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Benefits of Having a Dedicated Research Support Team in an Academic Library

Research support in academic libraries refers to specialized services and resources to assist students, faculty, and researchers throughout the research process. This support is often provided by a dedicated team of librarians and specialists who offer guidance on various research needs, including advanced search strategies, data management, and navigating complex academic databases. With the rapid growth of information resources and digital tools, academic research has become more complex, and a robust research support framework is essential to help users efficiently locate, evaluate, and use information.

Beyond providing access to scholarly resources, research support teams offer personalized consultations, workshops on research techniques, and guidance on academic publishing. They often help with specialized tasks, such as systematic reviews, citation management, and adhering to data-sharing requirements. By equipping users with these resources and skills, research support teams empower students and faculty to conduct high-quality research, contribute to scholarly discourse, and achieve academic success. In doing so, they play a critical role in advancing the academic mission of their institutions and supporting a culture of inquiry and discovery.

Dedicated Research Support Team

A dedicated research support team in a library is a specialized group of librarians and research experts focused on providing comprehensive support to students, faculty, and researchers throughout the research lifecycle. Unlike general library staff, members of a research support team have advanced expertise in research methodologies, data management, scholarly publishing, and information literacy. Their primary goal is to assist users in conducting efficient, high-quality research, whether for academic projects, dissertations, or scholarly publications.

The team’s services often include one-on-one research consultations, workshops on research skills, data analysis training, and support for systematic literature reviews. Additionally, the team may offer guidance on the scholarly publishing process, from navigating copyright and open-access options to selecting appropriate journals. They also play a key role in managing institutional repositories, where the institution’s research outputs, such as theses and faculty publications, are archived for public access.

By providing tailored support, a dedicated research support team helps users tackle complex research tasks, ensures they have the skills and resources needed for academic success, and enhances the institution’s research output and reputation. In this way, the team contributes significantly to a library’s mission to foster a thriving academic environment and support the institution’s research goals.

Need for Research Support

The need for research support in academic settings has grown significantly due to the increasing complexity of information resources, the rise of digital tools, and the evolving standards of scholarly publishing. Research today is no longer limited to searching for books and articles; it often involves navigating complex databases, managing large datasets, understanding copyright and open access issues, and producing original contributions to scholarly knowledge. In this context, effective research support is crucial for helping students, faculty, and researchers conduct high-quality work efficiently and ethically.

For students, research support fosters essential skills such as information literacy, critical thinking, and data management, which are valuable for academic success and professional development. Students may struggle to locate credible sources, correctly format citations, or ethically use information without structured guidance. Dedicated research support allows faculty to stay current in their fields, find specialized resources, manage and preserve research data, and receive assistance with scholarly publishing processes, including journal selection and copyright management.

As academic institutions increasingly require open-access publishing and data-sharing compliance, researchers need support to meet these requirements while protecting their intellectual property. A strong research support system helps meet these needs, enhancing the institution’s research output, reputation, and overall academic mission. By investing in research support, academic libraries ensure that their communities have the tools and guidance needed to navigate the complexities of modern research, contributing to a culture of inquiry, innovation, and academic excellence.

Key Benefits of a Dedicated Research Support Team in an Academic Library

An academic library’s dedicated research support team provides targeted services and expertise that significantly enhance the research and teaching environment for students, faculty, and researchers. In today’s academic landscape, where information resources are vast and research requirements are increasingly complex, having a specialized team focused on supporting research needs can profoundly impact. Here are the key benefits of having a dedicated research support team in an academic library, highlighting its value to the institution and its academic community.

