Curating the Dynamic: Future Challenges of a Shifting Landscape

The paper examines the changing relationship between the academic library and university research. Advances in information technology, shifts in the modes of knowledge production and changes in research practice have affected all points of the research lifecycle. The implications for library practice are far-reaching.

Informed by a review of the literature on the drivers of open access, digital scholarship and the knowledge economy, an innovative web-based Delphi study was designed, conducted and analysed to identify the factors likely to have most impact on library practice. Thirty-five expert participants, all employed in roles such as library directors within universities, were asked to consider current and future scenarios for the development of the academic library, focussing on its identity and its shape and direction. In particular, the Delphi study investigated the overlapping areas of open access policy, research data management, organisational capacity, scholarly communication and peer review, and library leadership and workforce development.

The findings of the research highlighted, firstly, the complexity of the policies and strategies associated with open access, secondly, their likely profound impact on the concept and character of the academic library, and, thirdly, the extent to which university and library leaders have yet to fully appreciate the potency and urgency of digital scholarship. The use of networked technologies, social media and the participatory web are changing the way in which the results of research are conceived. Most significantly, what is now emerging is the concept of an evolving scholarly record, one that is not bound by time, format or scope. Outcomes of the various upheavals in scholarly communication are the opportunities which arise as a result of the fundamental change in the record of scholarship from a static to a dynamic entity. This dynamic digital research output, in its many forms and through its many communication channels, requires different curation from that required by the traditional print-centric practices left over from the paper journal era. The evolving scholarly record, it is argued, (Lavoie et al. 2014) needs to be managed and administered to a greater degree than the published research paper and will require ongoing management from the researcher in the future; it is quite likely that there will be no final published version, but instead a continuous digital presence.

This paper argues that academic libraries need to embrace transformative change and cultural shift across the entire research lifecycle, rather than simply responding with local, iterative change. In drawing on the expert understandings and reflections of key players, a conceptual framework has been developed, this raises awareness of emerging issues and serves as a guide to future action. This paper outlines the conceptual framework and considers how it might be used to have an impact on the wider library community.

References

Lavoie, B., Childress, E., Erway, R., Faniel, I., Malpas, C., Schaffner, J. and van der Werf, T. (2014). The Evolving Scholarly Record. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research.