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Research Support: Academic Libraries and the Research Office

Naomi Eichenlaub (neichenl@ryerson.ca)

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Ryerson University (Librarian)

University of Toronto (PhD Student)

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Background

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  • Final essay for LHA3803: Recurring Issues in Higher Education
  • OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) at the University of Toronto
  • Flex-time PhD in Higher Education

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Research support on campus

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  • What are the intersections in the literature between research support offered by academic libraries and support offered to researchers by a central research office and research administrators?

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What does the literature say?

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Only 2.2% of Research Administration articles referred to librarians and libraries in their exploration of research support topics, while 3.1% of Library and Information Studies articles referred to the research office or research administrators in a meaningful way. Even in instances where the professions engaged on the same broad topics, they largely focused on different aspects of issues. The literature of each profession demonstrated little awareness of the activities and concerns of the other (Bradley, 2018, p. 16).

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Theoretical lenses

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  • Third space (Whitchurch, 2008; Bradley, 2018)

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    • Bounded professionals
    • Cross-boundary professionals
    • Unbounded professionals

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Theoretical lenses

  • Researcher Environments Model (MacColl & Jubb, 2011)

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    • Research Funders
    • Domain
    • Assessment
    • Institution
      • Library
      • Research Administration

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Researcher

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Thank you!

Bradley, C. (2018). Research support priorities of and relationships among librarians and research administrators: a content analysis of the professional literature. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 13(4), 15–30.

MacColl, J., & Jubb, M. (2011). Supporting research: Environments, administration and libraries. OCLC Research. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED522674

Research Lifecycle - UCF Libraries. (n.d.). Retrieved 27 January 2020, from https://library.ucf.edu/about/departments/scholarly-communication/overview-research-lifecycle/

Whitchurch, C. (2008). Shifting identities and blurring boundaries: The emergence of third space professionals in UK higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 62(4), 377–396.