• Personalized Research Guidance: A dedicated research support team offers tailored, one-on-one assistance to students and faculty, providing them with specialized guidance throughout the research process. Unlike general library support, these consultations are personalized, addressing specific challenges like refining research questions, choosing the best databases, or structuring an effective search. This personalized guidance is especially valuable for students who may be new to academic research and for faculty working on complex or interdisciplinary projects that require in-depth support. By working closely with users, the research support team helps improve research quality and efficiency, fostering a confident, informed approach to academic inquiry.
• Advanced Research Skills Development: Research is a skill that requires practice and knowledge of advanced techniques. Research support teams enhance students’ and faculty members’ research skills by offering workshops and training sessions on key topics, such as information literacy, evaluating sources, citation management, and data analysis. These sessions provide users with essential tools to conduct high-quality research independently, fostering critical thinking and analytical skills. Developing these skills is crucial for students progressing through their academic careers and faculty aiming to incorporate advanced methodologies into their research. The research support team helps create a community of capable, self-sufficient researchers by focusing on skill-building.
• Expertise in Complex Research Needs: In today’s research landscape, scholars often encounter complex research demands, such as conducting systematic reviews, managing large datasets, or handling citation-heavy projects. A research support team provides expertise in these areas, offering tailored guidance for projects that require advanced methodologies or specialized resources. Systematic reviews, common in fields like healthcare and social sciences, require structured searches, criteria-setting, and careful data organization. By offering support in these areas, the research team helps ensure that researchers meet the high standards of academic rigor required for publication or funding applications. Additionally, training in citation management tools like EndNote and Zotero makes it easier for faculty and graduate students to organize references, a time-saving advantage that improves the accuracy and reliability of their work.
• Efficient Data Management and Preservation: As data plays an increasingly central role in academic research, proper data management is essential. Research support teams assist faculty and students in organizing, storing, and preserving research data, helping them meet both institutional and funding requirements for data management. These teams guide users in creating Data Management Plans (DMPs), which outline data organization, storage solutions, and long-term preservation practices. This support is crucial for grant-funded projects, where funding agencies often require clear data-sharing and preservation protocols. By providing expert advice on data management, research support teams ensure that data remains accessible for future research and validation, contributing to the integrity and reproducibility of academic work.
• Guidance in Scholarly Publishing and Open Access: Publishing in reputable journals is a key goal for faculty and researchers, but navigating the publishing landscape can be challenging. A dedicated research support team provides invaluable assistance in scholarly publishing by helping users understand copyright, licensing options, and open-access publishing opportunities. This guidance helps researchers retain rights to their work and make it accessible to a wider audience. The team also facilitates journal selection, helping researchers identify the most suitable journals based on their field, research focus, and desired impact. By offering expertise in scholarly publishing, the research support team empowers faculty and students to publish successfully and maximize the visibility and impact of their work.
• Institutional Repository Management: Research support teams often oversee the academic library’s institutional repository, a digital archive where the university’s research outputs, including theses, dissertations, and faculty publications, are stored and made accessible to a global audience. This repository increases the visibility of the institution’s research and allows students and faculty to contribute their work to a broader scholarly community. By managing this repository, the research support team ensures that the institution’s intellectual contributions are preserved and accessible over the long term. This enhances the institution’s academic reputation and supports open-access initiatives that make scholarly work freely available to the public.
• Increased Research Efficiency: With the support of a dedicated research team, faculty and students can streamline their research processes, saving time and resources. Librarians provide guidance on effective search techniques, resource selection, and data organization strategies that help researchers avoid common pitfalls and work more efficiently. This efficiency is invaluable for faculty juggling multiple responsibilities, allowing them to balance research with teaching and administrative duties. Students, too, benefit from learning efficient research practices early on, enabling them to complete assignments and projects with greater ease and confidence.
• Enhanced Collaboration Opportunities: Research support teams encourage interdisciplinary collaboration by connecting researchers across departments and helping them access resources that support cross-disciplinary work. This fosters an environment of innovation where faculty and students from diverse fields can work together on complex research questions. Additionally, the team often helps researchers find potential collaborators, funding sources, and partnership opportunities, thereby expanding the scope and impact of their research. The research support team plays a key role in building a collaborative, forward-thinking academic community by facilitating these connections.
• Support for Compliance and Ethical Research Practices: Research compliance and ethical considerations are crucial in maintaining the integrity and credibility of academic work. The research support team provides guidance on ethical research practices, including data privacy, responsible data usage, and plagiarism prevention. They also help faculty and students navigate compliance issues, such as intellectual property rights, copyright restrictions, and funding agency requirements. This support ensures that all research aligns with institutional and legal standards, safeguarding the researcher and the institution’s reputation.
• Contribution to Institutional Reputation and Research Impact: A dedicated research support team contributes significantly to an institution’s reputation by enhancing the quality and reach of its research output. High-quality research has a greater impact within the scholarly community, as it is more likely to be cited, shared, and recognized by peers. By improving research quality, supporting open-access initiatives, and increasing publication visibility, the team helps elevate the institution’s academic standing. This, in turn, attracts future students, faculty, and funding opportunities, fostering a thriving academic environment that reinforces the institution’s mission.
• Encouraging Student and Faculty Success: Above all, a dedicated research support team is essential for fostering student and faculty success. By offering individualized support, the team helps students and faculty gain the skills and confidence they need to conduct high-quality research. For students, this means developing a strong foundation in research skills that will benefit them throughout their academic and professional careers. For faculty, this support can be instrumental in producing impactful research, advancing their careers, and contributing to their field. A research support team helps build a supportive academic environment where all researchers are equipped to succeed.

