Beyond Collections: The place of the academic library in the university research agenda
Academic libraries are facing enormous pressures that require them to respond and adapt in order to remain relevant. The academic library is no longer just a repository, a collection of services, or a place for study: it is all these things. Rapidly-evolving technologies, new modes of scholarly publishing and communication, the proposed development of a new national research engagement and impact assessment, requirements for research data management, increasing interest in digital literacies, and changing higher education pedagogies are altering user expectations.
- What value do researchers and their universities attach to academic libraries services?
- How do libraries demonstrate their value as active partners in university business: improving research, learning and teaching workflows?
- Where should academic libraries be focussing their priorities right now?
- What are the emerging trends?
In response to current trends, academic libraries need to develop new resources and services, while balancing core and established service areas. Additionally, academic libraries are being challenged to anticipate future needs and to develop creative and innovative initiatives to meet those needs. No library can respond to every new trend in the field, nor should they. Decisions to prioritise and allocate resources should be aligned with the mission and goals of the university.
Our panel will draw on their experience and unique perspectives and examine the contributions and value of the academic library to research and research performance, and highlight opportunities for enhancement, collaborations and partnerships.
Welcome & introduction: Professor Julie Willis (PVC Research Capability)
Panel Chair: Mr Philip Kent (University Librarian & Executive Director, Collections)
Panel Members: Professor Liz Sonenberg (PVC,Research Collaboration & Infrastructure); Professor Ginny Barbour (Exec. Director, Australian Open Access Strategy Group) , Dr David McInnis (Gerry Higgins Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, School of Culture & Communications, Faculty of Arts) and Dr Jason Thompson (Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transport and Public Health, Melbourne School of Design).
Biographies:
Professor Julie Willis is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability) and Professor of Architecture. Julie is an authority on the history of Australian architecture 1890-1950 and has undertaken significant projects researching the development of modern hospital architecture in Australia; the importance of small public buildings in community and civic identity; architecture during wartime and its subsequent impact on practice and production; and the embodiment of nationalism and identity in Australian government architecture.
Professor Liz Sonenberg is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Collaboration and Infrastructure) at the University Melbourne. She is also Professor of Information Systems in the Melbourne School of Engineering, and has previously held positions as Dean of the Faculty of Science and Head of the Department of Information Systems in the Faculty of Science. The integrating theme of her research is the conceptualisation and construction of adaptive, distributed, intelligent information systems.
Professor Virginia (Ginny) Barbour is Executive Director of the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group. She also has a part-time position split between the Library and the Office of Research Ethics & Integrity at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). In 2004, she was one of the three founding editors of PLOS Medicine, finally becoming Medicine and Biology Editorial Director of PLOS from 2014 until 2015. She has a medical degree from Cambridge University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. She is Chair of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). She has been involved in the development of a number of reporting guidelines including CONSORT, PRISMA and TIDieR statements. She has been and is currently involved with a number of other open access, publishing, and ethics initiatives. She has an academic title as Professor in the School of Medicine at Griffith University, Queensland and is also an honorary Professor at the University of Queensland.
Dr David McInnis is the Gerry Higgins Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the University of Melbourne. In 2016 he was jointly awarded the Australian Academy of the Humanities’ Max Crawford Medal (granted to Australian early-career researchers for outstanding scholarly achievement in the humanities in Australia). He is the author of Mind-Travelling and Voyage Drama in Early Modern England (Palgrave, 2013), co-editor of Lost Plays in Shakespeare’s England (Palgrave, 2014; co-edited with Matthew Steggle), and is currently editing Dekker’s Old Fortunatus for the Revels Plays series. With Roslyn L. Knutson, he is founder and co-editor of the Lost Plays Database.
Dr Jason Thompson is a Senior Research Fellow in Urban Transport and Public Health based in the Melbourne School of Design at the University Melbourne. With a background in Psychology and Medicine, Jason’s work is focused on the translation of research into practice across the areas of transportation, heavy-vehicle safety, public health, post-injury rehabilitation, and system design. Jason has expertise in methods of computational social science for the modelling of urban, social, organisational, safety, rehabilitation, and active transport networks (e.g. cycling and walking) and has pioneered their use and publication in areas of traditional medical and transportation research.
Philip G Kent is the University Librarian at the University of Melbourne. He joined the University in March 2009 following an extensive career in universities and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. In addition to his library positions he has experience in information technology, knowledge and information management, archives and records management, risk and audit roles. Following the Information Futures Commission and the development of a 10 year information strategy for the University, the Library was reinvigorated under his leadership. Key priorities during 2009 - 2014 were to increase the profile and effectiveness of the Library's contribution to the University's research effort. Access to the unique cultural collections held by the Library was advanced. Innovative learning spaces were developed to support the teaching and learning mission as well as implementing new technologies to support student learning. In 2015 a new organisational model was implemented. Philip's focus in on strategic and representational matters related to the Library while the operational programs have transferred to University Services. Philip also leads university-wide responsibility for the rich Cultural Collections held at Melbourne through his strategic role as Executive Director, Collections. Philip holds an MBA from the Mt Eliza Business School now merged into the Melbourne Business School. He is a Director of CAVAL Ltd, he chairs the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL's), resources purchasing consortium, Chairs the Group of Eight (Go8) Librarians and Chairs the Editorial Board for the Australian Library Journal.