I've just finished reading the Ithaka S+R/ JISC/ RLUK UK Survey of Academics 2012 (released in May 2013). I admit I'm a little behind in reading this, but it's still an enlightening report and worth at least a skim read (at 92 pages, it's long, but there are a lot of graphs and charts).
As I reached the last 20 pages or so, a few things started to, if not concern me, at least get me thinking:
Firstly, one question asked "How important to you is that your college or university library be the provider of each of the functions listed below...?" One of those functions is to "provide active support that helps to increase the productivity of my research." Only between 25 and 40% of academics (depending upon the discipline) thought that this was important, and of the functions listed it was considered to be least important. This concerns me a little as this is (partially) what the Research and Knowledge Exchange team (which I'm a part of) sets out to do.
Having said that, the question is worded in such a way that it doesn't consider what other active support librarians could provide researchers with. Perhaps they feel that help with other areas of their research, such as information on alternative publishing models, or ways in which to search more effectively, are much more important functions of an academic library. In fact, a number of the other functions are closely related to research ('the library pays for resources need'; 'the library serves as a starting point or gateway for locating information for my research') are considered of much higher importance. So perhaps I'm worrying unnecessarily here. Or perhaps this is simply a case of educating researchers about the broad variety of services that a library can (and does) offer, showing that they are constantly changing to keep abreast of the changes in communication and publishing.
My second big concern is that when choosing where to publish, academics don't see making articles freely available, or accessible to readers in developed nations, as a high priorty. Instead, their primary concern is whether or not the 'current issues of the journal are circulated widely, and are well read by academics in your field'. 'The journal has a high impact factor or an excellent academic reputation' doesn't follow far behind. To some extent this makes perfect sense, and I can't blame an academic for wanting their paper to reach the maximum amount of people it can within their discipline - and believing that a journal which is widely circulated and has a good reputation is the way to do this.
However, the survey also determines that approximately 40% of researchers do want help 'making a version of their research output freely available online in addition to the formally published version'. So it seems that academics do really want their research to be made freely available, and as accessible as possible. However, they don't view this as more important than which journal they choose to publish with. The survey also states that 'When an item is not held in the library collection, the highest share of respondents report that they look for a freely available version online, while the second highest share gives up'. This seems to be a case of educating researchers about how they can make their research freely available online, even if it has been published in a high-end journal, to ensure that it reaches the widest audience possible. So perhaps there is a job for all us Repository Managers/ Open Access advocates/ Research Librarians after all!
Showing posts with label publication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publication. Show all posts
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Getting published: Repository metadata for diverse collections
I've always loved writing. But the last time I had something published was back when in 1997. As a teenager, I loved to poetry and had a couple of poems published in local magazines and the like. But I'm actually only any good at writing poetry when I feel angst. And other than a couple of years in my mid twenties (when I started writing poetry again...), I've been lucky enough to not really feel any angst since I was a teenager.
So I guess I'm lucky to be in a job where part of it actually involves writing - even if it is mostly reports and long-winded e-mails. I had actually been putting off writing anything for publication though, due to a fear of commitment (both in terms of time and energy) and possible failure. I did know that, if I ever did decide to write something, my colleagues and workplace were likely to be supportive - the potential of me getting something published had been discussed before. I also know how lucky I am to work for a library service who are keen for me to do this sort of thing, and willing to give me the time and space to work on it.
So, about a month and a half ago a call was sent out on a repository mailing list I'm signed up to, asking if people would be willing to write an article on some aspect of metadata in institutional repositories. Well, I'm no cataloguing expert, but I have spent the past two and a half years managing an institutional repository, and have read up a fair bit on the associated metadata issues- and experienced a fair few of them first hand. I also knew that my Repository Administrator had written an essay on that very subject for his Library MSc, not too long ago. So it seemed like a good opportunity to make a start - and also to give my administrator a similar experience, as he had never published anything before either.
After discussing it with my Repository Administrator, who thankfully was also enthusiastic, I got in touch with the editors and asked if a) they were interested and b) when they needed the article by. The answers were a) yes and b) in about two weeks. Which didn't give us long to actually get something down on paper. Although we used my administator's essay as a starting point, it did get quite heavily adapted and no longer bears much resemblance to the original essay (bar maybe a paragraph or two).
At the end of June the article was published in Catalogue and Index. The published version isn't available on open access, but as all dutiful repository managers should, I've put the final PDF on the institutional repository (and yes, I do have the publishers permission). If you want to read it, it's at http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16971/.