A dedicated research support team transforms an academic library into a hub of scholarly excellence, providing services that improve the quality and efficiency of research and enhance the institution’s academic reputation. The benefits of having a dedicated team are far-reaching, from personalized research guidance and skill-building to ethical compliance and open-access support. By addressing the unique needs of researchers, fostering collaboration, and supporting the institution’s mission, a research support team plays a vital role in creating an environment where students and faculty can thrive in their academic pursuits. Through this essential support, academic libraries empower researchers to push the boundaries of knowledge, make meaningful contributions to their fields, and cultivate a culture of inquiry, innovation, and academic success.

How a Research Support Team Influences Faculty and Student Success

The presence of a dedicated research support team in an academic library significantly impacts both faculty and student success, providing essential resources, guidance, and skill-building opportunities that enhance their academic and professional journeys. This support empowers faculty to excel in their research and teaching while helping students gain the research skills, confidence, and critical thinking abilities they need to succeed in their studies and future careers. Here’s a closer look at how a research support team influences faculty and student success.

• Streamlined Research Process: Faculty often face the challenge of balancing research with teaching and administrative responsibilities. A research support team helps streamline their research process, providing expert guidance on topic refinement, resource selection, advanced search strategies, and data management practices. This efficiency allows faculty to conduct thorough research within limited timeframes, enabling them to meet academic deadlines, publish more frequently, and participate more actively in scholarly discourse.
• Improved Research Quality: With expert guidance, faculty can access high-quality resources, refine their methodologies, and improve the rigor of their studies. Research support teams often include specialists in fields like data management, systematic reviews, and scholarly publishing, who can offer advice on best practices, ensuring that faculty produce impactful, high-quality research. This support enhances the credibility and visibility of their work, increasing its likelihood of being cited, shared, and recognized in their field.
• Guidance in Journal Selection and Publication: For faculty seeking to publish their work, a research support team provides critical advice on journal selection, helping them choose reputable outlets that align with their research focus and career goals. This expertise helps faculty maximize the visibility and impact of their work while navigating the complexities of scholarly publishing.
• Support with Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access: Navigating copyright and licensing issues can be challenging, especially for early-career faculty. Research support teams offer guidance on copyright options and open-access publishing, helping faculty understand how to retain rights to their work, make it accessible to a wider audience, and comply with institutional open-access policies. This support not only increases the accessibility of their work but also enhances the institution’s research profile.
• Resource Curation and Course Reserves: Research support teams assist faculty in integrating high-quality resources into their courses, providing support in finding and curating relevant materials. They may also help set up course reserves, ensuring all students have equal access to essential readings and resources. This support enhances course content and provides students with the latest research materials, enriching their learning experience.
• Integration of Information Literacy : Many faculty collaborate with research support teams to incorporate information literacy into their curriculum. Librarians can deliver guest lectures or develop course-specific guides, teaching students essential research skills, such as evaluating sources, ethical information usage, and proper citation practices. This support helps faculty develop a well-rounded curriculum that prepares students to conduct academic research independently and confidently.
• Enhanced Research Impact and Visibility: By providing guidance on journal selection, research metrics, and data-sharing practices, research support teams help faculty increase the impact and visibility of their work. This support is crucial for tenure-track and early-career faculty, as it directly influences their academic reputation and career advancement.
• Support in Meeting Funding and Compliance Requirements: Many research projects have specific data-sharing, open-access, and ethical compliance requirements, especially for grant-funded research. Research support teams offer guidance on meeting these requirements, helping faculty navigate institutional and funder expectations. By supporting compliance, the team protects the faculty’s research and the institution’s reputation, enabling faculty to focus on their research goals and career progression.
• Research Skill Development: One of the most valuable services a research support team offers is the development of foundational research skills among students. Through workshops, tutorials, and one-on-one sessions, students learn how to conduct effective searches, evaluate sources, manage citations, and navigate databases. These skills are essential for academic success and future careers, as they help students become informed, capable researchers.
• Building Confidence in Research: Research can be intimidating for students, particularly those new to academic research or those working on significant projects like theses. The research support team provides personalized support, offering guidance and reassurance that helps students gain confidence in their research abilities. By teaching them to approach research methodically and critically, the team empowers students to take ownership of their work, contributing to their academic success.
• Support for Complex Research Projects: Graduate students often undertake complex research projects, such as dissertations or grant-funded research, which require advanced methodologies, large datasets, and extensive literature reviews. The research support team assists with these needs, providing specialized guidance on data management, citation practices, and compliance with publishing standards. This support is invaluable for graduate students, allowing them to conduct high-quality research and produce work that contributes meaningfully to their field.
• Preparation for Academic and Professional Careers: Research support teams provide skills-building resources that prepare graduate students for academic, research, and industry careers. By teaching advanced research skills, such as data analysis, systematic review techniques, and scholarly communication, the team equips graduate students with the tools they need for professional success. These skills make graduate students competitive candidates for research positions and academic roles, enhancing their career prospects.
• Creating a Supportive Research Community: A dedicated research support team fosters a sense of community within the academic institution. The team helps create a collaborative research culture that encourages idea-sharing, interdisciplinary projects, and innovation by connecting students and faculty with resources, collaborators, and opportunities. This inclusivity and collaboration make the library a central academic support and peer engagement hub.
• Equitable Access to Research Resources: Research support teams ensure that all students, regardless of their financial background or familiarity with research, have access to the same high-quality resources and guidance. Open-access resources, training sessions, and institutional repositories help democratize information access, making the academic environment more inclusive and equitable.
• High-Quality Research Output: Research support teams contribute directly to the institution’s academic reputation by enhancing faculty and student research quality. High-quality publications with significant scholarly impact increase the institution’s visibility and attractiveness to potential students, faculty, and funding organizations.
• Contribution to Global Scholarship: Through support for open-access publishing and institutional repositories, research support teams help faculty and students make their work accessible to a global audience. This aligns with the institution’s mission of knowledge dissemination and public access to research, enhancing the institution’s contributions to global scholarship.

