Collect and Connect: Fed Librarians Bring Reserve Bank Research to a Global Audience

Across the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, more than 400 economists produce hundreds of freely accessible working papers each year. Until recently, there was not a single resource with which to stay current on their release. In response, librarians across the Fed spearheaded a new initiative: A monthly email digest, Latest Working Papers from the Federal Reserve Banks, now delivers new economic research directly to subscribers.

In fewer than 30 days following its initial issue in July, Latest Working Papers from the Federal Reserve Banks gained more than 1,300 subscribers in more than 30 countries on six continents. Papers listed in the digest cover a wide range of specialties, including macro, monetary, financial, labor and demographic economics, in addition to quantitative methods and more.

Fed Working Papers Delivered Right to Your Inbox

Want an easy way to keep up with scholarly economic research from the Federal Reserve? Sign up today for Latest Working Papers from the Federal Reserve Banks, a monthly digest showcasing the academic work of economists from all 12 Federal Reserve banks.

  

What Are Working Papers?

Working papers serve as an important vehicle for economic researchers to quickly communicate preliminary analytical results across the discipline. The rigorous peer review process that leads to eventual publication of these papers in academic journals can take a long time. Years can pass between initial submission for peer review and the publication of a research paper in a journal. Along the way, it is common to receive feedback from more than one editor and set of reviewers, improving the paper over multiple iterations.

The final, published versions of research papers often fall behind expensive paywalls, which can limit access mostly to researchers affiliated with institutions that can afford journal subscriptions. Online working papers not only promote new research ideas as they develop, but also keep some version of various scholarly projects broadly accessible over time, even when the final, published articles may not be as readily available.

Where Do Librarians Fit In?

Librarians across the Federal Reserve System carefully collect descriptive information about thousands of research papers and related pieces of content that Fed economists have produced over decades. They work to preserve the scholarly record, promoting the long-term discoverability of economic research online. To help connect economists with the resources and tools they need to advance their scholarship, Fed librarians cultivate a variety of skills. Collectively, they offer talent in project management, web application ownership, user experience optimization, research impact assessment, archival administration, vendor relations, intellectual property control and digital preservation, to name just a few areas of support beyond answering research questions.

The new monthly digest organizes the previous month’s Federal Reserve bank working papers by high-level JEL code, empowering readers to navigate directly to papers on topics that interest them the most. Each digest includes full-text links to the working papers, as well as author names, series identifications and abstracts.

If you have previously struggled to stay on top of all the economic research that the Federal Reserve banks produce, sign up now to receive the working paper monthly digest. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has a similar service for work from its economists. In the fast-moving world of economic research, Fed librarians play an important role in connecting even the most sophisticated readers with relevant information that can be difficult to assemble otherwise.