New Roles for Librarians: The Blended Professional

New Roles for Librarians: The Blended Professional

Elaine Martin, MLS, DADirector of Library Services, Lamar Soutter Library

Director of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region

Objectives1. Explore roles in e-Science (eResearch)

2. Describe the research informationist

3. Explore library-readiness

4. Describe a new paradigm: the blended professional

NN/LM,NER Strategy to Support Emerging Roles

e-Science COI(180+ librarians)

e-Science Librarianship

Funders• NN/LM NER• IMLS• BLC• NAHSL

• SBC sponsors

Advisory Group

Prof. Development Education • Professional Development Day

• e-Science symposium• Science Boot Camp• Simmons GSLIS

• Course: How You Teach RDM

Tools/Resources• e-Science portal

• content for RDM class• e-Science Thesaurus• NECDMC curriculum

Dissemination• Journal of eScience Librarianship• e-Science Community Blog

• Twitter feeds

Research Agenda

New England Data Management Curriculum

Teaching

• Workshops• Embedded in the curriculum• Embedded in the research lab• Library school• Graduate school courses for credit• Staff training



http://library.umassmed.edu/necdmc


Cases

Join the Collaboration!

• View the 10/31 DMP webinar • Use the NECDMC curriculum • Participate in evaluation and feedback loop• Potentially add to the database of cases• Share your experiences on our Community Page

http://library.umassmed.edu/necdmc/





Content Development

• Escience Portal• Escience Community Blog• Journal of Escience Librarianship• YouTube Channel• Webinars• Curriculum

e-Science Web Portal Projectesciencelibrary.umassmed.edu


Collaboration with Researchers

• Building the science knowledge-base for librarians

• Conference planning• Skill development (data interviews)• Learning what researchers want and need

Science Boot Camp

Science Boot Camp: June 2013 at UMass Amherst

SCIENCE BOOT camp

For librarians .

Save the Date: June 11-13, 2014

Join us at theUniversity of Connecticut

Storrs, CT

Further details forthcoming. Registration opens in Spring 2014.


Professional Development

• Annual symposium• Professional development days• Science bootcamp• Poster session• Research opportunities• Dissemination of research findings

Save the Date!

When: April 9, 2014Theme: “Librarians working with Data”Where: Faculty Conference Room, University of Massachusetts Medical School Registration is open! For further details see the Symposium website at http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/escience_symposium/2014/

http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/escience_symposium/2014/

Emerging e-Science roles

• Building research data services• Teaching RDM courses• Data management planning and consulting• Liaison between researchers and library• Maintaining IR and data repositories• Content development• Journal publishing


Birth of Research Informationist• 2010 NLM offered Administrative Supplement

highlighting role of the librarian on the biomedical research team

• Eight awards • 2013 second round of funding

What Does the Informationist Do?

• Expert searching and filtering the literature

• Bibliographic management and training on use of tools

• Knowledge management (across multiple sites)

• Data management

• Co-authoring publications

What Does the Informationist Do?

• Website development

• Consultation services

• Teaching RDM

Competencies Identified

• Information science

• Domain specific knowledge

• Understanding of the grant funding process

• Understanding of clinical and/or basic science research

Competencies Identified

• Project Management

• Database Management

• Database Design

• Statistics

Library-Readiness

• Assessing researchers’ data needs• Conduct institutional self-assessment• Build relationship with Office of Research

(grants funding, etc.)• Design strategic agenda and approach• Plan for sustainability

Librarian-Readiness• Willing to work outside traditional boundaries• Willing to take risks• Comfort with ambiguity• Entrepreneurship• Open to learning new skills, subject-disciplines• Work well with colleagues, non-librarians, and

can communicate between multiple groups

How to Get Started

Tips and Tricks

1. Build on existing faculty relationships2. Find opportunities to work with students on

research projects (group, poster symposia, etc.)3. Use liaison contacts4. Conduct assessment5. Link to dissertations (personal librarian program,

IR, etc.)

New Health Sciences/Science Librarian• Bounded professional moving to Blended

professional

• Defining a new professional identity

• Needs additional model development and further study

The Blended Professional

• Embraces entrepreneurship and change

• Risk taking

• Independent research

• Pride in unique contributions of of librarianship to the team

Questions Raised by the Model• Do you need a library to be a librarian?• To whom does the blended professional report

administratively?• To what extent will the library and/or other

department fund the position? Will the funding model influence the blended professional’s home?

Role of the RMLs

• Conduct assessments of community needs• Bring librarians together• Provide educational and programming support• Provide tools, space, platforms for sharing

resources and experience• Disseminating findings

For More Information…


Questions and Further Discussion

Contact: Elaine Martin, DA [email protected] NER Escience Coordinators: Andrew Creamer [email protected] Donna Kafel [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

