IFLA Journal

The focus on higher education has led to the emerging demands for new roles among librarians, including supporting research and publication productivity. One specific role that has emerged is that of a research librarian. This study employed a qualitative method of the phenomenology of perception. This study was conducted in four state university libraries and four private university libraries in Surabaya and Malang, East Java, Indonesia. This study revealed that librarians’ perceptions and interpretations of the role of a research librarian vary, depending on and influenced by the level of support they receive from their respective organizations. The research findings show that in private universities, the role of librarians is mostly centered on delivering services to students and lecturers. Meanwhile, state university libraries perceive research librarians as doing more than supporting research. They are also seen as researchers with responsibilities that include more research.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have created an opportunity for the library sector to reconceptualise the services delivered to their communities. They provide the opportunity for libraries to be involved in national policy discussions and for their work to be translated into national programs for economic and social development. This article uses Australia as a case study of academic libraries in a broader policy context. The academic library community has built on many decades of work supporting social justice to set the scene to enable a significant contribution to be made to address the Sustainable Development Goals. The contribution that libraries have made has the potential to be reflected in university-wide reporting. The emergence of international university rankings on sustainability is assessed to review potential areas of impact. It is found that the most effective work to date has been collaborative. Further collaboration can contribute to strategic national planning and reporting.

Addressing the challenge of scientific integrity in Vietnam requires a multifaceted approach, with library and information services serving as a cornerstone to ensure rigorous and ethical research practices. This study aims to explore the perspectives of academics and students on library and information services in research and the importance of university activities in fostering scientific integrity in Vietnam’s higher education institutions. We used a quantitative research method to collect data from 647 lecturers and students through a questionnaire. The main result of this study shows that respondents gave a below-average rating to the quality of library and information services for research, with an average score of just 2.96. In contrast, they highly valued the importance of university activities—such as policies and procedures, support services and tools, and other programs—in promoting scientific integrity, with average scores exceeding 4.12. The findings are of interest to administrators, policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders aiming to offer and enhance the quality of library and information services for developing scientific integrity in Vietnamese universities.

Libraries and open science are linked by common objectives, owing to libraries being actors that develop free access to information for many, and open science is an action that encourages free circulation of data and research outputs. Therefore both the actor and the action contribute to the satisfaction of information needs. The aim of this research is to analyze the actions that governments, universities and libraries have carried out to implement open science in Latin America, based on the analysis of factors and library functions. The methodology of this research comprised a bibliographic review and quantitative methods. For the exploratory analysis, the main sources for retrieval information were the official web portals of universities and library entities, the State of Open Data Policy Repository, the Registry of Research Data and the Dataverse Project. A general conclusion is that academic libraries are actors and laboratories with elements to support the implementation of open science.

Scholar-led publishing and diamond open access – also known as platinum open access – are two movements in which academic libraries increasingly feel they have a role to play. Some libraries even offer well-established publishing services based on these models, so this paper explores the differences and similarities between these two movements and give an overview on the discussions about publishing powered by public institutions versus publishing by commercial editorial companies.

The launch of the Animo Repository in 2020 marked a significant advancement in De La Salle University Libraries’ open access initiatives. The Animo Repository functions as the central archive for the university's scholarly outputs, including faculty research, electronic theses and dissertations, special collections and university journal publications. Beyond serving as the central repository for De La Salle University’s scholarly outputs, the platform's robust hosting and publishing infrastructure is designed to optimize the discoverability and accessibility of these records. The primary focus of this study is to examine the collaboration between De La Salle University Libraries’ and De La Salle University Publishing House in utilizing the Animo Repository for open access journal publishing. It distinguishes between hosting and publishing roles, explores the integration process, and evaluates the initial outcomes and impacts. The study contributes to the growing literature on open library publishing and institutional repositories, emphasizing more equitable research access and dissemination practices.

The implementation and delivery of research data management services (RDMS) in university libraries are at different levels of realization, most of which are far from satisfactory. There is therefore need for discussions around issues that will stimulate the success of RDM programmes in university libraries. Consequently, this paper discusses data literacy and technological infrastructure as prerequisites for the successful implementation of RDMS in university libraries. The paper discusses data literacy in the context of RDM implementation. It also reveals the various competency areas to focus on in developing a data literate librarian. Moreover, the study discusses the relationship between technological infrastructure and RDM in university libraries, hereby justifying the need for technological revamp. Some specific technologies are mentioned in the course of the discussion. The study concludes that data literacy and adequate technological infrastructure for RDM are required for university libraries to realize their full potential in the management of research data.

