Researcher Unbound and National University of Singapore (NUS) Libraries' Evolving Role in Supporting University Research

As a discipline-neutral entity, knowledge exchange, and nexus of the university, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Libraries is the ideal conduit for bringing together faculties and departments to facilitate cross-disciplinary education and research. This case study gives a detailed walkthrough on the creation and design of the Research Skills Framework (RSF), which forms the backbone for all information literacy programmes (ILPs), specifically the flagship Researcher Unbound (RU) programme and RU Symposium, and shares challenges faced and future improvement plans. The exploration, design, and continual improvement of the programme ensured that NUS Libraries provides relevant and timely research support and enhances the digital information literacy skills of the NUS community. This programme continues to be a work in progress drawn from participants' feedback, attendance, experience, and insights from seven semestral runs and cumulative total of 172 workshop sessions.

Teaching Digital Competence and Scholarly Communication

The objective of the Research Support Services of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide Learning and Research Resource Center is to contribute to the improvement of the research processes as well as to maximize the results obtained and their evaluation. To this end, it offers bibliographic information and reference services, advice on the processes of publication, and evaluation, both individual and collective; standardization and digital academic identity; and, of course, training in all these areas within the context of the intensive use of digital media. For some years now, the LRRC's training of researchers has focused on the use of digital media as a part of the research process and has also integrated into the research staff training plan of the university that manages the corresponding service with which the LRRC collaborates very actively.

From Project to Customized Service

The academic landscape of the Netherlands has been influenced in recent years by new governmental policies regarding open access and open science, national and European legal guidelines, developments in ICT, and changes in how researchers are assessed. The University of Groningen Library (UB) has seized the opportunity in these developments, providing research support in the domains of registration and archiving of research output, open access publishing, research data management, and research analytics. Increased efficiency in traditional library procedures and the introduction of project-based funding have provided staff capacity for these developments. Full-service customization, to meet the needs of researchers and alleviate their time and work pressure, lies at the heart of the UB's research support.

Becoming Trusted Research Partners Through InfoExpress at The University of Toronto

This case study discusses the importance of building initial trust in the relationship between researcher and academic library. Primary coverage serves the experience of two small humanities-based colleges serving approximately 125 faculty members within a larger university campus by providing the personal document delivery service of InfoExpress. The trust built through this initial research support service creates avenues for further support from the library and the wider university library system. As every relationship has challenges, the ones occurring here are opportunities to improve the relationship in favour of the researcher and library. If the researcher is unaware of what support the library provides, establishing a personal relationship will immediately provide productive research time and create an opportunity for future support through additional personalized services. The researcher, their research, and their library benefit by this trusted partnership.

Research Support at University of Porto Libraries

This case study describes the research support services provided by the libraries of the University of Porto (U.Porto). The university is composed of 14 teaching units (each with its faculty library), and each faculty has a wide range of research units. U.Porto has a high research activity, which compels libraries to keep pace with the evolving researcher needs, adapting and creating new services that respond to those requirements. From a global perspective, the overall mission of these libraries is to ensure and promote access to information resources made available by U.Porto to the academic and scientific community, both in physical and electronic supports. More specifically, this case will detail the services already provided in the context of research support, ranging from specialized training sessions in scientific publishing, reference management software, or search in bibliographic databases to the creation of thematic guides, support on the publication of scientific journals from within the university, and bibliometric studies.

Gap in the Wall

The Writing Center is the newest, innovative service, established as a project-based initiative within the organization of the Library of Corvinus University Budapest. The present and future goals of the Writing Center require a wide spectrum of services if wanting to cater for the needs of doctoral students and faculty members. This includes traditional and novel tasks, such as fostering publication activities, combating information overload, being familiar with abstract writing, and Open Access offered to experienced and to early career researchers. The goal in this chapter is to demonstrate how the learning and research support activities of a library, comprising curricular and extra-curricular courses, trainings, and consultations can be integrated into the knowledge structures of the university as a whole. The authors place special emphasis on the role of group-based and individual mentoring throughout a university career, spanning from student to researcher, and on the development of transversal skills through the training programs of the Writing Center.

Beyond the Crossroads

The key strategic goal for research at Te Herenga Waka ‑ Victoria University of Wellington is to create a culture of ambitious research for transformative impact. To support this goal, a library restructure and investment in library teams supporting research has enabled a detailed understanding of the university's research output and how to increase its visibility. New working relationships and clearly defined research initiatives have demonstrated the diverse value of the library. New services and tools are outlined that help create value for schools, academics, and postgraduates; benchmark university performance; develop tailored services; enhance research profiles; and foster collaboration. Challenges and opportunities remain, including developing a university policy to support open access (OA) research and a new OA research repository to aid the promotion of, and access to, university research. The library continues to change perceptions of its services and works collaboratively to enhance individual and university research reputations.

Library Research Support Services

This chapter addresses library research services at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), an institution engaged with science and technology that clearly emerges as a research university. Due to the attributes of the UPC, its library, publications, and archives services differ from traditional libraries and have been transformed over its lifetime to offer services to researchers that fit their current and future needs. Librarians are actively seeking personalized solutions to meet researchers' needs. The Research Service Charter of the UPC libraries includes a range of assets related to UPC researchers as producers of new scientific output and as primary agents of its dissemination.

Reinventing Library Research Support Services at Griffith University

Griffith University provides advice and services to researchers around research grants, ethics and integrity, research performance, and publications and outputs. A broad-based researcher education and development program helps inform and upskill researchers and research students. From 2019, Griffith University Library has developed new services to support data-driven, data-intensive research and assist researchers through the entire research lifecycle. This chapter describes the staffing structure and the ideas underpinning a new service catalogue based around key areas, such as data management, open scholarship, and data wrangling. Methods to achieve this included a collaboratively developed knowledge base, the development of new workshops, mapping of research environments and referral pathways, and developing support for researchers for whom there is no established tool for the kinds of research they want to do. A push to establish the library as a vital and valued partner in research projects was a key driver for change.

Cases on Research Support Services in Academic Libraries

Peking University Library (the Library) conducts organizational restructuring in 2019, and the Collaborative Service Center (CCS) is designated as the provider of research support services, which is operated in interaction with the talent training system and the process of comprehensive reform. A string of innovations in research support services are implemented by CCS's two teams in an overall manner. This chapter introduces status of research support services in China and the Library's practices in research support services. This chapter introduces the new framework of the research support services from four aspects—service object, service provider, service content, and service strategy—and outlines its plans and visions for further efforts in this regard.