A bright future for research libraries? Sarah Gentleman Research Information Network Communications Officer sarah.gentleman@rin.ac.uk www.rin.ac.uk
The guide provides advice to institutions using a framework of areas to support library and information professionals: linking library content and collections to research strategies; cataloguing, navigation, discovery, delivery and access – researchers’ needs; sharing skills and expertise; communicating and evaluating research outputs; curation, preservation and disposal and sustainable resources.
Linking library content to research strategies Good library and information services are an essential part of ensuring excellent research work gets done. There is a good deal of evidence to show that research success depends in part on the quality of the information resources available to researchers. The Research Information Network’s guide Ensuring a bright future for research libraries www.rin.ac.uk/ bright-futures-libraries provides support for senior managers in universities to match up library and information services provision with their institution’s research strategy, and to ensure the services provided for researchers are relevant and effective. At the RIN, we investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of information services in UK higher education institutions and we keep the voice of the researcher firmly in mind. We look at how these services are changing, how researchers use them, and how policies could be improved to make services better. The RIN was set up in 2005 by the higher education funding councils (in England, Scotland and Wales), the seven UK research councils and the national libraries (the British Library and the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales). We work across the UK and across all the subject areas to identify common areas of practice, as well as differences, and we give UK researchers a voice in the debate on improving information services that are vital to their work. We do also look to developments overseas that are relevant to our work programmes, and aim to highlight and encourage good practice where we find it.
Developing better strategy and policy for information provision Our Bright futures guidance highlights that institutions need to develop collection and content development strategies that are in line with their research strategies and priorities, and encourages the active input of the library and academic staff in this process. It calls for strategies to be regularly reviewed to ensure they remain current and effective. The guide also recommends that institutions publish their strategies on their websites, so that it is communicated both internally and externally, to aid transparency and collaborative potential.
The role of library and information specialists Library and information professionals are key sources of advice and expertise about the rapid changes taking place in disseminating, publishing and sharing research results. They play an essential role in ensuring researchers can easily discover, locate and gain access to resources. ALISS Quarterly 4 (3) April 2009
The guide recommends that institutions need to develop collection and content development strategies that are explicitly related to their research strategies and priorities, ensuring active consultation between library and academic staff. As no single institution can provide all the publications and other information resources needed by researchers, institutions should seek to work and collaborate with other libraries, where appropriate.
Ensuring researchers get the services they need: discovery and access Institutions are encouraged to ensure researchers can easily make use, through the library and other providers, of services that enable them to discover, locate and gain access to information resources that are relevant to their research. The guide recommends that library and information services are supported to provide training to researchers in using the services available, including producing user-friendly online guides. It also calls on institutions to eliminate cataloguing backlogs and ensure that all of the library’s content is fully catalogued and available via online discovery services. Libraries are encouraged to work with others in the institution to develop services that integrate the process of resource discovery into researchers’ workflows.
Sharing skills and expertise In a new and more complex research information environment, there is a growing need for better communication and engagement between library and information specialists and academic research staff, to encourage a sharing of skills and expertise, where appropriate. Institutions are encouraged to develop arrangements to promote engagement and professional development by supporting skills development programmes for library and information staff and for research staff and students. The guide highlights the need for the cost of specialised research information services to be clearly identified and included in the budget for the research work done by the institution.
Communicating and evaluating research outputs Effective communication of research results is an integral part of the research process. Library and information professionals are a key source of advice and expertise about the ALISS Quarterly 4 (3) April 2009