Amy Warner May
Associate Director, Bodleian Libraries
University of Oxford
In response to an increased and very real threat of cyberattack (as the United Kingdom recovers from the impact of the attack at the British Library), the Bodleian Libraries took the difficult decision to switch off 20 at-risk ‘Specialist Digital Resources’ in December 2024. The vocal comments from users demonstrated significant communities that were originally hidden. What looked on the surface like ‘legacy resources’ were still vital research tools, and it was important to make them available online again as quickly as possible. To do this, the Libraries had to be agile and creative but also strategic. To prevent similar cyber risks in the future, the Libraries developed infrastructure that was sustainable in the long term while also providing the familiar functionality and access to collections that researchers needed. This presentation will look at the lessons learned through the process—some predictable, some unexpected—now that 13 of the resources are available online again. It will also consider the role of library leaders to set strategic direction while balancing different and at times conflicting user, technological, and security needs.
