Abstract
INTRODUCTION Scholarly communication has undergone dramatic change in the digital era as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology. It is within this context of evolving scholarly communication that this paper reports on an inquiry into (1) the extent to which university libraries in South Africa are actively embracing new and emerging trends in scholarly communication; and (2), the extent to which LIS school curricula in South Africa are responding to new and emerging scholarly communication competencies required in university libraries. METHODS This qualitative study, located within an interpretivist epistemological worldview, was informed by the Operational Elements of Scientific Communication aspect of Khosrowjerdi’s (2011) Viable Scientific Communication Model. Data was collected using summative content analysis of university library job advertisements over a four-year period; South African university libraries’ organizational organograms; and course descriptions available on the websites of South Africa’s LIS schools. RESULTS & DISCUSSION A review of job advertisements and organograms shows that on the whole university libraries in South Africa are embracing the new and emerging trends in scholarly communication, but some university libraries are performing better than others in adopting emerging scholarly communication services such as RDM, digital humanities, or research landscape analysis. Course description analysis provides evidence that LIS schools’ curricula, as per global trend reported in the literature, do not seem to be keeping pace with developments in scholarly communication. CONCLUSION The ambivalent nature of an evolving scholarly communications field with unclear definitions and boundaries necessitates professional practitioners who are adaptable and open to change as well as an LIS education curriculum that is in constant review to seamlessly embrace an evolving field propelled by advancing digital technologies.
Highlights
Communication has undergone dramatic change in the digital era as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology
It is within this context of evolving scholarly communication across the globe that this paper reports on the use of the Operational Elements aspect of the Viable Scientific Communication Model (Khosrowjerdi, 2011) to inform an inquiry guided by the following research questions: (1) To what extent are university libraries in South Africa actively embracing new and emerging trends in scholarly communication, and (2) To what extent are Library and Information Services/Science (LIS) school curricula in South Africa responding to new and emerging scholarly communication competencies required in university libraries?
While the review of the 196 job advertisements was inclusive of all academic library professional positions, the data gathering revealed the following job titles that were associated with scholarly communication: Manager: Digitization and Digital Services; Scholarly Communications Officer/Librarian; Repository Data Capturer; Librarian/Manager: Information Systems & Digitization; Digital Curation Officer; Research & Scholarly Communications Librarian; Research Data Curator; Repository Administration & Metadata Librarian; Digital Services Officer; Research & Training Librarian; Curator: Archives & Digital Library; Manager: Research Data Services/Research Data Management & Impact; Digitization Officer; Librarian: Research Impact & Research Commons; Digital Scholarship Specialist; Archival Officer; Research Support Librarian; and, Principal Archivist
Summary
Communication has undergone dramatic change in the digital era as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology It is within this context of evolving scholarly communication that this paper reports on an inquiry into (1) the extent to which university libraries in South Africa are actively embracing new and emerging trends in scholarly communication; and (2), the extent to which LIS school curricula in South Africa are responding to new and emerging scholarly communication competencies required in university libraries. RESULTS & DISCUSSION A review of job advertisements and organograms shows that on the whole university libraries in South Africa are embracing the new and emerging trends in scholarly communication, but some university libraries are performing better than others in adopting emerging scholarly communication services such as RDM, digital humanities, or research landscape analysis. This makes author rights management and advocacy a 2 | eP2291
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