De Montfort University

1. A Community of Practice Approach to
Delivering Research Support Services in
a Post-92 Higher Education Institution:
a Reflective Case Study
Jenny Coombs
Academic Team Manager
De Montfort University

2. Overview
• The context
• Definition of a Community of Practice
• The reasons why this approach was developed
• What makes a Community of Practice approach
successful
• The benefits and challenges of this approach
• Future direction

3. University context
Growing research agenda

4. Library & Learning Services
Context

5. Team
Manager /
Academic
Librarians
Research &
Business
Innovation
(Open Access
and RDM
Officer )
Online
Learning
Developer
Graduate
School
Lecturer
Research
Support
Repository
officer
Key
Blue Library roles
Green Wider university roles / Divisions
Purple connector Direct relationship
Red connector Informal relationship
Doctoral
Training
Programmes
Faculty
Research
Development
Officers

6. What is a Community of
Practice?
“Groups of people who share a concern or a passion
for something they do and learn how to do it better as
they interact regularly” (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner,
2015 )
Concept originated in the
1990s from
anthropological research
Subsequently developed
in a range of
organisational contexts,
including learning theory
and knowledge sharing

7. Three main characteristics
Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015

8. Why the Community of Practice
was developed

9. What makes a Community of
Practice successful

10. Common sense of purpose
“I think it works really well at the moment but I’m aware that this is
mainly down to individuals making it work and wanting it to happen”

11. Sense of community

12. Trust

13. Good practice

14. Good practice
“Not everyone is going
to have the right
expertise or knowledge
for every task or
activity”
“Sensible to bring all
our collective strengths
and knowledge
together”
Bridges the gap between formal structures
and can facilitate improved communication

15. Organisational culture
“The fact that our senior
managers are not
prescriptive and allow this
to free-flow and are
supportive of new initiatives
has enabled the Community
of Practice to be successful”
“One of the main things
needed is more time, or the
acceptance of the value of
sharing practice and
knowledge across several
teams on a regular basis –
thus allowing the
Community of Practice to
grow and develop”

16. Opportunities provided by a
shared approach
“Advocating the library’s
work and services to a
broad audience, reaching
people (e.g. research staff)
who wouldn’t necessarily
have come to us”
Opportunities to “share
and cascade knowledge of
academic librarians”

17. Opportunities provided by a
shared approach
“We are cohort neutral with a mission to
support all users that can work across
hierarchical and organisational
boundaries”

18. How successful is a Community of
Practice approach
Benefits
• Informal nature encourages
creativity
• Crosses organisational
structures and boundaries
• Holistic support for users
• Develops broader
understanding
• Opportunity to learn new
information
• Profile raising
Challenges
• Requires senior level
commitment
• Reliance on good will
• Knowledge and skills may be
lost
• Can become stale
• Strategic initiatives require
more formal approach

19. The future
• Continued approach for research support
• Other opportunities:
– Learning and teaching activities
– International
– Disability
– Leadership development
• Matrix management / Task and finish groups

20. References
• Wenger-Trayner, E. and Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015).
Communities of practice: A brief introduction. [Online]
Retrieved from: http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-
to-communities-of-practice
• Coombs, J., Thomas, M., Rush, N. and Martin, E. (2017) A
Community of Practice Approach to Delivering Research
Support Services in a Post-92 Higher Education Institution:
A Reflective Case Study. New Review of Academic
Librarianship. 23 (2-3). Retrieved from:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13614533.
2017.1329750

21. ANY QUESTIONS