Russell Palmer, assistant director for support services, GALILEO. GALILEO, the virtual library for the state of Georgia in the USA, entered 2017 with a vibrant and successful past, new leadership, and a strategic plan…that was last updated in 1995. The GALILEO team, assisted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, engaged its stakeholders in a strategic planning process. Through this initiative, our vision became clear: GALILEO facilitates the creation of knowledge and provides tools and resources for all Georgians to meet their lifelong learning needs. In order to support this strategic vision, GALILEO set strategic goals with authentication as a cornerstone for future service development and customization. Russell Palmer, GALILEO Assistant Director, explores the team’s determination to actualize this vision, and the role OpenAthens will play in GALILEO’s future.

1. GALILEO for Life:
Georgia’s Portal to Lifelong Learning
OpenAthens Conference 2019
Russell Palmer, Assistant Director
GALILEO

3. GALILEO by the Numbers
• Service population=9m potential users in:
• 26 State University System Institutions
• 22 Technical Colleges (vocational education)
• 38 Private Colleges/Universities
• 62 Public Library Systems
• 4.2 m public library cards
• 181 Public School Systems (2000+ schools)
• 22 Private K12 Schools

4. Strategic Planning: Vision
“GALILEO facilitates the creation of knowledge and provides tools and
resources for all Georgians to meet their lifelong learning needs.”

5. Strategic Planning: Mission
Serve as Georgia’s statewide virtual library providing:
• Equitable access to core high-quality instructional and informational resources to all
Georgians.
• Access to the tools necessary to help Georgians become lifelong learners.
• Partnerships that create open access to historical, cultural, and educational content
for and about Georgia.
• Interface(s) that are easy to access and designed and customized to meet the
needs of GALILEO libraries and the learners they serve.
• The tools and resources GALILEO libraries and partners need to support the learners
they serve.
• Facilitate the efficient and cost-effective provision of library services across the state
through collaborative resource acquisition, training, and sharing of workflows,
resources, and technological infrastructure.

6. Strategic Planning: Value(s)
• Innovation:
• Change and improvement through increased efficiency and
optimization considered risk-taking, agility, and creativity.
• Innovation in action may look like:
• Advancing new technology and ideas
• Creative models for services and programs
• User-centered design process
• Research and experimentation

7. Authentication:
Cornerstone for New Development

9. Impact: Academic Initiatives
• Affordable Learning Georgia
• Provide authentication solutions for faculty
• Expand analysis of access
• Complete College Georgia: Momentum Year
• Core English and math
• Nine credits in the student’s academic focus area
• 30 credits in their first year
• College 2025: 60 percent of Georgia’s jobs will require some form of
college education
• Today: Only 45.3% of Georgia’s young adults qualify

10. Collaboration

12. Thank you!
Russell Palmer
russell.palmer@usg.edu
Visit us at: https://galileo.usg.edu
• GALILEO Strategic Plan
• https://about.galileo.usg.edu/docs/materials_docs/GALILEO_Strategic_Plan.pdf
• Complete College Georgia
• https://completega.org/