Partners and pioneers: The role of academic and research libraries as active participants and leaders in the production of scholarly research

This paper will present the results of a major piece of collaborative research between Research Libraries UK and the UK’s Arts and Humani ties Research Council (AHRC). Undertaken between January and June 2021, the research considered the extent to which academic libraries are partners in, and leaders of, academic and scholarly research.

The project explored fundamental questions regarding the role of libraries as research institutions and their role as catalysts and conduits of cross-disciplinary collaboration.

The project addressed four fundamental questions:

1. What is the current role of academic and research libraries as partners and leaders of research?
2. What is their potential role as partners and leaders?
3. Do they experience any barriers in undertaking research?
4. If so, how might these be overcome?

This was a cross-sector project and included contributions from large numbers of academic and research libraries, Independent Research Organisations, academics and scholars, research managers, university leaders, and research funders. Each brought their own perspectives regarding the role of libraries as research organisations and these views were explored through a series of well attended townhalls, workshops, and focus groups.

Although focused on the UK, the project’s discussions and findings were placed within an international context through a series of interviews and case studies from the international library community. It benefited from over 320 detailed survey responses, over 300 responses to ‘in event’ polls, 73 qualitative interviews, 6 focus groups, and produced 10 detailed case studies available online.

This presentation will describe the origins of this research, its motivations, and its key findings and recommendations. It will consider the changing role of academic and research libraries as partners in research, the barriers which are sometimes experienced, and the ways in which libraries are overcoming these. Importantly, it will also provide an overview of how RLUK, the AHRC, and the wider library community are translating the recommendations of the report into action. It will include an overview of two major programmes of work that have emerged from the project: a joint AHRC-RLUK Professional Practice Fellowship for academic libraries and a Research Engagement Programme through which library colleagues will be supported to develop their research capacity, capability, and confidence.

Finally, it will consider the importance of building bridges of active dialogue between the academic library, scholarly, and research management communities to continue to emphasise and showcase the role of academic libraries as partners in, and pioneers of, research.

The results and recommendations of the scoping are available here: https://www.rluk.ac.uk/ahrc-rluk-scoping-study/