Part 2: Research support in a 21st century academic library: a case study of Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service presented at SARIMA workshop, 8-11-2013
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Part 2: Research support in a 21st century academic library: a case study of Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service presented at SARIMA workshop, 8-11-2013
- 1. Building blocks in the partnership between the Library and the Research Office “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 2. Elsevier partnership • Access to key, peer-reviewed scholarly journals and electronic books • Writing workshops • Career guidance for researchers • Search strategy training • Subscription to SciVal Spotlight, Strata, Experts • Research performance evaluation workshops “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 3. Research Commons “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 4. Institutional Research Repository • 2008 - Theses & Dissertations Repository • 2010 - Expand to journal articles and other research output material • Bibliographic research output records • Webometrics ranking “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 5. Research At Stellenbosch • Prize winning publication • Showcase researchers, projects and facilities • First launched in the Library (Research Commons) • Library participation on editorial board “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 6. Berlin 10 Open Access Conference • First Berlin Conference in Africa 7 & 8 Nov 2012 • Convergence between Library advocacy for Open Access and institutional objective to play a leading role on the African continent • Local Organising Committee “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 7. Practical examples of research support services and collaboration between the Library and the Research Office “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 8. Measure Prepare Gather Share Preserve Create Research life cycle “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 9. Prepare PREPARE deals with finding ideas and planning the research project “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 10. Prepare phase Research activities • Background reading/looking for ideas • Deciding on a topic • Formulating a research question • Securing funding • Planning the project • Identifying skills deficits and planning for workshops Library services • Orientation sessions • Contemplative space (Research Commons) • Using SciVal Spotlight, the Library provides insight into institutional themes • Iterate funding opportunities “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 11. Gather GATHER refers to the resources, skills and strategies researchers require to find information sources for their research project. “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 12. Gather phase Research activities • Literature review • Research design • Research method • Research proposal • Ethical compliance • Data collection Library services • Access to information sources • Training / workshops • Shared calendar for skills development • Research support forum “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 13. Create CREATE refers to analysis, synthesis and writing as well as networking, referen ce management and compliance issues (copyright, avoiding plagiarism, etc.) “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 14. Create phase Research activities • Data analysis • Writing • Edit/proofreading • Bibliographic management • Comply with copyright & plagiarism Library services • Conducive space • Workshops on references management & ethical use of information & storing and sharing documents • Collaboration facilities: • tools to locate potential collaborators • video-conferencing • collaboration spaces “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 15. Preserve PRESERVE refers to ensuring perpetuate accessibility of research output and replicability of data “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 16. Preserve phase Research activities • Managing and archiving research outputs • Managing and archiving research data Library services • Institutional reposity (SUNScholar) • Self-archiving mandate “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 17. Share The SHARE phase refers mainly to publishing; identifying suitable journals in which to publish; choosing between Open Access and commercial publishers “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 18. Share phase Research activities • Publication in books • Publication in traditional journals • Open access publishing • Conference papers • Publication in social media Library services • Provide guidance on different aspects of publishing • Assist researchers to promote their work • Provide a journal publishing platform • Provide and manage funds for article processing charges for publication in open access journals “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 19. Measure MEASURE refers to determining the value or impact of research contributions (social relevance and scientific excellence) “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 20. Measure phase Research activities Library services • Strategic research management (showcasing, funding, collaboration) • Determine journal impact • Author productivity and impact reports • Profiling to increase visibility • Consider collaboration opportunities • NRF ranking applications • Individual and faculty based support wrt SciVal Spotlight, Strata & Experts including on demand reports • On demand calculation of hindex for NRF rating applications • Included in orientation sessions: journal metrics, unique researcherID, etc. • On demand citation reports “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 21. Conclusion “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
- 22. Thank you! “Your dynamic partner in academic excellence”
Editor's Notes
- The first of the building blocks was a partnership between the Univ and Elsevier from 2009 to 2011.The partnership provided the University with Increased access to journals We were able to expand our collection of e-books Elsevier staff presented a substantial number of workshops on searching, writing and publishingAnother outcome of the partnership was that the University bought subscription for the SciVal RPM tools.This went hand in hand with more workshops, presented by Elsevier to research managers SciVal Spotlight, has subsequently been used by the Research Office from a research management perspective to demonstrate the University’s research strengths and how performance compared with other institutions. The role of library staff in the use of the RPM tools is to know the mechanics of the tools in order to provide support to research managers, as well as research staff in faculties, who wish to use SciVal for strategic purposes or performance evaluation.
