A presentation by Tom Hickerson, vice-provost (libraries and cultural resources), University of Calgary.

1. Leadership conference 2018

2. CREATING A NEW
COLLABORATIVE
FUTURE
TheEvolvingRoleofLibrariesinToday’s
AcademicResearchEnterprise
Tom Hickerson | University of Calgary
Jisc and CNI Leaders Conference 2018

3. “Butwe don’tdo
researchlikethat
anymore”
Brian Moorman
Associate Dean, Research and Infrastructure
Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary

4. Last 20
years have
seen
The traditional role of
research libraries declining
as an essential element of
academic research
Information becoming
accessible remotely, on
campus and worldwide
New types of research
resources evolving

5. Nature of
research is
changing
Research is increasingly multi-
disciplinary in order to address
today’s Grand Challenges for
science and society
this approach does not align
with the customary discipline-
based organization of library
services

6. But in
the last 5
years
The changing nature of
research increasingly requires
new means of functional
support, some of which has
emerged in libraries

7. A new
scholarly
infrastructure
that
incorporates
digital media
and tools

8. In the fall of 2015, we
initiated an evidence-
based study to
ascertain today’s
principal researcher
needs

9. Multidisciplinary
Research
Infrastructure:The
Role of21st
CenturyLibraries
(sponsoredbyThe
AndrewW.Mellon
Foundation)
3 days of workshops in November
2015
 50 faculty members from 15
disciplines
 4 external facilitators
 3 external scholars
Faculty participation championed
by senior research administrators
Library staff and Research Services
Office as observers

10. The 2015
Study
Workshops focused on
three University priority
areas
 Arctic Studies
 Smart Cities
 Visual Analytics

11. The 2015
Study
Disciplines included
 Anthropology
 Archaeology
 Architecture
 Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
 Civil Engineering
 Computer Science
 Environmental Design
 Geography
 Geology
 History
 Military, Security and Strategic
Studies
 Political Science
 Public Health
 Real Estate Studies
 Urban Planning

12. Findings
Most Commonly Identified Needs
 Collaborative spaces
 Data and repositories
 Digitization
 Expertise
 Funding for collaboration
 Metadata
 Rights management and
dissemination
 Skills training
 Visualization

13. Next
Steps

14. Research
Project
2017-19
Academic Research and
University Libraries: Creating a
New Model for Collaboration
Funded byTheAndrewW.
Mellon Foundation

15. Project
Goals
Develop a research platform
comprising a suite of common
services, technical infrastructure,
and expertise to leverage
economies-of-scale and
strengthen scholarly capacity
Enhance campus-wide
partnerships
Reposition libraries within the
research enterprise

16. DigitizationData Curation & Sharing
Collaborative Spaces
Analytics andVisualization
Rights Management &
Dissemination
Metadata Services
This Platform will be a constellation of
services developed and implemented as an
integral part of real-time research projects

17. Process
 Competitive grant proposals chosen from
Smart Cities, Arctic Studies, and Cultural
Discourse
 Advisory committee of senior scholars and
research administrators from the University
of Calgary to advise on the structure, format
and process
 Two evaluations by external expert
reviewers after the completion of each grant
cycle to consider outcomes and impact

18. Process
Internal granting competition
 2 rounds of grants, each round totaling
$200,000
 Round 1
 May 2017: Call for Letters of Intent
 July 2017: Invitation to Full Proposal
 Sept 2017: Subgrants awarded
 Round 2 will start Summer 2018
 Adjudication criteria
 40% Concept
 30% Alignment with Library Platform
 30% Methodology, Feasibility and
Budget

19. Applications
solicited from
multidisciplinary
researchthemes:
ApplicantTeam Disciplines
 Smart Cities
 Arctic Studies
 Cultural
Discourse
21 LOIs, 13 Proposals

20. Five
Projects
Funded
Open Data for a Smarter City
Mapping Urban
Healthscapes
PaperTraces in Digital
Environments
Digitally Preserving Alberta's
Diverse Cultural Heritage
ArcticSensorWeb

21. Open Data for a Smarter City:
Creating a Data Infrastructure Pilot Initiative
Ryan Burns, Anthony Levenda,Victoria Fast, Byron Miller
Dean Curran, Steve Liang, EliotTretter, AlexWhalley
Geography, Geomatics Engineering, Economics
Smart
Cities
• Create collection of grassroots open data
from community associations, non-profits,
and researchers
• Work with library to launch a web portal
complementary to Open Calgary portal
• Develop infrastructure for other
data collections

