Library information provider OCLC Research has announced that registration is now open for the OCLC Research Library Partnership meeting, scheduled for June 10-12, 2014 in Amsterdam.
Exclusively for OCLC Research Library Partners, Libraries & Research: Supporting Change/Changing Support will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station. The meeting will focus on supporting the academic research process.
The evolving nature of academic research practices and scholarship places new demands on research library support services. Shifting attitudes toward open access and data sharing, new methodologies in digital humanities, and rethinking the very definition of scholarly discourse all have implications for the library. But it is not only the research process that is changing, research universities are evolving in new directions, often becoming more outcome-oriented, changing to address new demands, such as the increased importance of impact assessment and competitiveness for funding. Libraries are taking on new roles and responsibilities to support change in research and in the academy.
Libraries need to partner with researchers to become more familiar with their requirements and to develop services and skills that will provide the support they need. They also need to stay in tune with the changing information needs of their parent institutions and ensure that they are involved in areas where they can add value. As they are preparing to support new modes of working, libraries are evolving their own structures. This includes significant rethinking of organizational structures and re-examining relations with other parts of the university and with external entities.
Some of the topics under consideration for this three-day event include the evolving scholarly record; support of Digital Humanities and eScholarship; connecting to research infrastructures; measuring research impact/research assessment; registering researchers and research; Research Data Management; and trends in emerging support structures, roles, and partnerships.
