The role of libraries in support of academic research: A study of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Bologna

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the position of communication and science academic libraries supporting chemistry and chemical engineering research at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa, and the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy. Structured interviews were conducted with a total of 42 participants which comprised of Chemistry researchers, Chemical Engineering researchers, PhD students and librarians supporting Chemistry and Chemical Engineering departments at CPUT and UNIBO. The main findings were: • ‘Library as space’ still remain an imperative at both institutions in the digital age. • There is a clash between the academic library promoting the Open Access movement and researchers being under pressure to publish in high impact factor journals. • Heavy workloads and staff capacity issues in both case studies was revealed as prohibiting factors among librarians and researchers to keep up with trends. • That the utilisation of social media and Web 2.0 tools for research is a direct result of researchers being prosumers, was found not to be the case. • The communication gap that exists came out strongly in both case studies. • There is a need for librarians to shift the focus more towards supporting postgraduate students with research. Therefore the research communication framework is recommended for both higher education institutions to create a better research environment. Overall the enthusiasm revealed by librarians to keep relevant to provide state of the art research support services which speaks to the trends show promise for the future role of the academic librarian. Further qualitative research in the area of research support services across all disciplines will make a stronger contribution in the field of Library and Information Science.