LIBRARY & LEARNING SERVICES

RESEARCH SUPPORT STRATEGY 2012-15

Context

Library research support strategic priorities are guided by the University Strategy and Research strategy.

The University of East London (UEL) has defined its visionin its Transformation for Excellence 2010-2020[1] strategy:

“To be an enterprising, international University bringing transformationalopportunities to individuals, communities and businesses in our region, through diversity, partnership and excellence in teaching and research”.

The University’s vision and research aspirations have been deeply embedded in the University’s Research & Innovation Excellence Strategy. The strategy emphasises that research activity at UEL underpins everything that we do – it is what defines us as auniversity. UEL is committed to support research, innovationand creativity in an environment where there is freedom for ideas andintellectual thinking to develop across disciplines. “Our ambition and aspiration at UEL is to be the leading modern, post-’92 university forresearch.” (Prof. John Joughin Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Research Innovation and Excellence Strategy).

Library and Learning Services (LLS) is a key component in the intellectual life of the University. By working innovatively, proactively, and using limited resources creatively LLS provides a service which competes with the best in the sector and is a sector leader in exploiting cutting edge technologies for the delivery of cost effective services. Beinga strategic partner LLS proactively supports the University community in achieving its goals, thus enhancing the reputation of the University. As an integral part of the research infrastructure, LLS aims to support its researchers with high quality library and information management-related services that increase research capacity and exposes the research activity at UEL to worldwide audience.

This strategy provides the framework for the LLS to support the University’s research aspirations well as learning & teaching.

Current Provision

To support research, capability building, development of a research culture and dissemination of research outputs, LLS provides high quality scholarly resources which facilitate scholarly communication.This is done through collaboration with the schools and professional services such as Graduate School, Research and Development Support (ReDS) team, research institutes and research centres.

LLS have developed unique digital archives in the area of Performing Arts and 2012 Games Legacy and Refugee archive through outstanding partnerships and collaborations. The partnerships and funding opportunities has stimulated a research culture within LLS itself.

LLS manages ROAR (Research Open Access Repository) for showcasing and long-term stewardship of university’s research outputs. It is online at roar.uel.ac.uk and open to all without barriers – indeed, around 40% of its users in 2011 were based outside the UK.

LLS offer a mediated service whereby staff check copyright and deposit publications on behalf of authors (the self-deposit option is also available). We promote the service through a combination of channels and engage in advocacy for the benefits of Open Access, which include, barrier-free and cost-free access to publications, promoting UEL research to global audience and long term preservation of outputs for researchers.

LLS has invested heavily in electronic journal subscriptions and in several major databases such as ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge, JSTOR, Project Muse, SportsDiscus etc. to meet the needs of our research community. These allow seamless access to a wealth of full-text material, abstracts and citation data through our state-of-the-art resource discovery system.Researchers can set up alerts to be kept informed of new publications in their subject areas, and to track their own publications.

LLS offer training in information literacy and in the use of EndNote software to manage references and generate citations in “Cite them Right” and other formats.

LLS also has reciprocal borrowing arrangements and use of facilities with other libraries through the SCONUL Access scheme and membership of the M25 Consortium.

The research support strategy is a roadmap rather than a prescriptive plan and forms the basis of detail research support action plan which will be undertaken by a cross section of staff.

Strategic Priorities 2012-2015

Strategic priority / Key actions
1. Enhancing access to Resources
LLS will continue to develop responsive collections to meet current & future needs of our research community to successfully compete in the changing research environment. /
  • Trial on-demand article delivery service to deliver toll-access resources at the point of need, free to researchers. Review and adopt from 2013 as part of LLS service.
  • Increase scholarly resources through harvesting & integration of high quality open access resources.
  • Research and cost additional resources aimed at research community (notably Scopus which offers fuller HASS coverage and rich bibliometrics).
  • Continue to develop digital archives and special collections to support research, through externally funded collaborative projects.
  • Acquire and develop appropriate archives in consultation with research staff to support research.

2. Transform Access to UEL research through building robust infrastructure
Technological developments continue to re-shape teaching & research environment. LLS will continue to review, enhance and develop new infrastructure to facilitate research growth. /
  • Trial showcase of taught student dissertations on ROAR in collaboration with students and staff in two Schools 2012-13. Review and adopt UEL-wide 2013-2014.
  • Develop marketing and advocacy for widening deposits in ROAR 2013.
  • Enhance services offered by ROAR to provide tangible benefits to authors for item-level statistics 2012, RSS feeds to personal/group pages 2013.
  • Adopt e-publishing platform for UEL-hosted journals 2013 and conferences 2014. Maintain watch on similar systems for e-books.
  • Streamline resource discovery to maximise exposure of UEL research.
  • Develop advice on funder Open Access mandates for researchers 2013.

3. Managing Research Data
LLS will lead the development of a research data support service and infrastructure to meet current and emerging data management requirements, and growth of data-driven research. /
  • Train researchers to manage data to comply with funder requirements and maximise exposure of data. TraD project 2012-13 will report on experience in three Schools for wider take-up 2013-2015.
  • Co-ordinate development of Research Data Management service and infrastructure 2012-2015.
  • Establish data catalogue on ROAR 2013 for funder compliance and resource discovery. Develop ROAR for handling public datasets of UEL research 2013.
  • Train information professionals to support data management.
  • Make Research Data Management Officer post permanent after TraD project funding ceases in May 2013 to support new data management service.

4. Skills Development
LLS will actively develop training opportunities in collaboration with internal & external partners to enhance skills of UEL researchers. /
  • Develop more joint training programmes with Graduate School, Learning Development Unit and Schools
  • Train subject librarians in Research Data Management skills through TraD project in 2012-13. Offer such training to others in support roles.
  • Continue bibliometric training offered to academic staff in 2012-13
  • Embed information skills in teaching, learning and research activities.

5. Collaborations and partnerships
LLS has track record in developing & supporting partnerships and will continue to seek opportunities for further internal & external partnerships to attract funding, support research and enhance UEL’s reputation. Collaboration will be the key ingredient to build research infrastructures to showcase our research, exploit external research and connecting researchers. LLS will actively take part in these global developments. /
  • Continue to develop links with other libraries, especially through SCONUL Access scheme (which offers reciprocal user rights) and M25 Consortium of London libraries.
  • Seek internal & external partnerships and funding opportunities
  • Establish mechanisms to support collaborative research.
  • Actively develop, acquire collaborative archives/collections to support research
  • Collaborate with other institutions and national professional bodies to further develop LLS staff competence and create research connections.

6. Enhance virtual & physical research spaces
LLS is committed to develop its physical and virtual spaces to connect researchers with collections, with other researchers and professional staff. /
  • Develop LLS website with more researcher-specific information and guidance 2013 (OA mandates, changes in scholarly communications, bibliometrics, etc).
  • Investigate the viability of creating “research spaces” at both libraries.

The research support strategy would be reviewed once a year, given rapid changes in the research environment, to ensure it is fit for purpose and addresses the issues and utilizes opportunities to best meet the changing needs of the university’s research community.

LLS Research Support Strategy December 2012 Page no.1

Author: Gurdish Sandhu –Associate director; Stephen Grace – Research Services Librarian

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