Research support & digital literacy at LSEDr Jane Secker, London School of Economics and Political Science
Personalised Library Services in HE 22nd March 2011, Homerton College, Cambridge
What skills do you think researchers need? Search skills Analytical skills Evaluation skills Information management skills Communication skills Networking skills Writing and presenting skills Marketing skills Project management skills
Which tools do researchers at your institution need / have? A virtual research environment? File sharing space Resource sharing tools – social bookmarking /
social citation Collaborative writing tools – wikis Communication tools beyond email Professional networking tools Web presence tools – blogs, personal websites
Research support at your institution
Do you offer training? Do you run courses? Do you work with other departments? Do you assess their needs? Do you respond to requests for training and
development? What works, what doesn’t?
Discuss in pairs
Recent RIN report found…
Researchers need access to tools to support document and data sharing across institutions
Institutions should review their training provision and the configuration of support services to develop shared services but also look to provided customised support
Libraries and research offices need to work together Researchers need training and guidance on copyright,
IPR and licensing issues Research information systems need to reduce admin
burdens and not interfere with creativity
RIN (2010) Research Support in UK Universities
Broadening our support
Building on information literacy training offered in libraries
Exploiting new tools and technologies to support researchers
Taught in collaboration with learning technology / IT staff
Some might call this digital literacy Is there an agreed model?
What does digital literacy mean?
How would you define the term?
Do you consider yourself to be digitally literate?
Do you / can you offer this type of support?
What does it look like? Discuss in pairs
Definition of digital literacy
“…the skills, knowledge and understanding that enables critical, creative, discerning and safe practices when engaging with digital technologies in all areas of life”
FutureLab, (2010)
The boutique model
Is it meant to be scalable? How does it relate to other services? How do we showcase what we can offer? Is it a ‘premium’ service that can be
charged for? Need library staff costs to be included in
project proposals
Thanks for listening
Twitter: jsecker
Blog: elearning.lse.ac.uk/blogs/socialsoftware