Evolution of Research Support Services at an Academic Library: Specialist Knowledge Linked by Core Infrastructure

• Published in: The new review of academic librarianship Vol. 24; no. 3-4; pp. 337 - 348
• Main Authors: Brown, Sarah, Alvey, Elizabeth, Danilova, Elena, Morgan, Helen, Thomas, Amberyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.10.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic Libraries; Best Practices; Bibliometrics; Communities of Practice; Foreign Countries; Functional teams; Higher Education; Information Management; Institutional repositories; institutional repository; Liaison work; Libraries; Library Role; Library Services; Reference Services; Research Libraries; research support services; Scholarship; service models; Specialists; Australia
• ISSN: 1361-4533; 1740-7834
• DOI: 10.1080/13614533.2018.1473259

Research support services at The University of Queensland Library (UQ Library) have evolved in response to the global and national drivers, which have impacted on broader University strategy. UQ Library's success in responding to these drivers has involved leveraging the information within, and capacity of, the institutional repository, the core of our research support services. UQ Library is a critical enabler of the University's research mission, actively partnering with researchers throughout the research lifecycle. The evolution of these services has required a shifting staffing framework, combining a traditional liaison library model with functional teams to deliver agile services, which add strategic value to the University. This article explores how functional teams, collaborating with traditional liaison librarian roles, deliver innovative services, how these services are linked by the institutional repository, and how we address key challenges of this service model.