Library- What Library? Information Services for

Researchers Michael Jubb

Research Information Network

Sci Tech Conference MasterclassLondon, 30 April 2009

The Enlightenment Ideal

A Changing Landscape

Research in the Lab

Libraries and Archives

Publications and DataFieldwork

A Changing Landscape

Visits to the Library

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2001 2006 2011

Per

cent

Ov erall

Arts &Humanities

SocialSciences

Phy sicalSciences

Life Sciences

The Role of Information in Research: a Crude Model

Defining a set of research questions, issues or problemsIdentifying relevant existing information and knowledgeAccessing, analysing, and evaluating existing knowledge and dataDesigning a methodology for generating new knowledgeApplying the methodology and discovering new information and knowledgeCombining old and new knowledge to answer research questions and to enhance understandingDisseminating the outcomes of research in a form that is both sustainable and retrievable

Researchers as Users of Information

What do researchers want to find and use?

Research Resources Yes No Journal articles 99.5% 0.5%

Chapters in multi-authored books 97.0% 3.0%

Organization’s web sites 90.8% 9.2%

Expertise of individuals 90.1% 9.9%

Conference proceedings 85.8% 14.2%

Monographs 83.3% 16.7%

Datasets – published or unpublished 62.0% 38.0%

Original text sources, e.g. newspapers, historical records 61.5% 38.5%

Preprints 54.7% 45.3%

Non-text sources, e.g. images, audio, artifacts 47.0% 53.0%

Other 18.0% 82.0%

What Discovery Services do they Use?Ranked research discovery service/source Rating

1. General search engine 1.6

2. Internal library portal 2.0

3. Specialist search engine 2.1

4. Research colleague 2.2

5. Subject-specific gateway 2.4

6. A&I service, Bibliographic database 2.6

7. External library or library portal 2.7

8=. Browsing internal library shelves 2.9

8=. Citation index 2.9

10. Librarian 3.1

11. List-servs 3.3

12. Blogs 3.5

Journal use and research outcomes

3 groups of universitiesLink between usage and outcomes?

Journal use and research outcomes

Researchers as Creators and Communicators

Continuity and Changing RolesCore requirements

registrationgrowth of collaborative researchpre-prints and working papers

certificationpre-publication and post-publication peer review

dissemination self-publicationprint (and journals?) no longer necessary

preservation who’s responsible?

Key agentsresearchersresearch institutionspublisherssecondary publisherslibrarieslearned societies

Some more challengesDissemination and impactResearch assessment and evaluationOpen access publishing

Green routeGold route

Dealing with dataIPRNew ways of communicating

Where do UK researchers publish?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Percent

Arts & humanities 82.0 6.1 8.6 6.5 2.8

Social sciences 77.9 8.6 15.9 5.3 3.8

Phy sical sciences 72.6 20.6 27.8 6.3 5.4

Life sciences 78.3 8.6 14.1 10.1 14.9

Sub-based journal (SBJ )

SBJ + OA repository

SBJ + own website

Fee-based OA journal

Free OA journal

Key issuesWhat are researchers’ needs? How can they best be met?

Who provides what and how? Is that provision sustainable?

Content

Services

Skills

Any questions?

Michael Jubbwww.rin.ac.uk