The evolving research librarian: Emerging roles and responsibility in support of reproducible science

Between 2020 and 2021, Knowledge Exchange (KE) has investigated the publication of reproducible research outputs, with support from a group of international open science experts. The output of this work was a public report, which was based on an extensive review of almost 130 sources and a mix of interviews and focus groups with 51 stakeholders from 12 countries. In this landscape review, we have considered stakeholders at the micro, meso and macro level based on the KE Open Scholarship Framework, including researchers and research groups, their disciplinary communities and institutions, academic libraries, publishers and infrastructure providers, research funders and policymakers. Our presentation at LIBER 2022 will seek to untangle the growing intricacies in the research reproducibility landscape, which is evolving as the convergence of the open access, open data, open source and open infrastructure discussions. In this context, we will discuss the important role of research libraries when it comes to research reproducibility, which includes not only the advice they ‘traditionally’ provide, but also an ever-broadening range of tools and workflows that span from choosing an online repository to preparing research compendia.

The evolution of research libraries also comes with innovative roles, such as the ‘data librarians/stewards’ that are becoming more common across Europe and the ‘reproducibility librarians’ that are emerging in the USA and operate at the interface between the various facets of open science. The role of libraries and research support services with regard to reproducibility is also changing in terms of digital infrastructures. Researchers require more and more support in navigating the fast-paced world of technological solutions emerging to support open science practices, thus leading to uncertainty and a constant need to upskill both support staff and the researcher base. Whether internally or in partnership with external providers, research libraries also continue to develop institutional repositories, which can be interconnected with a web of digital objects to enable reproducible research to take place.

Finally, the broader context of the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of research reproducibility in enabling trust in the published record. Research libraries can play a dual role in this regard, as they can be both the custodians of research objects and advisers to local academics who seek to work in a reproducible way and enhance the quality of their institution’s publications.

Our presentation will provide a coherent narrative and case studies to help the LIBER community join the dots between changing disciplinary practices, policies, incentives and technologies, aiming to showcase how libraries can continue to have an impact on the research and innovation landscape for the benefit of the global research enterprise.