Investigating the need for scholarly communications positions in Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries member institutions

Abstract

BackgroundThe role of health sciences librarians has expanded in the scholarly communications landscape as a result of the increase in federal public access mandates and the continued expansion of publishing avenues. This has created the need to investigate whether academic health sciences libraries should have scholarly communications positions to provide education and services exclusively related to scholarly communication topics.MethodsA nine-question online survey was distributed through the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) email discussion list to gather preliminary findings from and opinions of directors of health sciences libraries on the need for scholarly communications positions.ResultsThe survey received a 38% response rate. The authors found that AAHSL members are currently providing scholarly communications services, and 46% of respondents expressed the need to devote a full-time position to this role.DiscussionOur survey reveals a juxtaposition occurring in AAHSL member libraries. While administrators acknowledge the need to provide scholarly communications services, they often experience budget challenges in providing a full-time position for these services.

Emerging roles of health information professionals for library and information science curriculum development: a scoping review

“…With the growing web-based library resources available for research and publishing, librarians are able to manage and promote those digital collections with a complex skill set that encompasses organization and presentation of online information. Although literature on the topic is scarce, many HIPs are called upon to perform duties related to scholarly communications [ 78 ].…”

The institutional repository landscape in medical schools and academic health centers: a 2018 snapshot view and analysis

“…Of the 153 AAHSL member libraries that were sent an email invitation, 63 responded to the survey, for a response rate of 41%. Other online surveys of AAHSL member libraries have had response rates between 33% and 49% [15–18]. Ten incomplete responses were considered unusable and were excluded.…”

“You Need to Make it as Easy as Possible for Me”: Creating Scholarly Communication Reports for Liaison Librarians

“…Going further, Bruns, Brantley, and Duffin (2015) declared that, "researchers will be better served if scholarly communications is considered a core competency of subject librarians, similar to reference, instruction, and collection development" (p. 138). Given the literature presented, it is not surprising that the integration of SC topics into liaison librarian roles has advanced to the extent that liaison job postings often require scholarly communications competencies (Finlay, Tsou, & Sugimoto, 2015;Malenfant, 2010;Mears & Bandy, 2017).…”

“…The liaison librarian is such a busy role…If I could give my librarians anything it would be more time" (p. 10). Malenfant (2010) also noted the liaison librarians felt like they have to "take everything on" (p. 71) and Mears and Bandy (2017) reflected, "adding duties to reference and instruction librarian responsibilities is often seen as the solution, but this may not be viable in the long term because the scholarly communications landscape has significantly expanded." (p. 148).…”