12.1 Is the Doctor in? PhD to Professional: Complementary Perspectives in Research Libraries
| Main Author: | Warren, Eleanor; McDermid, Kirstine; Andre, Deirdre |
|---|---|
| Format: | info Proceeding |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/3611291 |
Daftar Isi:
- The role of libraries and librarians in supporting researchers is changing due to an evolving research environment. Changes in the scholarly communications landscape and in researcher skills development, as well as the emphasis placed on using bibliometrics to evaluate academic performance, have shifted the focus in many academic libraries, encouraging them to re-think how best to support their institutional research strategy. The challenge is understanding the needs of researchers and ensuring that research support librarians have the right skills to respond to these needs. The 2011 report by the Research Information Network and Research Libraries UK identified the key characteristics of library provision required to support research in successful UK universities, with an emphasis placed upon the personal, professional and career development of researchers. In response, the University of Leeds, like many academic libraries in the UK and elsewhere, set up a dedicated research support team who have developed and diversified their skills to meet the broader support needs of the research community. Expansion in numbers of PhD students in the UK in recent years has been accompanied by the professionalisation of researcher skills development, equipping students with transferable skills for careers outside, as well as inside, academia. Are the new generation of researchers therefore more suited to support the needs of other researchers than they have been previously? Can they offer a different, but complementary, skill-set and perspective, to library school graduates without research experience? Understanding the needs and, importantly, the behaviours, of researchers is integral to the provision of a successful library research support service, as demonstrated by the 2015 UK Survey of Academics (supported by RLUK). The peer-level support offered by library staff with research backgrounds, who can demonstrate a shared experience, understanding, and a personal enthusiasm for research, arguably has a role in developing stronger relationships between the library and the academy. This paper surveys and discusses the changes in the skill-set, qualifications, and professional experience, of research support staff employed at Leeds University Library, and other UK research libraries. It explores whether the changes in library research support services and the development of specialist library teams has resulted in the recruitment of staff with different professional backgrounds, including researchers themselves. Analysing the findings, we consider what staff with a doctoral qualification can bring to a library research support team, and whether this is a reflection of a wider developing trend in research librarianship.