“The Triangle of Research Support”Introductory Ppt.: Introduction to Information and Digital

Literacy, Strengthening Doctoral Supervision Course, 10th June.Grahamstown - South Africa

©Fiona Still-Drewett, Rhodes University Library

2015

Delamont et al Delamont, S., Atkinson, P., & Parry, O., (eds) 2004, Supervising the doctorate : a guide to success, 2nd ed., Society for Research into Higher Education : Open University Press, London.

“Whatever the discipline, the doctoral student has to get to grips with the literature, and learn how to find it, read it, assimilate it and write about it”

“It is easy to overestimate the level of library skills that students have”

Macauley & McKnight in Bartlett, A., & Mercer, G. (eds) 2001, Postgraduate research supervision : transforming (r)elations, P. Lang, New York.

“Libraries play a key role in ensuring the success of students and, therefore, the success of universities”.

They propose a much closer collaboration among librarians, postgraduate research students, and their supervisors, and talk of three way partnership.

Triangle of research support

In our experience at RUL:PG Students often lack knowledge of the basics of research information and management, such as: managing their library record and off campus access; knowledge of the research databases; advanced keyword searches; ILL services; thesis submission guidelines; and location of the subject specialist librarians.

 

The Research appointment – one on one, librarian keeps record of visits – date and content, librarian alerts student to new or additional research material

Impart Information fluency skills Literature survey: aid in finding relevant materials

both print and e, and all prior research in the subject area

Referencing & citing e.g. bibliographic management tools such as Refworks or Zotero to aid in managing and organising information

Roles librarian can play:

Thesis submission guidelines on RUL website

Assist the academic supervisor in keeping up to date with evolving information technologies and services. Supervisors can lack necessary information skills to keep up to date in their fields

Letters of introduction to other university libraries so as to enable the post graduate students access to research collections

 

Roles librarians can play cont.

Introducing the student to the relevant library staff & arranging of a tour of the library

Setting up training sessions with the subject specialist library staff

Aid in collection development via ordering of resources from departmental library budgets and/or motivating for new resources

Roles Supervisor can play:

Stay up to date with latest research

Have knowledge of: new information technologies, research analysis tools, publishing dos and don’ts, issues around open access publishing, and the setting up of researcher profiles.

Encourage collegial networking & collaboration

Familiarity with social scholarship to enhance research impact & reach

Roles Supervisor can play cont. :

Author ID: select name format & stick to it! (prevents author ambiguity)

Create a Google Scholar citation profile, a Researcher ID profile, and an ORCID id

Participate in the research landscape: blogs, twitter.. Deposit all research output on your institution’s repository

(Rhodes Digital Commons) Above enhances research impact

(application of research, citation count, global reach, collegial collaboration)

Helps to develop one’s academic career, Contributes to institutional research output, & Grows funds for research &

higher education

Emerging Scholar essentials!

RUL aims to providea conducive and supportive environment for

scholarship,and to enhance a PG community of practise in the RCs

& PGCs

Need for“Partnering relationships for graduation ~

between the students, the academic faculty, and the library”

Last but not least!humour – trials & tribulations of the PhD life

DVD , book and web sources