Admittedly, it is baby steps. The article hasn't been peer reviewed, it's most definitely a co-author job (I have no hesitation in saying we both contributed pretty much exactly 50% of the work), and it's a publication that isn't likely to be seen outside of the library world (or, possibly, even the cataloguing one). But it is a start, and I feel more proud than I expected to, to finally have something professional in print.
So I guess I'm lucky to be in a job where part of it actually involves writing - even if it is mostly reports and long-winded e-mails. I had actually been putting off writing anything for publication though, due to a fear of commitment (both in terms of time and energy) and possible failure. I did know that, if I ever did decide to write something, my colleagues and workplace were likely to be supportive - the potential of me getting something published had been discussed before. I also know how lucky I am to work for a library service who are keen for me to do this sort of thing, and willing to give me the time and space to work on it.
So, about a month and a half ago a call was sent out on a repository mailing list I'm signed up to, asking if people would be willing to write an article on some aspect of metadata in institutional repositories. Well, I'm no cataloguing expert, but I have spent the past two and a half years managing an institutional repository, and have read up a fair bit on the associated metadata issues- and experienced a fair few of them first hand. I also knew that my Repository Administrator had written an essay on that very subject for his Library MSc, not too long ago. So it seemed like a good opportunity to make a start - and also to give my administrator a similar experience, as he had never published anything before either.
After discussing it with my Repository Administrator, who thankfully was also enthusiastic, I got in touch with the editors and asked if a) they were interested and b) when they needed the article by. The answers were a) yes and b) in about two weeks. Which didn't give us long to actually get something down on paper. Although we used my administator's essay as a starting point, it did get quite heavily adapted and no longer bears much resemblance to the original essay (bar maybe a paragraph or two).
At the end of June the article was published in Catalogue and Index. The published version isn't available on open access, but as all dutiful repository managers should, I've put the final PDF on the institutional repository (and yes, I do have the publishers permission). If you want to read it, it's at http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/16971/.
Admittedly, it is baby steps. The article hasn't been peer reviewed, it's most definitely a co-author job (I have no hesitation in saying we both contributed pretty much exactly 50% of the work), and it's a publication that isn't likely to be seen outside of the library world (or, possibly, even the cataloguing one). But it is a start, and I feel more proud than I expected to, to finally have something professional in print.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #16
Hmm... advocacy - something I do much of? Just a bit... you try being a Repository Manager and not advocating your service! I do it every day, every hour, all the time. Every time I talk to somebody, every time somebody asks me what I do, every time I meet someone new - I tell them how great the repository is, why they should use it, how it could change the world for the better if everybody bought into the idea... and I believe in it 100% (although on my off days I wish I didn't have to try quite so hard).
Of course, it's not just informally that I advocate what I do. The most current, obvious example of the more formal side of advocacy is probably the activities we're planning for Open Access Week at the end of October. I'll spend that week uploading interviews I've carried out with researchers who have really bought into the idea of open access, making my presence felt by appearing at drop-in sessions on all of our campuses, and running training sessions for researchers, amongst other things.
That's all on top of telling people how great libraries, and librarians, are more generally. I've not specifically got involved in any high profile library advocacy campaigns (sometimes the shouting I do about how great we are in my day-job feels like more than enough for one person), but I'm always willing to back up the claims those guys are making, because of course they're right!
One thing I haven't really engaged with is getting published. It's not so much that I find the prospect daunting (I love writing), but just that there doesn't really feel like there's enough time in the day to write something properly good. We are in the process of trying to put together a blog about the UWE Research Repository to let people know what we're doing, and that we're there if they need us - which I guess is a start! If that leads on to some more official writing, I'd be happy with that - but for now, I think it's one step at a time.
Of course, it's not just informally that I advocate what I do. The most current, obvious example of the more formal side of advocacy is probably the activities we're planning for Open Access Week at the end of October. I'll spend that week uploading interviews I've carried out with researchers who have really bought into the idea of open access, making my presence felt by appearing at drop-in sessions on all of our campuses, and running training sessions for researchers, amongst other things.
That's all on top of telling people how great libraries, and librarians, are more generally. I've not specifically got involved in any high profile library advocacy campaigns (sometimes the shouting I do about how great we are in my day-job feels like more than enough for one person), but I'm always willing to back up the claims those guys are making, because of course they're right!
One thing I haven't really engaged with is getting published. It's not so much that I find the prospect daunting (I love writing), but just that there doesn't really feel like there's enough time in the day to write something properly good. We are in the process of trying to put together a blog about the UWE Research Repository to let people know what we're doing, and that we're there if they need us - which I guess is a start! If that leads on to some more official writing, I'd be happy with that - but for now, I think it's one step at a time.
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