Abstract
This report is a result of the Utrecht University Library Policy plan 20152017. In this plan the library expresses the ambition to support the entire life cycle of research, divided in the stages Research, Create, Share. This report elaborates on that ambition, by exploring these stages in relation to the
... read more
changing world of scholarly communications. It alternates between two perspectives: the researcher’s viewpoint and the library’s position. The guiding questions are 1) how does the changing context of open science affect researchers’ work and 2) how will the University Library be able to support them with its expertise and knowledge? The first part of the report introduces the developments in scholarly communications. The second part explores how these developments affect the stages in the research cycle. Throughout the report, quotes by Utrecht University faculty offer comments on key observations.
Fundamental in this report is the idea that research output needs curation in the open field of scholarly communication as much as in the traditional one in order to function optimally in all stages of research. This report defines these stages as Research/Discover, Research/Fund, Create, Share/Publish, Share/Assess, Share/Connect. It sketches a future in which the library is the institutional party that takes responsibility for the domain of curating and managing knowledge and research information. It also outlines opportunities for collaboration within the university. As such, it supports discussions on the development of research support services in the area of research information management, both within the library and within the university at large. The second part of this report, in which the stages are explored, is divided in stand-alone paragraphs, which can be read or discussed separately.
Currently, scholarly communications change at a very rapid pace. This report was finished in June 2016 (for the original Dutch version, prior to faculty consultation, see Dutch version). At the time of publication, July 2018, we can conclude that developments have continued at such a rate that some parts of the scenarios explored here are already overtaken by reality. The major scenarios discussed here, however, are still valid, and will hopefully still be of value to library professionals
show less