An academic library’s dedicated research support team plays a transformative role in faculty and student success. For faculty, the team provides essential support that enables them to balance research and teaching, achieve academic recognition, and contribute valuable research to their fields. For students, the team offers foundational skills and confidence that foster academic achievement and career readiness. Together, these impacts create a thriving academic environment where students and faculty are empowered to pursue knowledge, innovation, and meaningful societal contributions.

The impact of a dedicated research support team goes beyond individual success; it strengthens the institution’s reputation, fosters a collaborative research culture, and contributes to a more inclusive and accessible academic environment. By investing in such a team, academic libraries position themselves as indispensable allies in pursuing academic and professional excellence, benefiting the institution and its community for years.

How Dedicated Research Support Team Improving Institutional Research Output and Collaboration

A dedicated research support team within an academic library enhances an institution’s research output and fosters a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment. By providing faculty and students with specialized guidance, access to essential resources, and opportunities for cross-departmental partnerships, these teams significantly boost the quality, visibility, and impact of research produced at the institution. Here’s an in-depth look at how dedicated research support teams improve institutional research output and collaboration.

• Access to Specialized Resources: Research support teams ensure researchers have access to extensive academic databases, specialized journals, e-books, and archival collections. This range of resources is invaluable for producing high-quality research, as it allows faculty and students to base their work on the latest and most relevant findings.
• Improving Research Efficiency: Through consultations and workshops on topics like systematic review methodologies, data management, and advanced research strategies, research support teams streamline the research process. This guidance saves time, allowing faculty to produce more research in shorter timeframes while ensuring that all work meets high-quality standards. The increased efficiency also frees faculty to focus on additional projects, thereby boosting the institution’s research output.
• Guidance in Journal Selection and Publishing: Research support teams work with faculty and students to identify the best journals and publishing outlets for their work, helping them choose high-impact venues that align with their research goals. This expert advice ensures that researchers can maximize the visibility and academic impact of their work, increasing the institution’s overall research output and reputation.
• Promoting Open Access and Institutional Repository Management: Many research support teams manage open-access repositories where faculty and students can deposit published articles, preprints, and other research outputs. Open access makes the institution’s research more widely available, increasing readership, citation rates, and overall impact. Additionally, by facilitating easy access to these repositories, the team ensures that the institution’s research reaches a global audience, extending its influence and visibility across the academic community.
• Data Management Planning and Compliance: A research support team provides guidance on creating Data Management Plans (DMPs), which are often required by funders. These plans detail how data will be organized, stored, and shared, ensuring that research complies with funding agency mandates. By assisting with DMPs, research support teams not only support compliance but also help researchers adopt data management best practices that contribute to research integrity and reproducibility.
• Long-Term Data Preservation and Accessibility: Research support teams guide researchers in storing and preserving data long-term, often by facilitating access to institutional or secure data repositories. This preservation ensures that data remains accessible for future studies, supporting data transparency and enabling other researchers to validate or build upon existing work. By helping researchers comply with data-sharing mandates, the team enhances the institution’s ability to secure future research funding.
• Building Connections Across Disciplines: The research support team, often positioned at the center of the institution, is uniquely positioned to identify overlapping research interests across departments and facilitate connections among faculty and students. The team encourages researchers from diverse fields to share ideas, find potential collaborators, and develop interdisciplinary projects by organizing workshops, symposia, and networking events.
