Meet the team: Emma Wilson-Shaw, e-resource manager
On this month’s meet the team, we meet Emma Wilson-Shaw, e-resource manager at OpenAthens. Find out about her role, her hobbies and her thoughts on the future of the industry!
Tell us a little about your role at OpenAthens
My role is a key strategic one that focuses on building relationships with digital content vendors, acting as a liaison for the global library community.
I’m a librarian, having worked in UK HE libraries for more than 20 years, so I’m really enjoying looking at e-resource management, identity and access management from a whole new perspective. I’m looking to build relationships with both our library and publisher communities to help us work together to break down those barriers to knowledge.
I joined the company during lockdown so it’s been a very different experience to any other job change! It’s all been very positive, for OpenAthens it’s business as usual and it’s been surprisingly easy to get to know the company, our products and our customers.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Travel is one of my biggest interests, so recently I’ve not been able to do that so much! It’s been really interesting exploring more local places, even finding new places in an area that I’ve lived in for more than 10 years! I’m looking forward to going abroad again, hopefully in the not too distant future.
I’m also enjoying being able to visit galleries again, but I’m definitely missing theatre. Otherwise my interests include – crafting, reading, dance, cycling, running, yoga, skiing and I’ve also been known to fly on a trapeze!
What’s your proudest achievement?
Right now I’d say it’s changing sectors in the middle of a very interesting period in history! I’d been looking for a change in direction for a while and moving to OpenAthens was definitely a good choice.
What’s the best piece advice you’ve been given or could give?
Have a go! If you fail, at least you tried and you probably learned something along the way.
Who inspires you?
Anyone bringing library services to the homes of their patrons at the moment. I’m in awe of all the libraries who have been able to expand their remote online offering, change ways of working, offer different and additional services; all under difficult circumstances.
What do you think the future of the industry looks like?
Even though we’ve come a long way, in the 15+ years I’ve been working in the e-resource/access management space, the industry still needs to look at how and where our users need to access information and make things easier. Whether that be providing easier access routes to subscription resources, or surfacing open access content. I think the current situation, with many universities and companies remote working, is actually helping to focus on this goal.
How can we help?
Get in touch to find out how OpenAthens can support you and your users