Abstract
Librarians in academic libraries are facing major changes in their work due to, e.g., the internet, digitization, and increasing use of new channels for information retrieval by their most important clients, namely researchers. This creates challenges for librarians: both to deepen their own expertise and to develop innovative service models for their clients. In this paper we present a development project entitled ‘Knotworking in the Library’ from the Helsinki University Library. The project made use of the Change Laboratory method, which is an intensive developmental effort which facilitates improvements in the activities of organizations and changes in the organizational culture. The process started in Viikki Campus Library in 2009–2010 and continued in the City Centre Campus Library in 2010–2011. The aim was to create new kinds of partnership between libraries and research groups in the form of knotworking. By knotworking we mean a boundary-crossing, collective problem-solving way of organizing work. The knotworking model presented in this paper generated practical tools to assist selected research groups in dealing with data management related-issues.
Highlights
Librarians in academic libraries are currently facing major changes in their work due to, e.g., the internet and digitization of material
In both change efforts — one in Viikki Campus Library in 2009 and the other in the City Centre Campus Library in 2010 — innovative services were developed through close collaboration between the librarians and the selected research group members
When discussing possible new areas of collaboration between the library and the selected research groups, one librarian mentioned the new requirement set by the Academy of Finland which stipulates that research groups and projects must draw up a data management plan
Summary
Librarians in academic libraries are currently facing major changes in their work due to, e.g., the internet and digitization of material. The need for new kinds of support services has motivated academic libraries to search for models whereby librarians and research groups develop new ways of collaborating to meet the challenges (Brophy, 2007; Earnshaw and Vince, 2007; Rader, 2002). We present a two-phase change effort aimed at addressing these challenges. In both change efforts — one in Viikki Campus Library in 2009 and the other in the City Centre Campus Library in 2010 — innovative services were developed through close collaboration between the librarians and the selected research group members
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More From: LIBER Quarterly: The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries
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