scholarly journals Teaching and research: challenges for academic staff

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Briggs
2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (104) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Ann Chelin ◽  
Jason Briddon ◽  
Elspeth Williams ◽  
Jane Redman ◽  
Alastair Sleat ◽  
...  

This article outlines research carried out with students and academic staff at a large UK university library on how e-books are being used for learning, teaching and research. It was discovered that e-books are meeting many of users' needs, especially in terms of accessibility, but there are still concerns about subject coverage and the impact on students' learning. There are various reasons why e-books are beneficial in developing an academic library collection, most particularly for reference materials and essential readings, but librarians need to work closely with academic staff to integrate use of e-books effectively into learning and teaching, taking care that licence and access implications are better understood. The drivers to the use of e-books appear to be outweighing the barriers, although the latter will require considerable effort on the part of librarians within their institutions and also in terms of communicating concerns to e-book providers.


Author(s):  
Hilde Daland

One of Agder University Librarys goals is to support teaching and research at the University of Agder (UoA). To do so, the library should be involved in research projects and offer the right products at the right time. The spring of 2012 a survey was conducted among researchers (academic staff and Ph.D.-students) at the faculty of humanities and education at UoA as well as the library staff. Aditional interviews was made with the library´s research librarians and two of the Ph.D.-students. The surveys and interviews made it clear that researchers and librarians have a different conception on what research support is and should be. While librarians focus mostly on library resources, the researchers focus more generally on practical, economical and administrative help to make research possible. However, the majority answered yes to the question on the library being an important part of research support.Working closely with the researchers can help to offer the right library resources at the right time. Ph.D.-students are less likely to be set in their ways in regards to information behaviour and will often be positive to try new approaches. Also, the Ph.D.-students can be used as a reference group for developing library resources for researchers, for example subject guides. The outside perspective on the library can help to find new ways of approaching research support to make it more useful to researchers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Frederik Voetmann Christiansen

Universiteternes stillingsstruktur har betydning for, hvordan universiteterne kan varetage undervisning og forskning – herunder sikre samspillet mellem hovedopgaverne. Artiklen kortlægger hvordan de 5 stillingscirkulærer der har været fra 1994 til i dag har ført til forskydninger i ansættelsespraksis på universiteterne i retning af relativt flere midlertidige stillinger med altovervejende fokus på forskning. Det konkluderes, at der er behov for et fornyet politisk fokus på hvordan samspillet mellem forskning og undervisning kan styrkes, og at stillingsstrukturen er et vigtigt sted at sætte ind.  The Job Structure for Academic Staff affects how universities organize teaching and research and particularly how they can ensure interplay between the two fundamental tasks. The article maps how five different Job Structures from 1994 to today have led to a shift in employment practices at universities towards temporary positions with a focus on research. It is concluded that the interplay between research and teaching could be strengthened, and that a revision of the Job Structure for Academic Staff is an important element in this endeavour.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Creaser ◽  
Susanne Cullen ◽  
Ruth Curtis ◽  
Nicola Darlington ◽  
Jane Maltby ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to bring together the findings of two studies investigating the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff in higher education institutions. The Working Together (WT) project was an international study, funded by SAGE Publishing, investigating the value of academic libraries for teaching and research staff in the USA, UK and Scandinavia. The Raising Academic Impact (RAI) project was an initiative of the University of Nottingham (UoN) aimed at increasing the impact of academic librarians in departments across the university by assessing perception and awareness of current library services and future needs of academic staff. Design/methodology/approach – The WT project was conducted during Spring 2012, comprising a series of eight case studies and an online survey exploring the case study experiences and findings within their wider regional and academic context. One was conducted at the UoN, and included the RAI project. The RAI project was originally a four-phase initiative conducted by academic librarians at the UoN. The first phase, which is reported in this paper, consisted of a survey of teaching and research staff, distributed in summer 2012, investigating awareness, uptake and value of existing services, as well as demand for new library services. Findings – Determining the value of academic libraries is a challenging task as very little evidence (beyond the anecdotal) is collected. Perceptions of library value vary greatly between what librarians think the value of their library is to academic staff and how academic staff actually value their library. Information literacy and study skills teaching are greatly valued by academic staff. Despite current efforts, research support is still limited, owing to a cultural barrier hampering greater collaboration between libraries and academic staff in this area. Communication and marketing are keys to increase the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff. Originality/value – This paper presents the key findings from the two studies in parallel. It is anticipated that these discoveries will be of interest to the wider library community to help libraries develop services which are closely linked to the needs of teaching and academic staff.


2011 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Maria Jose Saura ◽  
Pep Simo ◽  
Mihaela Enache ◽  
Vicenc Fernandez

The legal changes in the hiring profiles of universities in Spain implied significant changes in the processes of employment, stabilization and promotion of their academic staff. The aim of this research is to identify the antecedents of health and job stress of this staff, which traditionally experimented low levels of these indicators. The empirical research was based on an exploratory study that combined quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (cognitive interviews) data gathered from 26 cases representing three different academic positions: teaching assistants, post-dissertation teaching assistants and tenured PhD lecturers. This paper proposes a health and job stress model with five dynamics: justice, permanence commitment, time, and demands and resources related with the teaching and research staff assessment process. The findings indicate that the last two dynamics (demands and resources) are mediated by the insecurity construct. This model allows comparing the classical models of job stress with the new scenario of the Spanish universities and represents a first step for the development of more efficient human resource practices in universities.


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