- The establishment of a RESEARCH COMMONS in the central library has been another important building block for relations between library and research officeOne of the conceptual principles of the RC is that it should beservice-rich and based on partnerships with related divisions on campusThis has indeed taken place – The Research Office has a keen interest in the RC and often make use of the space formeetingseventsvideoconferencingWhile the RC’s actively ensures thatusers are aware of the services provided by the Research Office and the specialist support they provide.
- The establishment of an INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY by the Library in 2008 is another important building block which creates much interaction between the Library and the Research Office.Started in 2008 – at first - the repository focused on theses From 2010 it alsoincluded published journal articles by Stellenbosch University authors.The Research Office has played a vital role in building SUNScholar into a very successful repository by making available research output records to SUNScholar. And at the moment efforts are focused on building SUNScholar into the research output management workflow and to path the way for mandory submission of research articles to the repository
- I would also like to mention Research At Stellenbosch, a prize-winning publication published by the Research Office, as a binding element.This publication, which showcases the University’sresearchersresearch projectsresearch facilities, has been published since 2010. In fact, the first number was launched in the Research Commons. And in 2011 the Library was also invited to serve on the editorial board. This arrangement has been extremely fruitful in terms of building understanding, synergy and collegiality between the the Library and Research Office.
- The last important ”brick in the wall” I would like to mention, is the BERLIN 10 OPEN ACCESS CONFERENCE which the Univ hosted last year in NovemberThe hosting of this Conference provided another opportunity for the Library and the Research Office to combine efforts. We found tremendous synergy betweenthe Library’s active advocacy for Open Access and its role in liberating knowledge for impoverished African countries and the University’s objective to play a leading role in academia on the African continent. The Library therefore actively sought the participation of the The Research Office’s in the organising of the conference.As previously mentioned, the rubbing of shoulders in these kinds of forums isessential for building collegialitymutual understandingand respect.
- Next I would like to mention some examples of research support services at the Library And, once again I will emphasise the intersections between the Library and the Research Office
- An important feature of the Library’s support for research is that it is approached from a holistic point of view. We try to align services with research workflow by using the research life cycle as a systematic model and framework.This also provides a framework to encourage innovation and the expansion of research support services.The model is adapted from John Unsworth’s (2000) model of research primitivesIn this model we currently use, researchers workflow is visualised in a cyclical model, although in reality we know that the steps in research workflow is not always successive. Nonetheless the life cycle model presents a useful way of providing context for library services as well as for the role of other research support units
- The first step in the cycle deals with finding ideas and planning the research project
- Activities researchers engage in during this phase, includeBackground reading/looking for ideasDeciding on a topicFormulating a research questionSecuring fundingPlanning the projectIdentifying skills deficits and planning for workshopsThe Library’s response to this is to:Provide orientation sessions which give an overview of the various services, resources and facilities the Library offers in the course of the entire research project (not just focusing on finding literature)The RC plays an important role in providing contemplative space and to introduce researchers to other support units on campusSciVal Spotlight’s wheel of science comes in very handy to provide insight into institutional research themes. Because it:visualises the University’s strenghtsshows trendsareas of growth in research. It can help researchers find new opportunities ito their researchFor researchers working in the Research Commons we make sure that they are alerted to funding opportunities which we receive via the Research Office.
- The next phase in the research life cycle refers to the resources, skills and strategies researchers require to find information sources for their research project.