• Resource Sharing for Interdisciplinary Research: Research support teams curate specialized resources that cater to interdisciplinary needs, providing access to materials and databases that support complex, multi-field projects. By making these resources accessible and organized, the team reduces barriers to cross-departmental work, enabling faculty and students to collaborate effectively.
• Research Management and Collaboration Tools: Many research support teams provide access to tools that simplify collaboration, including citation management software, research networking platforms, and collaborative data management tools. These technologies make it easier for researchers to manage references, share documents, and co-author publications across departments and institutions.
• Digital Repositories and Data Sharing Platforms: Research support teams also manage institutional repositories and data-sharing platforms that allow researchers to store and share data securely. These repositories are particularly useful for multi-institutional projects, as they ensure data is easily accessible to collaborators while maintaining data security and integrity.
• Mentorship for Early-Career Researchers: Research support teams help emerging scholars build their research skills and gain confidence in their abilities by working closely with graduate students and early-career faculty. This mentorship encourages young researchers to engage in more ambitious projects, thereby contributing to the institution’s research output.
• Opportunities for Student Involvement: Research support teams encourage undergraduate and graduate students to participate in faculty-led research, offering guidance on how to conduct literature reviews, collect data, and manage citations. By supporting student involvement, the team enriches students’ academic experiences and amplifies the institution’s research output through student-faculty collaborations.
• Promoting Research Integrity and Best Practices: Research support teams provide training on responsible data handling, ethical research practices, and scholarly communication standards. By fostering adherence to these best practices, the team ensures that all research produced aligns with high academic standards, enhancing the institution’s credibility in the academic community.
• Encouraging Open Communication and Knowledge Sharing: Through consultations, workshops, and collaborative events, research support teams create spaces where faculty and students can openly discuss ideas, ask questions, and seek feedback on their work. This knowledge-sharing atmosphere leads to more robust academic dialogue, inspiring innovative research approaches and collaborative projects that produce impactful results.
• Aligning with Institutional Research Priorities: Research support teams play a strategic role by helping faculty and students produce research that aligns with the institution’s research focus areas. This alignment ensures that the institution’s resources are directed toward achieving specific academic and research goals, strengthening the institution’s profile within the academic community.
• Global Connections and Research Partnerships: By making research accessible through open-access repositories and facilitating collaborative projects, research support teams connect the institution to the global research community. This increased visibility fosters relationships with other institutions, research centers, and funding agencies, creating opportunities for partnerships that further enhance the institution’s influence and reach.

A dedicated research support team is a foundational asset for any academic institution , essential in elevating research output and promoting collaboration across disciplines. By providing specialized guidance, fostering interdisciplinary connections, and ensuring compliance with data and publishing standards, these teams improve the quality, efficiency, and visibility of research conducted at the institution.

Beyond immediate support, the work of a research support team has a lasting impact on the institution’s research culture, reputation, and academic standing. By building an environment where faculty and students feel supported, connected, and inspired, research support teams create a thriving academic community focused on innovation, collaboration, and excellence in scholarship. Through this essential support, they contribute significantly to the institution’s mission of advancing knowledge, fostering discovery, and making a meaningful impact on the academic and global community.

