Future‐proofing: the academic library's role in e‐research support

Abstract

Purpose -The aim of this case study is to describe a project created to enhance e-research support activities within an Australian university. Within the university sector, e-research support activities are becoming more sophisticated due to increased research activity and funding both nationally and internationally. Design/methodology/approach -The paper case studies a project undertaken within an academic library to increase its capacity to offer e-research support to the research community. The university's research community and research support staff are key players in this project. Findings -The outcomes of the project have been successfully achieved. However, the project work should continue and ideally become core business in order to keep pace with developments in e-research. The continual skills development of the university's researchers and research support staff in e-research is imperative in the university becoming a competitive research institution. Research limitations/implications -Although a single case study, the work has been contextualised within the national research agenda and benchmarked with other universities conducting similar activities. Practical implications -The paper describes a project model that can be adapted within an academic library without requiring external or specialist skills. It is also scalable and can be applied at a divisional or broader level. Originality/value -The paper highlights the current drivers for research investment in Australia and provides a model for how universities can leverage this investment and contribute towards successful e-research activity.

Bibliometrics and Research Data Management Services: Emerging Trends in Library Support for Research

“…Reports of data management initiatives taken at other libraries have followed: for example, in America, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Walters, 2009), MIT (Gabridge, 2009), University of Houston (Peters & Dryden, 2011), University of Oregon (Westra, 2010), and University of Colorado Boulder (Lage, Losoff, & Maness, 2012); in Australia, Queensland University of Technology (Thomas, 2011) and the University of Sydney (Brownlee, 2009); in Asia, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Wong, 2009); and in Europe, the University of Edinburgh (Rice & Haywood, 2011). Soehner et al (2010) also provide case studies of Cornell University, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, in addition to updates on developments at Johns Hopkins, MIT, and Purdue.…”

“…The role of libraries and librarians in managing research data also features in chapters of recent texts on the future of academic libraries (e.g., Carlson & Garritano, 2010;Lewis, 2010;Swan, 2011). Evidence from the literature shows that librarians are building on existing practices across the libraries, in areas from the reference interview and information literacy to digital preservation and repository development, as well as developing new models of practice, especially in relation to assessing data curation needs: for example, librarians at Purdue have used "data interviews" to develop Data Curation Profiles of campus researchers, while librarians at Boulder have created "personas" of researchers that can potentially be used at other universities (Lage et al, 2012) Common themes characterizing the activities of librarians in response to the research data challenge include conducting assessments of needs among their user communities (Delserone, 2008;Gabridge, 2009;Lage et al, 2012;Peters & Dryden, 2011;Rambo, 2010;Rice & Haywood, 2011;Thomas, 2011;Walters, 2009;Westra, 2010;Witt, 2008); exploring the deposit of research datasets in institutional repositories (Brownlee, 2009;Choudhury, 2008;Delserone, 2008;Gabridge, 2009;Rice & Haywood, 2011;Walters, 2009;Witt, 2008;Wong, 2009); forming groups within the library to progress initiatives (Delserone, 2008;Gabridge, 2009;Peters & Dryden, 2011;Rambo, 2010;Walters, 2009;Witt, 2008); creating new library positions, notably with an interdisciplinary research focus (Delserone, 2008;Walters, 2009;Witt, 2008); developing strategic alliances and partnerships with other campus organizations, suc...…”

Future‐Proofing Institutional Research Skills in an Evolving Digital Institution

“…Future-proofing as a concept spans many fields and disciplines including transportation (Dove, Ahiaga-Dagbui, Welde, & Odeck, 2017), healthcare (Hawkes, 2015), industry (Love, Zhou, Matthews, & Sing, 2016), and architectural design (Coley, Kershaw, & Eames, 2012;Rehman & Ryan, 2017). Literature exist related to future focus in higher education administration (Aoun, 2017, Selingo, 2013Thomas, 2011) but there is little specifically about future-proofing the field of IR.…”

Forschungsunterstützung an australischen Universitätsbibliotheken

“…52 Im Rahmen solcher abteilungsübergreifenden Kooperation scheint klar zu sein, dass die Bibliothek die Metadatenerfassung und -verwaltung übernehmen wird; eine Arbeit, die in der Regel von Data Librarians geleistet wird. 53 Gespräche mit Bibliothekaren weisen auch darauf hin, dass Bibliotheken einen wesentlichen Beitrag in den Bereichen Projektmanagement, Datenmanagementplan, Beratung zu Urheberrechtsfragen 54 sowie Prozessorganisation leisten können und möchten.…”