Support for eResearch in a Research Council Setting

Catherine JonesLibrary Systems Development Manager,

STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Contents

• Setting the scene• Who are our users and what do they do?• Current service and external issues• Library strategy• Library research projects• The future

Setting the sceneScience and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) formed 1st April 2007

Previously the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC).

STFC MissionTo promote and support: • high-quality scientific and engineering research by developing and providing facilities and technical expertise.

• high-quality basic, strategic and applied research and related post-graduate training in astronomy, particle physics, space science and nuclear physics and research in any other field which makes use of scientific facilities where access is provided by the Council.

• the advancement of knowledge and technology (including the promotion and support of the exploitation of research outcomes) and to provide trained scientists and engineers…to the benefit of UK

Additionally to generate public awareness; communicate research outcomes; encourage public engagement and dialogue; disseminate knowledge; and provide advice.

Library and Information Services

• STFC Libraries at La Palma, Edinburgh, Warrington & Didcot.• For most purposes RC Libraries are treated as academic ones, in rare cases they are considered to be special libraries.• Concentrating on the ex-CCLRC Library and Information Services.

Chadwick Library and the RAL

LibraryLocated, since 2006, in the Information Services Group within the eScience Department.Mission is to “support staff, facility users and visitors by efficient and effective provision of library and information services”

How do we differ from academia?

• We do not teach – Students on campus are on work-related placements or

are doing vocational courses. • Specialised staff: low turn-over rates

– In some areas, STFC is UK facility and the alternative is to work abroad.

– Low turn-over rates make current awareness of library services a challenge

• Visitors to the facilities need access to information• 70% Library staff are professionally qualified

Facts and Figures

Staffing FTE 10.25, budget c£1M

2006/7 Spend

Outreach activities

7%

Staffing costs27% Infrastructure

5%

Information resources

61%ePubs, CLADDIER and DSIC

Pay, L&D & travel

IT; furniture; consumables; memberships & printing

Journals, books, databases & Interlibrary loans

How do we fit?

Who are our users?Three main types: 1. Staff employed by STFC, c 1800

• Researchers• Practitioners

2. Visitors (academic & commercial) to the facilities c>4000 on site(s) in a year

3. Commercial customers on the local campus

What do our users do in their day job?

• Do primary research in the Physical Sciences• Provide scientific and technical support to other academics using our facilities for experimentation• Provide support to the organisation • Write journal articles, technical reports and give conference presentations.• Produce or facilitate the production of scientific experimental data

What do our users expect & how has this

changed?• Self access databases rather than librarian-mediated (last fifteen years)• Journals should be electronic not paper (last five years)• Electronic journals should be available from vol 1 issue 1 (last 2 years)• BL ILL should be electronic delivery (last 2 years)• Should be able to get from database reference to full text instantly (last 2 years)• Should be able to keep BL SED forever (last 2 years not achieved)• Input into Institutional Repository should involve minimal typing (last 2 years not achieved)• No forms needed for access to library services (forever, not achieved)• One login for all resources (forever, not achieved)

What do we do for them?

Traditional Library Service • Journals collection• Interlibrary loans (document delivery)• Books, some e-books, • Databases: Web of Knowledge, INSPEC and British Standards and Open URL resolver• Enquiry service• Study space

Relaxed attitudes: Reading Rooms never shut, no security barriers, no fines, 90 days standard loan period and multiple renewals if no-one waiting.

External issues: Open Access

• RCUK framework statement :– involvement at Group Level– STFC position: strongly encourage staff,

mandatory for grant holders. • Institutional Repository: ePubs

– Live since May 2004– Over 23000 metadata records and 900 full text– 1957 to present

• Particle Physics and SCOAP3• Transition periods • Data

Unresolved areas

• Access and authorisation• Academic vs. commercial users• New generation of users: expectations and usage patterns• Environmental issues• Proving value to the organisation

Library Strategy 2006-2010

“Information Discovery at your fingertips”

1. Enhancing user experience2. Managing and curating digital resources3. Contributing to the wider information environment4. Adding value through the expertise of information

staff5. Sustainability

Enhancing user experience

• Focus on user communities: meeting their diverse needs• Develop and promote appropriate high quality information resources• Desk top access• Removing barriers• Develop the portfolio of information location tools• Education and awareness• User interactions

Information needs satisfied seamlessly by a service tailored to the needs of each individual user.

Managing and curating digital

information• Institutional Repository (ePubs)• Curation of Laboratory reports • Linking publications to data• Management of electronic resources

Electronic resources connected and curated adding value to the scientific process

Contributing to the wider environment

• Policy making and advice• Professional interactions

Using our expertise to influence the information

environment for the benefit of STFC and UK science

Adding value through staff expertise

• Skill sets• Values and attitudes• Staffing Levels • Enhancing quality

Focussed, committed and effective professionals providing and developing a high quality service

Sustainability

• Funding• Strategic Partnerships• Accommodation • Organisational change

Using STFC resources appropriately for the benefit of STFC and its strategic partners

Library research projects

Two JISC funded projects:1. CLADDIER – Citation, Location and Deposition

in a Discipline & Institutional RepositoriesThis is investigating linking data to publications and vice versa. Data publication issues.

2. Version Identification FrameworkFramework for identifying different versions of items; including scholarly works, images and learning

objects.

The group is also involved in in EU-funded CASPAR:Cultural, Artistic and Scientific knowledge for

Preservation, Access and Retrieval

The future

• Better integration of Library provided resources• Better integration of Library resources in the researcher’s environment• Dependence on print books for the foreseeable future• E-only journals holdings therefore NO print!• Changes in user expectations and interactions with the Library service