- Research activities during this phase, include:Literature reviewResearch designResearch methodResearch proposalEthical complianceData collectionThe Library provides a very important role in this phase to providing easy and efficient access to the widest possible range of information sources in various formatsBut recently we have also expanded the workshop portfolio of the library to also address research-related topics such as Storing and sharing large filesFinding statutory informationFinding open dataFinding resources on research design, research methods, etc. (As opposed to subject-based information sources)To ensure synergy between the opportunities that are organised by the Research Office, Library and other service providers on campus we have created a Research Support Forum consisting of Research Office, Library, Postgraduate and International Office, IT and the Writing Lab. We meet at least once a term and take terms in hosting meetings and determining the agenda.
- The CREATE phase refers to analysis, synthesis and writing as well as networking, reference management and compliance issues (copyright, avoiding plagiarism, etc.)
- Research activities include: Data analysisWritingEdit/proofreadingBibliographic managementComply with copyright & plagiarismIn terms of library services, I have mentioned the Research Commons and some of the workshops that have been established.Another role that the Library has taken on, is to actively support researcher networking by:making a video-conferencing facility available to reseachers which is used extensively (Prof Chown)emphasise the use of Research Performance Management Tools (such as SciVal Experts) to identify suitable collaborators/co-authorsMaking researchers aware of social networking sites such as ResearchGate, Academia.eduNot included in the slide, are partnerships between the Library and Writing Lab and the Centre for Statistical Analysis which has to some extent brought these services into the Library – as opposed to having researchers look for expert services all over campus.
- PRESERVE refers to ensuring perpetuate accessibility of research output and data
- Research activities during this phase are: Managing and preserving research output and dataResearch outputs may include textual data (eg pre- and post-print journal articles, conference papers, presentations and often theses and dissertations), images, moving images and sound recordings;Research data may include datasets on which research publications are based; and other experimental data.LIBRARY ACTIVITIES:The library’s foremost response to the managing and archiving of research output has been through the development of an institutional repository (SUNScholar) SUNScholar contains more than 14 000 full text records and approximately 32 000 bibliographic references of research outputThe repository also plays an important role to increase the visibility and usage of the University output - SUNScholar recieved 240,000 web visits and facilitated 68,000 item downloads in 2012. The Library and Research Office is currently very narrowly involved in the finalising of a self-archiving mandate to ensure the preservation and accessibility of all the University’s research publications.
- The SHARE phase refers mainly to publishing; identifying suitable journals in which to publish; choosing between Open Access and commercial publishers
- Research activities in this phase are: Publication in booksPublication in traditional journalsOpen access publishingConference papersPublication in social mediaTo support these activities, the Library recently established a workshop with the Research Office to:Provide guidance on different aspects of publishing, such as open access and where to publishThe workshop addresses: factors to keep in mind when selecting a journal in which to publishjournal metrics, Open Access publishing and archiving your articlesthe South African research outputs incentive schemeThe library also provides a journal publishing platform An Open Access Fund has been established for researcher who wish to publish in Open Access journals
- MEASURE refers to determining the value or impact of research contributions (social relevance and scientific excellence)
- As noted before - the research life cycle is not always cyclical. “Measure” is one of those activities which take place throughout the research lifecycle. Metrics may play a role in deciding where to publishwho to collaborate within writing funding applications, etc.On an institutional level, the Library (in consultation with Research Office) played a central role in securing subscriptions to the SciVal suite of research performance management tools. The Library has also played an active role in arranging training workshops and awareness-raising sessions around the use of the tools.The Research Office is active in using SciVal Spotlight as a visualisation tool to showcase the University’s research strengths On an individual researcher level, The Research Office takes the lead in providing researchers with assistance in preparing documentation for funding agencies, NRF rating applications, etc. This role is supported by the Library who in turn provides assistance (plus LibGuide) with compiling citation reports, h-index, impact factors and in some cases citation in social and other media. Metrics available for measuring journal impact, article level impact and author level impact are included in postgraduate and researchers orientation sessions and library sessions for academic staff.
- I hope this has provided some insight into the Matie approach to Library supportIf I may emphasise the principles we work on, it is HOLISTICRESEARCH WORKFLOWBut most of all, I believe, it is through PARTNERSHIP and active liaison that we will be able to expand and enhance our services.