The advancement of ChatGPT-powered artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new possibilities for conducting systematic reviews. This study aims to examine how ChatGPT-powered AI can assist in the steps involved in systematic reviews, and its potential and challenges. The authors utilize a comparative case study approach to examine the search-term-generation and article-retrieval capabilities among a human librarian, ChatGPT-4, and a ChatGPT-4 Turbo customized AI-Librarian Bot. The findings suggest that AI could expand the scope of search terms and queries, automating the more repetitive and formulaic aspects of the systematic-review process, while human expertise remains crucial in refining search terms and ensuring methodological rigor. Meanwhile, challenges remain for AI tools’ capacity to access subscription-based or proprietary databases and generate sophisticated search strategies. This study advocates for a synergistic model where AI augments the systematic-review process, complementing the depth and nuance provided by human expertise in achieving accurate and comprehensive research outcomes.

This article explores how Zimbabwean state university libraries incorporate evidence synthesis services in their traditional research support services as the evidence synthesis methodology begins to gain popularity among researchers beyond the health sciences. The literature indicates that academic libraries around the world are responding to the need for evidence synthesis services. However, there is a lack of evidence concerning how libraries in Zimbabwean state university libraries have adapted to this trend. Exploratory research that involved sub-librarians and faculty librarians as participants was conducted. Purposive and self-selection sampling techniques were utilised in addition to the use of questionnaires and interviews for data gathering. The results reveal that some libraries have started offering evidence synthesis services, particularly in the disciplines of agriculture and applied sciences. The results also show that systematic and scoping reviews are evidence synthesis types commonly conducted by researchers. While the study shows that some librarians demonstrated a good understanding of evidence synthesis, most lacked practical experience and relied on self-teaching and peer-to-peer learning for skill acquisition.

This study investigates the perceptions and attitudes of librarians in the Republic of Moldova towards research data management (RDM). Given the increasing significance of RDM in supporting open science and efficient research practices, the role of academic libraries is evolving. This research aims to explore librarians’ familiarity with RDM concepts, the extent of RDM services provided, and the challenges faced in implementing these services. A survey was conducted among 93 librarians from 10 leading universities in Moldova, collecting data on their awareness, involvement, and the institutional support available for RDM. The findings reveal a varying degree of familiarity and engagement with RDM services among librarians, highlighting the need for enhanced training and institutional policies to support effective RDM practices.

This study sought to examine the extent to which research collaboration has influenced research productivity and impact in Kenya, the latter two being critical indicators of research excellence. The relevant data was extracted from Elsevier’s SciVal analytical tool. Descriptive statistics and correlation and regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The study’s findings reveal that Kenya’s research is highly collaborative; collaboration varied across 27 research fields; university–industry collaboration is on the rise, albeit slowly; and international collaboration accounts for over 80% of co-authored papers in Kenya. The study found a significant link between research collaboration and research productivity, on the one hand, and research collaboration and impact, on the other. Given the findings, the conclusion can be made that research collaboration influences research excellence in Kenya and, as such, strategies should be put in place to safeguard the gains made, while harnessing further research collaboration initiatives to enhance research excellence in the country.

This study investigates the impact of big data on university libraries in Bangladesh, focusing on areas such as resource accessibility, decision-making, user experiences, academic research and information management. By conducting interviews with 21 library professionals and employing thematic analysis, the study reveals critical insights. Big data significantly enhances resource accessibility by enabling customized collections and supports user-centric decision-making in library operations. It also improves user experiences through personalized recommendations and seamless navigation. Moreover, big data's analysis of citation patterns and collaborative networks bolsters academic research while addressing information overload and optimizing information retrieval processes. This research provides a thorough examination of big data's practical implications in university libraries, offering valuable insights for professionals, researchers and policymakers. It emphasizes the necessity of a proactive approach to leveraging big data's transformative potential in knowledge management, thereby shaping the future of academic libraries.