Academic librarian engagement with Open Access in the UK: support, advocacy and education
Creators: name: Suri, Natasha
Publisher: name: unknown
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Library science
subject: Information science
subject: Open access publishing
subject: Academic libraries--Administration
subject: Academic librarians

description: The purpose of the study was to capture a brief snapshot of current academic librarian engagement with Open Access in UK higher education institutions. The study utilised a mixed method approach. An online questionnaire was used to capture quantitative data, and email interviews were used to collect qualitative data. A volunteer sample of 83 UK-based academic librarians responded to the questionnaire, and two further responses were received to the email interviews. Quantitative data was presented visually, and qualitative data was analysed using Braun & Clarke's staged thematic analysis (2006).

The study found that the main forms of Open Access activities academic librarians engage in are promotion, education and communication. These Open Access activities elide with the pre-existing responsibilities academic librarians have for promoting library services, communicating with library users, and educating students and researchers. Academic librarians largely provide Open Access support to academic staff and students.

Academic librarians have limited knowledge of the specific mandates and policies relevant to Open Access, and do not engage with Open Access on a regular basis. They largely feel neutral or satisfied with their current level of Open Access engagement, and do not want to significantly change how they engage with Open Access in the future, although they would like to increase their teaching responsibilities.

The low Open Access engagement of academic librarians may be shaped by their limited Open Access remit, with responsibility for Open Access engagement located elsewhere in the university or library staffing structure. Due to the small scale of the study and the use of non-probability sampling, further study would be needed to affirm the study's findings and to investigate the nature of academic librarian job remit and Open Access staffing within universities in greater depth.
description: The purpose of the study was to capture a brief snapshot of current academic librarian engagement with Open Access in UK higher education institutions. The study utilised a mixed method approach. An online questionnaire was used to capture quantitative data, and email interviews were used to collect qualitative data. A volunteer sample of 83 UK-based academic librarians responded to the questionnaire, and two further responses were received to the email interviews. Quantitative data was presented visually, and qualitative data was analysed using Braun & Clarke's staged thematic analysis (2006). The study found that the main forms of Open Access activities academic librarians engage in are promotion, education and communication. These Open Access activities elide with the pre-existing responsibilities academic librarians have for promoting library services, communicating with library users, and educating students and researchers. Academic librarians largely provide Open Access support to academic staff and students. Academic librarians have limited knowledge of the specific mandates and policies relevant to Open Access, and do not engage with Open Access on a regular basis. They largely feel neutral or satisfied with their current level of Open Access engagement, and do not want to significantly change how they engage with Open Access in the future, although they would like to increase their teaching responsibilities. The low Open Access engagement of academic librarians may be shaped by their limited Open Access remit, with responsibility for Open Access engagement located elsewhere in the university or library staffing structure. Due to the small scale of the study and the use of non-probability sampling, further study would be needed to affirm the study's findings and to investigate the nature of academic librarian job remit and Open Access staffing within universities in greater depth.