In 2016, my book Dynamic Research Support for Academic Libraries was released in the UK by Facet Publishing, and is available in the US from the ALA Store and through Amazon.com. It’s a contributed volume full of accounts from librarians worldwide about how they support faculty and student research at academic libraries.
What does “research support” mean?
It’s any method by which a librarian (or a related information maven) supports how faculty and students contribute to knowledge in their discipline. This includes some services traditionally in provided by libraries (such as reference or research consultations), but is rapidly expanding to include support for GIS projects, better metadata, and more.
Higher education and academic libraries are in a period of rapid evolution. Technology, pedagogical shifts, and programmatic changes in education mean that libraries must continually evaluate and adjust their services to meet new needs. Research and learning across institutions is becoming more team-based, crossing disciplines and dependent on increasingly sophisticated and varied data. To provide valuable services in this shifting, diverse environment, libraries must think about new ways to support research on their campuses, including collaborating across library and departmental boundaries.
Who should read this book?
- Librarians, administrators, and other library staff interested in re-thinking their approach to research support.
- Librarians looking for an international approach to this topic.
- Library school students interested in emerging forms of academic librarianship.
For more about what research support means, see the video below.
For more about the book’s content and structure, see the following video.
If you enjoy the video’s spiffy “research lifecycle” graphic, you can also download it to print and enjoy as a nerdy decoration for your office, or proudly affix to the front of your home refrigerator.
