Changing the world one researcher at a time: a skills and engagement approach to library research support

Abstract

The Research Skills Team in the Library at the University of Birmingham is a unique formation of librarians, a postgraduate skills officer and postgraduate teaching assistants.

The team’s clear focus is the researcher themselves, and their ‘lived experience’, from the moment of registration on a PhD course, through post-doctoral early career posts, to lecturer and professor level.

The team’s mission is to be a seamless interface to the research services offered by the library, to demystify the increasingly complex scholarly communication system, and to advocate for initiatives such as open research.

By taking a holistic approach to the researcher experience and orienting services accordingly, and by safeguarding staff time to finesse an ongoing suite of training opportunities, the library is demonstrating an ongoing commitment to facilitate high quality research.