Innovating and Evolving Roles: Research Support Services in Academic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Innovating and Evolving Roles: Research Support Services in Academic Libraries. Australia, NZ, Ireland & the UK

Drs Mary Anne Kennan & Waseem Afzal – CSU Prof Sheila Corrall - University of Sheffield & University of Pittsburgh iSchool

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Background

• changes in research support services (Drummond &

Wartho, 2009; Key Perspectives Ltd 2009; MacColl 2010).

• coinciding with technological developments, (e.g.

institutional repositories, rise of eResearch, such as data intensive research, increased technology-enhanced collaboration (Markauskaite et al. 2012)

• create opportunities for academic librarians to find new

roles within their institutions and the academic community (Corrall 2012; Research Information Network 2010; Swan and Brown 2008).

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Survey to investigate:

• 1. What research support services are academic libraries offering and

planning to offer in the future in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (UK)?

• 2. Are library staff constrained in providing specialist research support

services, and if so, what are those constraints?

• 3. Do library staff require additional education, training and support in

research support roles?

• 4. How might Library and Information Science (LIS) schools respond to

the evolving role of research support services in academic and research libraries?

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Research design

The research has taken a pragmatic approach, employing an online questionnaire survey analyzed with descriptive

• statistics. The instrument contained 35 questions in four

main sections:

• 1. About you and your organization
• 2. Research support services – Bibliometrics
• 3. Research support services – Research data management
• 4. Research support services – Future plans.

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Sample & Response rates

Australia ¡ NZ ¡ UK ¡ Ireland ¡ No ¡of ¡ ins4tu4ons ¡ 39 ¡ 8 ¡ 163 ¡ 9 ¡ No ¡of ¡ responses ¡ 36 ¡ 8 ¡ 88 ¡ 9 ¡ Response ¡ rate ¡% ¡ 92.3 ¡ 100.0 ¡ 54.0 ¡ 100.0 ¡

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Bibliometrics services %

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% 100.00%

Current

Australia N = 36 Ireland N = 9 New Zealand N = 8 UK N = 90

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Bibliometrics Services %

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00%

Planned

Australia N = 36 Ireland N = 9 New Zealand N = 8 UK N = 90

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Research Data Management Services %

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% Assistance with technology, infrastructure and tools Data literacy education and/

• r training

Support for data deposit in institutional repository Support for data deposit in external data archives Finding relevant external data sets Technical aspects of digital curation Developing data management plans Developing tools to assist researchers manage data Development

• f institutional

policy to manage data

Current

Australia N = 36 Ireland N = 9 New Zealand N = 8 UK N = 83

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Research Data Management Services%

20 40 60 80 100 120

Planned

Australia N = 36 Ireland N = 9 New Zealand N = 8 UK N = 83

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Constraints on Bibliometrics Services %

20 40 60 80 100 120 Bibliometrics are not a priority Bibliometrics are not perceived as library role Different levels of demand Different specialist needs Staff equire additional knowledge or skills Staff require additional confidence Australia N=38 Ireland N=8 New Zealand N=8 United Kingdom N=88

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Constraints on Research Data Management %

20 40 60 80 100 120 RDM not a priority for our library Different levels

• f demand

Different specialist needs RDM is not perceived by

• thers as a

library role Staff require additional knowledge or skills Staff require additional confidence to work in this area Other (mainly various resourcing issues) Australia N=36 Ireland N=8 New Zealand N=9 United Kingdom N=82

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How library staff who work in bibliometrics (bib) or RDM are educated or trained % Australia Ireland New Zealand UK Staff are educated or trained Bib N=34 RDM N=32 Bib N=8 RDM N=7 Bib N=8 RDM N=7 Bib N=69 RDM N=54 Prior to joining the staff as a part of their LIS or other education 14.7 31.3 14.3 25 28.6 15.9 29.6 Within the library through in- service training or seminars 85.3 65.6 75 42.9 100 57.1 49.3 48.1 Are self-trained 67.6 71.9 100 71.4 50 57.1 81.2 61.1 Learn on-the-job 85.3 81.3 100 85.7 100 85.7 81.2 77.8 Library-funded external professional development 47.1 59.4 37.5 57.1 50 42.9 36.2 57.4 Other (please specify) 23.5 12.5 25 28.6 8.7 14.8

¡

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Areas identified in which staff need additional knowledge and skills - Bibliometrics

Areas in which staff need additional knowledge and skills Australia N=36 Ireland N=9 New Zealand N=8 UK N=78 Knowledge of different purposes and applications of bibliometrics (e.g., research evaluation, collection development, benchmarking) 83.3 88.9 87.5 88.5 Skills in quantitative methods and statistics 83.3 77.8 62.5 83.3 Knowledge of bibliometrics tools and techniques (e.g., citation analyses, impact factors and associated indices) 86.1 77.8 87.5 96.2 Required subject and disciplinary knowledge 58.3 44.4 50 26.9

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Areas identified in which staff need additional knowledge and skills - RDM

Areas in which staff need additional knowledge and skills Australia N=36 Ireland N=9 New Zealand N=8 UK N=72 Data curation skills 94.4 88.9 100 87.5 Technical and ICT skills 77.8 88.9 87.5 76.4 Required subject and/or disciplinary knowledge 55.6 44.4 37.5 36.1 Knowledge of research methods 66.7 44.4 50 66.4 Knowledge of research processes 77.8 66.7 62.5 84.7 Other (please specify) 19.4 4.2

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Priorities for LIS Education

Research Service Perceived Educational Need Australia Ireland New Zealand UK Bibliometrics Part of Core Curriculum 12 (34.3%) 5 (55.6%) 3 (37.5%) 27 (30.3%) Bibliometrics Part of Elective Subjects 23 (65.7%) 4 (44.4%) 5 (62.5%) 55 (61.8%) Bibliometrics No Need 7 (7.9%) Research Data Management Part of Core Curriculum 17 (47.2%) 3 (33.3%) 3 (37.5%) 31 (36.9%) Research Data Management Part of Elective Subjects 19 (52.8%) 6 (66.7%) 5 (62.5%) 50 (59.5%) Research Data Management No Need 3 (3.6%)

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Conclusions

• Academic libraries see research support as a growth

service area. E.g.

• eresearch support, research info systems integration, literature

searches & systematic reviews, grant info man, research data curation, OA publishing, institutional benchmarking, assistance with grant applications,

• Increasing use of Bibliometrics and associated tools for

varied purposes, especially ERA/REF and grant support

• Research Data Management—a demand originating from

technical change, funder and institutional requirements and ethical considerations in the edata era

• Emerging LIS education requirements

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Future research

• A longitudinal study
• Library/information professional collaborations with

researchers

• Review of the LIS School subject offerings around

Bibliometrics, Research Data Management, scholarly communications and research processes

• Partnering LIS School researchers and academic

libraries e.g.

• Further learning from exemplar case libraries
• Case studies of successful library/researcher

collaborations

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Thank you and questions?

Acknowledgements:

The authors acknowledge with thanks the financial support provided by the Information Studies Research Priority Area, Information Infrastructure Program, Faculty

• f Education, Charles Sturt University. They also

gratefully acknowledge the time and effort contributed to the study by the participants and colleagues who advised

• n design of the survey instrument.