# /programs/ourwork/researchinfo/workflows/practice.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/researchinfo/workflows/practice.htm

# Survey of Current Practice Project We have commissioned a study of the role of research libraries in the higher education research assessment regimes in five countries - the Republic of Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. This work is being carried out by Key Perspectives, a UK library and scholarly publishing consultancy. The report will be published in the summer of 2009. ## Description Much attention is being directed towards research assessment and the development of procedures for assessment both in universities and at a national level. In the UK, which has had a national research assessment process aimed at fostering research excellence for over two decades, research assessment has absorbed huge amounts of attention, effort and time, and has undoubtedly contributed towards a change in attitudes of university managers and research communities towards their missions and towards their fellow institutions. Some believe that competitiveness has displaced the collegiate, collaborative values that the academy once held. Those countries that have pursued different paths in regard to funding higher education and research, distributing funding on a less combative basis, may not have themselves engendered the levels of competitiveness that may be seen in the UK, for example. Nevertheless, with the rise in usage of world university ranking systems like the Times Higher World University Ranking and the Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities, a new urgency is informing the approach to competition among universities worldwide, and within various regions and sectors. This study will describe research assessment regimes and the role of research libraries within these processes. Libraries occupy an interesting position within the academy, both belonging to an institution yet to an extent separated from it. There is—arguably—a set of 'research library values' that remains independent of local, institutional values, enabling libraries to occupy a unique and constructive role in the development of research assessment processes. Libraries have an understanding of scholarly communication processes—though they are currently in a state of rapid transformation to keep pace with the way scholars work. They understand the broad range of outputs and the publishing behaviour of scholars across disciplines, and the methodological constraints, limitations and variances that (should) pertain to assessment exercises. ## Aims This project sets out to do the following: Reveal the characteristics of current research library involvement in research assessment support Investigate the characteristics of several different research assessment regimes and their advantages and disadvantages Identify the activities undertaken in carrying out research assessment in institutions Identify activities in institutions that are geared towards satisfying future requirements Analyze the effect of research assessment procedures on the values of the academy Draw out points of good or best practice for libraries in support of national or institutional research assessment |
For more information John MacColl European Director, RLG Programs john_maccoll@oclc.org