New Roles for Research Librarians: Meeting the Expectations for Research Support presents strategies librarians can use to adapt to the new conditions and growing expectations that are emerging from students and researchers. Even if they have never completed a PhD, or even been engaged in independent research themselves, this book will provide a new roadmap on how to deal with the new work environment. The book provides different approaches that include the library in the research process, an area that is often neglected by researchers during their planning and strategic work on research projects. Users will find content that offers tactics on how to create a new dialogue between the librarian and the postgraduate student, along with comprehensive discussions on different starting points, and how communication and collaboration can help reach the best of both worlds. Explores the new roles available for research librarians and how they can be integral parts of research Provides a new roadmap on how to deal with the new work environment that now exists between librarians and researchers Discusses the development and systemizing of research support services and strategies Offers insights into the collaboration between the librarian and PhD-candidates

Librarians have been providing support to researchers for many years, typically with a focus on responding to researchers’ needs for access to the existing literature. However, librarians’ skills and expertise make them uniquely suited to provide a wide range of assistance to researchers across the entire research process, from conception of the research question to archiving of collected data at the project’s conclusion. In response to increasingly stringent demands on researchers to share their data, and as computationally intensive and primarily data-driven scientific methods begin to take the place of traditional lab-based research, the “research informationist” has emerged as a new information profession. With a background in library and information sciences, as well as expertise in best practices for data management, grant funder policies, and informatics tools, the research informationist is capable of implementing a full suite of research support services. This book will discuss how the research informationist role has developed out of the previously established clinical informationist model and how it expands on the model of embedded librarianship. The book will also examine core competencies for the successful research informationist and the training and preparation necessary for students in library and information sciences programs, as well as currently practicing librarians. Finally, this book will consider how research informationists can form collaborative partnerships with research teams and build their services outside the walls of the library, citing practical examples of the types of support research informationists can offer.

"Over the past ten years, many changes have affected the roles of librarians and other professionals in research libraries. The changes have been caused, in part, by technological advances, reorganizations, more focus on libraries as learning organizations, the use of teams and team-based approaches to tasks, and a recognition of diversity's importance to organizational development. Librarians have had to align priorities with redefined institutional goals. The survey for this SPEC Kit was an effort to examine these professional changes through an analysis of position descriptions issued by ARL member institutions. What follows are the results of the survey conducted in January 1999 by the ARL Leadership Committee whose membership included: Nancy Baker, Washington State University; Joan Giesecke, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Carolyn Snyder, Southern Illinois University; DeEtta Jones, ARL Senior Program Officer for Diversity; and Kathryn Deiss, ARL/OLMS Program Manager"--Introduction to the executive summary, page 9.

The new essays on today's academic librarians examine above all their functions and responsibilities--since these have greatly changed just in recent years, especially in matters of technology. These librarians/essayists step away from yesterday's stereotypes and explain at length their new roles. From digital resources and special collections, to web development and new outreach initiatives, the topics covered by the essays in this book will reassure new librarians and stimulate prospective librarians as they realize the enhanced and varied positions that are available in the 21st century academic library.

Service on Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) is an uncommon activity for librarians. Even librarians who participate in institutional research activities in a supportive capacity or conduct their own original research as scholars themselves and are familiar with the IRB/IACUC research approval process, they may hesitate to participate more fully with these boards. There may be a perception that the work of the IRB and IACUC is too scientifically complex for librarians without an appropriate background. Library administrators may not advocate for librarian inclusion on the board for fear of additional burdens on the librarian’s time; and university administrators might need some convincing of the librarian’s suitability to perform this work. This book provides librarians with foundational knowledge of the IRB and IACUC, describes the work of these important committees, and expands librarians’ conceptualization and knowledge of opportunities to create services and partnerships through participation. The book provides a progressively more comprehensive understanding of the work of these committees. Parts I and II discuss IRB and IACUC, respectively; their history, functions and membership. Part III highlights expanding roles for librarians on IRB and IACUC; and in institutional research activities. A special feature of this section describes the experiences of librarians, in their own words, who work with IRB or IACUC; what they have learned, how they have used their experiences to create partnerships and market library services; and what role they see for libraries and librarians in institutional research.

Higher education institutions in the United States and across the globe, are realizing the importance of enabling internal and external collaborative work, e.g., interdisciplinary research and community partnerships. In recent years, researchers have documented the benefits of organizational collaboration for research including greater efficiency, effectiveness, and enhanced research reputation. In addition, accreditors, foundations, business, and government agencies have been espousing the value of collaboration for knowledge creation and research and improved organizational functioning. As a result of both the external pressures and the known benefits, many forms of internal and external research collaborations have begun to emerge in higher education. At the heart of this change, academic libraries, who have long been models for collaborative work, are increasingly participating in the research process by providing a widening range of research services beyond traditional reference services. Innovative library services, in areas such as bibliometric analysis, research data management, and data repositories, are evolving in response to changes in education funding and policies. These funding and policy changes have also coincided with technological developments to create opportunities for academic librarians to find new roles within their institutions and the research community. There is a growing body of literature examining these changing academic library roles, but few volumes have concentrated on how the nature of collaborative work in libraries is helping to reshape institutional research practices. Academic Libraries and Collaborative Research Services fills that void by providing academic librarians and administrators with case studies and guidance on how academic libraries are establishing their place in this new collaborative research arena in the areas of emerging liaison roles, research data services, open access and scholarly publishing, and professional development programming. The book will also be useful to higher education administrators and institutional research officers looking for information on how to partner with libraries to increase the effectiveness of collaborative research.