8. The University Library in Research Evaluation

The University Library of Southern Denmark participates actively in research evaluation in a number of ways. However, this undertaking is fraught with challenges.

Research has always been evaluated by other researchers, but now there is a tendency for policy makers and research management among others to require more and more detailed assessments of the research – its reach, quality and impact. SDUB’s mission is to support the University in reaching its strategic goals, and the Library is spending considerable resources in this endeavour. A transparent research and publication process which is the result of true Open Science will assist everyone who is engaged with research evaluation, will enable development of new tools and methods and will change the entire game of research evaluation. The challenges that are connected with access to publications, research data and methods will be alleviated by the advent of Open Science leaving us with trying to overcome the inherent conceptual challenges associated with interpreting e.g. bibliometric proxies for research quality and impact. This paper presents the tasks and challenges involved in this context and discuss future library initiatives in bibliometrics, Open Science and data management.