whether the change holds.
Key takeaways
- Treat metadata as infrastructure to stabilise discovery, access, and analytics.
- Operate a single pipeline so OA and licensed links and holdings stay in sync.
- Show version and reuse cues at the point of need to build user trust.
- Use identifiers and assisted enrichment to suppress duplicates and improve routing.
- Let COUNTER, authentication, and peer data guide iterative improvements.
NOTES and further information (1) The report: For more information download the report: “Unlocking the future of e-resource management“. OCLC 2026.
(2) Senior executives are often termed C (chief) level people. ‘C-level’ strategic assets are resources, individuals, or initiatives that directly enhance top-tier decision-making and drive organisation-wide value
Webinar: 2 June, 14:00 UK time: Independent consultant Ken Chad, OCLC’s John McCullough and Ixchel Faniel will explore where libraries gain most from pipeline unification, which identifiers matter most for version clarity, and how cooperative enrichment reduces local effort while preserving local nuance. Register for the e resources webinar