22. Mapping Urban Healthscapes:
BringingTogether Big Data and Empathic
Cultural Maps in a KnowledgeTransfer and
Exchange Project
Suzanne Goopy, Tanvir Chowdhury, Mary O'Brien,
Gavin McCormack, Jonathan Chapman, Irina Charania,
Carla Ferreira
Nursing,Cumming School of Medicine,Werklund School of
Education, Languages, Linguistics, & Cultures
• Craft interactive tools and data targeted for
urban planners, health experts, and
community members
• Local unique case studies for education
• Bridge big data & cultural probe insights
Smart
Cities

23. Stefania Forlini, Uta Hinrichs
English,Computer Science
• Examine relationship between early Science
Fiction (SF) literary content and paper types
• Expanding SF metadata with material
information and computer generated
text-analysis
• Digital access to collection and metadata
PaperTraces in Digital Environments:
Enhancing Analysis & Representation of Content
and Materiality in Digitized Print Collections
Cultural
Discourse

24. Digitally Preserving Alberta's
Diverse Cultural Heritage
Peter Dawson, Derek Lichti, Denis Gadbois, Richard Levy,
Alireza Forrokhi
Anthropology & Archaeology, Geomatics Engineering,
Fine Arts, Environmental Design,Alberta Culture &Tourism
• Create a prototype open access archive for
Alberta's digital heritage
• Virtual reality content for education & outreach
• Building information model (BIM) of the
Brooks aqueduct
Smart
Cities
Cultural
Discourse

25. ArcticSensorWeb: A Research Platform
for Real-Time Dissemination of Arctic Data
Brent Else, Maribeth Murray, Steve Liang, Shawn Marshall,
ShannonVossepoel, James Badger
Geography, Anthropology & Archaeology,Arctic Institute of
North America, Geomatics Engineering
• Real-time web access to arctic sensor data
• Support for future data streams
• Data visualizations for Northern
communities to use the data
Arctic
Studies

26. The
External
Review
Panel
Larry Alford, University Librarian, University of Toronto
Charles Eckman, Dean and University Librarian, University of Miami
Lorcan Dempsey, Vice-President and Chief Strategist, OCLC
Harriette Hemmasi, University Librarian, Brown University
Meghan Meredith-Lobay, Digital Humanities and Social Sciences Analyst, Advanced
Research Computing, University of British Columbia
Shan Sutton, Dean of Libraries, University of Arizona

27. External
Reviewer
Commentary
Following presentations by faculty project leads,
library staff, and research administrators, the
External Reviewers gave a public presentation
focusing on the implications of the work underway
at Calgary for their own institutions.
Video at: https://library.ucalgary.ca/mellon-external

28. Review
Focal
Points
Strong support for the model employed
Critically important to convey depth and
breadth of library services and expertise to
today’s researchers
New models for collaboration are both
library-to-researcher but also essential
among library staff
Openness shown by librarians to redefining
their understanding of researcher needs
Work with research administrators to
incorporate this redefinition of the library’s
role throughout the research life cycle
Issues of scalability and sustainability

29. ‘Calgary
Model’
Distinctive
Elements
Library functional teams working
with researchers from proposal
stage through project execution
Library functional teams
collaborating with each other to
ensure an integrated set of services
Project Coordinator, supported by
a core team of advisors from the
Library and the Research Services
Office, facilitating the work of all
project participants

30. Next
Steps
RoundTwo of Sub-Grants and Faculty
Projects
Draw on external reviewers’
evaluation to enhance effectiveness
Share findings and stimulate other
libraries’ initiatives employing similar
methodologies
Contribute to a broad-scale
redefinition of the role of research
libraries

31. A profession-
wide
redefinition
is underway
New ARL membership
criteria were adopted
unanimously at the Spring
2018 membership meeting
including several
specifically addressing
the role of research
libraries in the research
ecosystem

32. This redefinition of the
Library’s role in
research is essential to
our continuing
Relevance

33. Thank you
tom.hickerson@ucalgary.ca

34. Tom Hickerson
University of Calgary
tom.hickerson@ucalgary.ca
Thankyou