Research support services: What services do researchers need and use?
The RIN and OCLC Research have undertaken a comparative study to investigate information-related support services for researchers in the UK and the US.
This collaborative research project was composed of two separate, but linked, analyses. It identifies and examines information-related support services throughout the lifecycle of the research process.
The project’s goal was to discover researchers’ needs and desires in a small sample of UK and US universities and to identify the significant patterns, intersections, gaps and issues from researchers’ points of view, whatever the source of such services.
This study documents the nature and scope of research support services, providing examples of good practice, recommending areas where new practice might emerge, and identifying possible areas and scope for collaboration within and between institutions.
Comparing national academic practices will provide evidence and encourage coordination to meet the needs of academic research internationally.
The report is available to download below, providing librarians and information professionals, research support staff, university administrators, and research funders with a clear and detailed set of conclusions and recommendations about how they might develop their services to meet the needs and aspirations of researchers.
The RIN and OCLC Research contracted Centre for Information Behaviour and Evaluation in Research (CIBER) to undertake the UK sample and Kroll Research Associates for the US sample.
A further report now available, Supporting Research: Environments, Administration and Libraries, synthesizes the results of the two parallel studies of research support services in US and UK universities. You can also download this report below.
Comments
Anonymous said on 22 July 2011 at 9:07am:
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Anonymous said on 01 February 2011 at 10:18pm:
I hope they were effective in adapting to researchers’ needs and desires in the UK and US. I’m quite sure there were issues from researchers’ points of view.
MD
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