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Library Research Support Services

• Supporting Open Research
• REF Open Access policy
• UKRI Open Access policy
• Other funder Open Access policies
• Author checklist
• Choosing a journal for publication
• Read & Publish agreements
• Book chapters
• Licensing your open access publications
• DClinPsy Research Article deposit
• PEARL Open Access repository
• Responsible Use of Metrics
• SciVal Reporting
• Promoting & tracking your publication impact
• Research Data Management This link opens in a new window
• Training sessions This link opens in a new window

Open Research, when practiced throughout the research cycle and not just in the final dissemination of outputs, supports a more transparent & reproducible, collaborative & democratic research culture whilst maximising the reach of research.

What is 'Open Research'?

'Open Research' refers to the practice of openness throughout the research process, in terms of both how research is performed, knowledge is shared and how research is assessed.  All of these components, when conducted with transparency, can support a healthier research culture:

• Transparency of research methods encourages ethical data collection and verifiable results.
• Research findings and methods can be more easily reproduced, which supports the rigour & integrity of research findings.
• Institutions transparent in their use of research metrics support an inclusive research culture reducing the risk of individuals prioritising research goals & strategies that may result in lower quality research findings.
• Open research findings are freely discoverable to support public trust in academia & public engagement activity & impact.

UNESCO recognises Open Research as a critical accelerator for the achievement of the UN SDGs: 

• UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science

There are links between Open Research practice and Research Culture & Integrity

A research culture that favours and rewards publication solely in traditional High Impact factor journals (journals which may be paywalled or charge a high APC for Gold Open Access) is a culture that equates publication in such venues with prestige and research excellence.  This can create, "...a hyper-competitive research environment... encouraging researchers at all stages to prioritise research goals that are likely to have short term impact, and (in particular) strategies that may contribute to lower quality research findings."   UKRN position on responsible research evaluation.

[click image for large version]

Actions researchers can take to be more open

Open Research can support the development of a healthier research culture as it endeavours to foster transparency and collaboration that can challenge traditional academic hierarchies.  Some of the ways in which Open Research practice is evolving to change research culture:

Creating a Data Management Plan and publishing open data for reproducibility and verification

Publishing preprints

Using platforms such as Octopus.ac  (UKRI & JISC backed) to 'deconstruct' the research publishing process, enable transparency/critique of the research journey and gain credit for 'publishing' different part of the research process

Pre-registration of studies where proposals e.g. hypotheses, are formally & publicly 'registered' and commit a researcher to disclose a process for accomplishing the research.  Various platforms exist e.g. Open Science Framework or Prospero .

Publishing methods papers and reporting null results (often published as preprints)

Sharing software and code with version control

Conducting participatory indigenous research; patient & public involvement; citizen science

Rights Retention & open licencing e.g. CC-BY (why are you signing away your work to a publisher to profit from and prevent your re-use of your work?)

Open peer review: in order to bring more transparency, accountability and inclusivity to the peer review process.  It doesn't always mean reviewer names are shared, it can simply mean the review is posted next to the preprint.  In some models, the public can post reviews alongside the preprint or comment on a review.  Reviewers' expertise & time given to peer review can be listed in  ORCiD profiles .

Narrative CVs (now required by UKRI) are a direct result of funders' commitment to assessing research outputs during funding decisions on the intrinsic merit of the work and not to consider the publication channel, its impact factor (or other journal metrics), or the publisher.

CRediT : crediting all contributions to published articles and stating the role played e.g. Technicians

Responsible research assessment e.g. DORA & CoARA

Using Open Educational Resources and open-source tools for teaching  

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Research Support Services and Outreach Programs

Research Support Services and Outreach Programs Section

• Introduction
• Subscribed resources and tools
• Research Metrics and Visibility
• Research Support Services

This section explores to support research and outreach services to the clientele of the Central Library using Research Information Management (RIM) and other library resources, services, and products. We at Central Library provide services, resources, products, and expertise to support every phase of your study, teaching, research and extension from discovery and design to creation and sharing. The section takes care of the Faculty Profiling System of IIT Delhi and provides different types of raw and analysed data for different purposes to help institute achieve its goals including for the ranking purpose as well.

