Trends in Academic and Research Support Services in the libraries of higher

educational institutions: a comparative study

Dinesh K. S. Deputy Librarian

IIT Ropar, Punjab, India

Introduction

This Presentation highlights the Academic & Research Support Services offered by Libraries attached to higher Educational Institutions

To sustain in the ever-changing digital world, academic libraries need to focus on developing more and more user-oriented academic, research and digital research skills of users

Offering guidance and training on the use of data management tools which are best to manage personal as well as organisational project add value to any academic library

Libraries can play a vital role in designing and offering scientific and technical writing services at a basic and advanced level ❖  Helps the the scholars to publish in quality Journals & ❖  UG students inculcate the habits of good writing & diversified skills

Assumption

I assumed that there are gaps in the academic & research support services offered by the libraries of top ranked (Quacquarelli Symonds & Times Higher Education) Institutions/ universities (US, UK & some of the European Countries) in compare with India & some Asian Countries

The libraries of top ranked universities supporting their universities with the varieties of new & innovative services which help them to excel at international level

Designing, developing and offering extensive research support services is the demand of the day, especially in the Indian academic libraries

2019 THE & QS World Ranking - US, UK & European Institutions/Universities

THE Rank University/Institute & Country QS Rank University/Institute & Country

1 (5) University of Oxford, UK 1 (4) Massachusetts Institute of Tech., US

2 (6) University of Cambridge, UK 2 (3) Stanford University, US

3 (2) Stanford University, US 3 (6) Harvard University, US

4 (1) Massachusetts Institute of Tech., US 4 (5) California Institute of Technology, US

5 (4) California Institute of Technology, US 5 (1) University of Oxford, UK

6 (3) Harvard University, US 6 (2) University of Cambridge, UK

7 Princeton University, US 7 ETH-Zurich - Swiss Federal Inst. of Tech.

8 Yale University, US 8 (9) Imperial College London, UK

9 (8) Imperial College London, UK 9 (10) University of Chicago, US

10 (9) University of Chicago, US 10 UCL (University College London)

2019 THE & QS World Ranking - Asian Universities/Institutions

THE Rank University/Institute & Country QS Rank University/Institute & Country

1 (22) Tsinghua University, China 1 (11) National Univ. of Singapore

2 (23) National Univ. of Singapore, Singapore 2 (12) Nanyang Technological Univ., Singapore

3 (31) Peking University, China 3 (17) Tsinghua University, China

4 (36) The University of Hong Kong 4 (23) The University of Tokyo, Japan

5 (41) Hong Kong Univ. of Science & Tech. 5 (25) The University of Hong Kong

6 (42) The University of Tokyo, Japan 6 (30) Peking University, China

7 (51) Nanyang Technological Univ., Singapore 7 (35) Kyoto University, Japan

8 (53) Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong 8 (36) Seoul National Univ., South Korea

9 (63) Seoul National Univ., South Korea 9 (37) Hong Kong Univ. of Science & Tech.

10 (65) Kyoto University, Japan 10 (40) Korea Advanced Institute of Sc. & Tech.

2019 THE & QS World Ranking - Indian Universities/Institutions

THE Rank University/Institute in India QS Rank University/Institute in India

1 (251-300) Indian Institute of Science 1 (162) Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

2 (351-400) Indian Institute of Technology Indore 2 (170) Indian Institute of Science

3 (401-500) Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 3 (172) Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

4 (401-500) Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee 4 (264) Indian Institute of Technology Madras

5 (401-500) JSS Academy of Higher Edn. & Research

5 (283) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

6 (501-600) Indian Institute of Technology Delhi 6 (295) Indian Institute of Tech. Kharagpur

7 (501-600) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur 7 (381) Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

8 (501-600) Indian Institute of Tech. Kharagpur 8 (472) Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

9 (501-600) Savitribai Phule Pune University 9 (487) University of Delhi

10 (601-800) Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham 10 (591-600) University of Hyderabad

Data & Method

01

The data of top universities/institutions libraries from 2019 QS and THE ranking are selected in three categories.

1. Libraries of top 10 institutions of USA, UK & European countries - 12 2. Libraries of top 10 institutions of Asian countries - 11 3. Libraries of top 10 institutions of India - 14

02 To ascertain the availability of such academic and research support services the data is obtained from their respective library websites

The chosen menu for the data is mostly “Research Support/Research Support Services” and allied links

Scope & Limitations

01

Scope of this study is limited to the Libraries of the top ranking universities/institutions in the above categories and based on the data available in their library web pages

02

This study concerned about the Research Support Services & other tools used by libraries to improve the academic & Research productivity of the students & scholars

03 This study not covered traditional and common library services including IR, Information Literacy, Resources etc.

04 Out of 37 Libraries considered for study from the 3 categories, one library website is in local language & one more website was not opening. The study focussed on 35 Libraries

Comparison of Academic & Research Support Services in Libraries

Type of Service(s) USA, UK & Europe Asia India

Academic/Creative Writing & Publishing: English teaching (non-native speakers), Writing skills, preparing assignments & theses, online tutorials, resources, Author tools, Open access, plagiarism, Academic writing lab, Systematic review of Literature

10/12 5/11 1/14

Research Data Management i nc lud ing pe rsona l con ten t management tools: Teaching, Planning

9/12 4/11 0/14

Research Guides: Specific to a course/field of study; Searching techniques

4/12 3/11 2/14

Comparison of Academic & Research Support Services in Libraries

Type of Service(s) USA, UK & Europe Asia India

Data & Statistical Services: Expert advice to choose appropriate data, a p p l i c a t i o n o f q u a l i t a t i v e /quantitative research methods, use of statistical tool for data analysis/interpretation, data conversion/visualization. Statistical tools/package includes RR Studio, Stata, SPSS

3/12 0/11 0/14

Reference Management: Citing & referencing

7/12 4/11 3/14

3D Printing & scanning, virtual reality for education & research

1/12 1/11 0/14

Bibliometrics support and training, Measuring and improving research impact

4/12 3/11 0/14

Comparison of Academic & Research Support Services in Libraries

Type of Service(s) USA, UK & Europe Asia India

Supporting the use of spatial data and technologies; Geographical Information System

2/12 0/11 0/14

E-Pics: Platform for managing, archiving & online use of image data

1/12 0/11 0/14

Research Cafe & Research poster exhibition

1/12 0/11 0/14

Patent related services 1/12 0/11 0/14

Outreach activities 1/12 0/11 0/14

Comparison of Academic & Research Support Services in Libraries

Type of Service(s) USA, UK & Europe Asia India

E-Learning Support 0/12 1/11 1/14

Conducting Regular Workshops: For researchers data modelling; Tailor made workshops such as measuring research impact; digital s c h o l a r s h i p , a c a d e m i c presentat ion, Oral defense; Improving PG learning

5/12 1/11 0/14

Conclusion

01

From the study we can see clearly that the libraries of top ranked universities have much more library infrastructure, offering top class academic & research support services and contributing their universities to achieve their goals

03

It's time to bridge the service gap across these three categories of Libraries to help our universities/institutions to improve international rankings at global level

02

It is observed that libraries of top ranked institutions of US, UK & Europe are offering high level of academic & research support services; whereas Asian libraries offering moderate level and Indian libraries yet to start many of these services

Thank you!