14 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
include ORCID, Scopus, and Google Scholar. This is
obviously an area that has not yet stabilized. Adoption
of this service by libraries is still low, and no one sys-
tem has emerged as the best. Is this an opportunity
lost? Could libraries key into these systems and use
publication data to drive services and outreach?
A marginally higher number of libraries (30, or
44%) host public presentations by faculty and re-
searchers for discussion of their publications. An ad-
ditional seven (10%) are planning to offer this service
therefore, when those programs are implemented,
just over half of the responding libraries will have
programs in place to highlight faculty research. A
very small number of libraries (18, or 26%) have tak-
en the next step to create an online environment for
promotion of faculty and researcher publications.
Again, more are planning to do so (9, or 13%), but a
firm 61% do not use their website to help promote
faculty research. As with tracking faculty research
and publication, this seems like a lost opportunity.
A properly implemented and utilized IR would give
libraries access to this data, which could then be used
to inform further research.
Other Support for Faculty/Researcher Publishing
Over two-thirds of the responding libraries (45, or
68%) report that other departments or offices at their
institutions provide support for faculty and researcher
publishing. In the comments sections, they identified
15 different areas for this support. Unsurprisingly, the
most often listed source of support was the Research
Office or Division of Sponsored Research (45% of yes
respondents). However, the list from there branched
into all parts of the university: faculty departments
and colleges, provost offices, graduate schools, cen-
ters for teaching, university presses, writing centers,
humanities centers, tech transfer offices, and more.
When then asked if they regularly collaborate with
these other departments to support faculty publishing
only half answered yes, although another seven (12%)
are planning to do so. This collaboration for support
of publishing includes funding, general consultations
and referrals, copyright consultation, research forums
and training, provision of communication avenues,
and working directly with the research office. Work
with the research office includes joint events, research
data services, publication management, and train-
ing of research staff on scholarly communications
issues. It is also clear from the comments that many
of these libraries are not stopping with support, but
are providing direct publishing avenues through
OA journals, institutional repositories, traditional
publishing through university presses that sit in the
library, hosting of digital content, and providing print
on demand. The complete list of campus offices that
support faculty publishing included 15 different en-
tities. As libraries increase their direct support for
faculty publishing, it may be prudent to also increase
collaboration with these campus entities as libraries
seek to broaden their role in this area.
Current and Future Roles for Research Libraries in
Faculty Publishing
Respondents identified twelve areas within three cat-
egories for research libraries to consider as their role
in faculty publishing continues to evolve: scholarly
communications, support at all stages of the publish-
ing workflow, and library as publisher. (See the sidebar
for a full delineation of the twelve areas identified
within these three categories of library roles.) There
was also an indication from some respondents that
libraries may want to pull back from further engage-
ment in faculty publishing. Some reported that they
have experienced faculty pushback again librarian
attempts to be integrated into faculty publishing, and
others indicated that they do not have the resources to
commit to these new areas or they may choose to al-
locate resources in areas deemed to be higher priority.
Libraries have emerged as the hub for scholarly
communications discourse on campuses, and many
respondents recognize that libraries are “key part-
ners” in the scholarly communication process. In the
future, libraries should continue to guide researchers
through the issues surrounding scholarly publica-
tion reform and discuss with faculty how, working
together, librarians, publishers, and authors can de-
vise ways to create a more sustainable publishing
system. One of the ways that has been noted is open
access publishing and libraries are active participants
in open access advocacy and support. However, in
the future, respondents suggest that libraries should
promote alternate models for open access publishing,
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