Outreach services are now an important component of the libraries through which users are trained to make optimum use of the resources subscribed by the library or available in open access. The section also has the responsibility to conduct Author/Publishing Workshops and to help the users in making use of the academic writing and research tools including Grammarly, different online bibliographic and full-text databases, eBooks, etc.

We further plan to strengthen research services, help to discover and access library and archival materials, data, and e-resources beyond the library catalogue and topic guide for the resources selected by subject specialists to focus your research on a topic, projects and partnerships between the Libraries and research community, to arrange Workshop Specialists to provide instructions on research methods, etc.

The section is guided by all the relevant people from the Central Library who have expertise and interest in this domain of the system under the overall supervision of Librarian & Head, Central Library.

For any query (ies)/suggestion, please contact:

Dr. Vijay Kumar Verma

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Making friends and influencing people: research support edition

• Brian Lavoie, Ph.D.
• 05 February 2020
• Partnerships

Research support services are essential to the university’s research enterprise—enhancing researcher productivity, facilitating analysis of research activity, and making research outputs visible and accessible across the scholarly community and beyond. Research support services extend over the entire research life cycle—as well as across the entire campus.

How is research support carried out?

Here are a few examples you might encounter around campus:

• A university researcher deposits data sets in a campus data repository jointly maintained by campus IT services and the library.
• An administrator in the College of Arts and Sciences identifies areas of institutional research strength by analyzing data from the research information management system operated by the Research Office.
• An initiative co-sponsored by the Office of Research Development and the library helps faculty members develop personal profiles to highlight expertise and illuminate connections for research collaboration.

A new OCLC Research project, Institutional Stakeholders in Research Support , explores the range of campus stakeholders in research support services, with the goal of identifying key lessons in building fruitful campus partnerships around research support.

Adapted from The Evolving Scholarly Record (OCLC Research, 2014)

The university library is an important campus provider of research support services, but certainly not the only one. As the examples cited above suggest, many campus units can be involved in research support. And often, these services are provided through partnerships among multiple campus units—for example, an institutional repository managed by the library and deployed through campus computing resources. Moreover, the consumers of these services are spread out across campus, including not just researchers, but also university offices such as Communications or Faculty Affairs.

In short, research support services extend across the campus in many ways—whether through a distribution of services across multiple campus providers, multi-unit collaboration in service provision, or a wide campus network of service consumers.

Know your partners: six questions

Effective engagement in research support services may require the library to work with a wide array of campus units, some of which may be long-standing partners with deep connections to the library, while others may be only superficially familiar. Good collaboration means knowing your partners. Think about a campus partner you work with. How many of these questions can you answer?

• What do they do?
• Why is it important?
• How do they do it?
• What cross-campus relationships are vital to their mission?
• What unique skills or capacities do they offer?
• What are their “pain points”?

Robust, productive campus partnerships must be built on a solid mutual understanding of what each partner brings to the table, in terms of both needs and capacities.

The OCLC Research project Institutional Stakeholders in Research Support is intended to help fill the knowledge gap library staff may face in working with campus partners in the realm of research support services. The core of the project is a set of interviews we are conducting with individuals from a wide range of campus units at US universities, including campus computing, Graduate Studies, the Provost Office, the Research Office, Faculty Affairs, and more. Our goal is to hear their stories and learn from their experiences, finding out what their unit does, its interests in research support, and how they manage successful cross-campus relationships with stakeholders in research support.

When the interviews are complete, we will synthesize the results and distill some general “lessons learned” from the myriad experiences related by our informants. Our hope is that the project findings will better prepare libraries for engaging in successful campus partnerships around research support services.

Make friends and influence people

Self-improvement writer and speaker Dale Carnegie, in his famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People , offers this advice: You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you .

We are still assembling our findings, but one key takeaway, presaged by Carnegie, seems to resonate frequently throughout the interviews we’ve conducted so far, and reinforces the premise of our study.

Productive, sustainable relationships require participants to learn about one another. Libraries can engage more effectively in the provision of research support services by learning as much as possible about their prospective campus partners. We hope our research can be a step in that direction.

OCLC colleagues Rebecca Bryant and Annette Dortmund are my co-researchers on the Institutional Stakeholders in Research Support project; thanks to both for helpful comments that improved this post!

Related Posts:

Share your comments and questions on Twitter with hashtag #OCLCnext .

Tags: Research Collections and Support