“Making space” in practice and education: research support services in academic libraries
| Published date | 10 November 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-03-2014-0037 |
| Pages | 666-683 |
| Date | 10 November 2014 |
| Author | Mary Anne Kennan,Sheila Corrall,Waseem Afzal |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries |
“Making space”in practice and
education: research support
services in academic libraries
Mary Anne Kennan
School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Silverwater, Australia
Sheila Corrall
School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA, and
Waseem Afzal
School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University,
Wagga Wagga, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – How academic libraries support the research of their parent institutionshas changed as a
result of forces such as changing scholarly communication practices, technological developments,
reducedpurchasing power and changes in academic culture.The purpose of this paper is to examine the
professional and educational implications of current and emerging research support environments for
academic libraries,particularly with regard to researchdata management and bibliometricsand discuss
how do professionals and educators “make space” as new service demands arise?
Design/methodology/approach – The present paper uses data from a recent survey of research
support provision by academic libraries in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, (authors 2013),
and provides additional in depth analysis of the textual responses to extend the analysis in the light of
forces for change in higher education. The original online questionnaire surveyed current and planned
research support in academic libraries, and constraints or support needs related to service
developments. It was distributed to 219 institutions in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland,
and obtained 140 valid responses (response rate of 63.9 percent). Results were analyzed using
descriptive statistics with thematic categorization and coding for the textual responses.
Findings – Most academic libraries surveyed are already providing or planning services in the focal areas
of bibliometrics and data management. There was also increasing demand for other research support
services, not the focus of the study, such as eresearch support, journal publishing platforms, and grant
writing support. The authors found that while many academic libraries perceive increasing research
support services as a “huge opportunity” they were constrained by gaps in staff skills, knowledge, and
confidence and resourcing issues. With regard to staffeducation and training, it was reported they require a
broader understanding of the changing research and scholarly landscape, the research cultures of different
disciplines, and technological change. There was a near-universal support for development of more
comprehensive, specialized, LIS education to prepare professionals for broader research support roles.
Originality/value – This further analysis of the implications of our survey in relation to influences
such as economics, academic culture, technology, raises questions for both educators and practitioners
about the future direction of the profession and how the authors collectively “make space” as new
potential services arise.
Keywords Academic libraries, Bibliometrics, Research data management, Research support services
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
Received 9 March 2014
Revised 24 May 2014
Accepted 3 June 2014
Library Management
Vol. 35 No. 8/9, 2014
pp. 666-683
rEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-03-2014-0037
The authors acknowledge with thanks the financial support provided by the Information Studies
Research Priority Area, Faculty of Education, Charles Stur t University and in-kind contributions
provided by the Information School, University of Sheffield. The authors also gratefully
acknowledge the time and effort contributed to the study by the participants and by colleagues
who participated in the pilot testing and assisted with the design of the survey instrument.
666
LM
35,8/9
Introduction
The role of academic libraries is to support the teaching and research of their parent
institutions. How they do this has changed radically du ring recent years as a result of
changing scholarly communication practice, developments in technology, and reduced
purchasing power (Auckland, 2012; Ball and Tunger, 2006). The role of education is
varied, but in the context of education for a profession or field such as library and
information science (LIS) a key purpose is to impar t knowledge and skills in order to
enable individuals to become responsible and employable professionals. Through
education individuals become better informed about themselves, their environment, the
discipline and/or profession which they wish to practice. LIS is a field which engages in
teaching and research about libraries, information and documentation as a domain in
its own right (Hjørland, 2000). It is our contention that education should take into
consideration the needs of the profession, as well as discipline-specific academic
needs. Trends in professional practice need to be examined and responded to by
educators in order for education to be relevant. It is this viewpoint that has informed
our writing – that is, we are building the discou rse in this paper not only on our
analysis of data collected in a specific context, but also on the analysis of som e wider
trends in the profession, in particular in academic librarianship.
In universities we find increasing emphasis on financial accountability, and this
trend is reflected in the academy in many ways. Examples relevant to this paper
include the use of bibliometrics for research evaluation by governments, other research
funders and by university administrations as one way of assessing the quality of
research outputs and for justifying proposals for future research expenditure by
institutions or an individual. Similarly there is recognition that data collected in the
academy as a part of research have value,beyond their original purpose, and need tobe
better described, curated and stored –managed for the longer term (Tenopir et al., 2012).
As researchers and university administrators increasingly understand the demand
for bibliometrics and research data management (RDM) in their suite of research
services, academic libraries are taking up roles in these areas. A recent paper by
reports on a survey of the bibliometrics and research data support activities of 140
libraries in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland (Corrall et al., 2013). That
paper explored the following research questions at a high level:
RQ1. What specialist research support services are academic libraries offering and
planning to offer in the future in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK?
RQ2. Are libraries and library staff constrained in providing specialist research
support services?
RQ3. Do library staff require additional education, training and support in their
research support roles?
RQ4. How might LIS schools respond to the evolving role of research support
services in academic and research libraries?
The present paper builds on and extends this previous wo rk by identifying and
discussing issues arising from the above study, particularly addressing RQ3, and
beginning to address RQ4, which have implications for the education and trainin g of
academic librarians in research support servi ces. A distinctive contribution is that we
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“Making space”
in practice and
education
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