Navigating the rising metrics tide in the 21st century: which way for academic librarians in support of researchers in sub-Saharan Africa?
Abstract
Academic librarians in sub-Saharan Africa, just like their counterparts in the rest of the world, are under pressure to provide relevant information services to satisfy varied client needs. Research administrators, grant offices, researchers, students and university managers, among others, are increasingly turning to academic librarians for information to meet their myriad research-related information and metrics needs. Sub-Saharan African countries’ emphasis on strengthening science, technology and innovation has exerted further pressure on information professionals and other stakeholders to develop and appropriately apply bibliometrics and altmetrics to inform decision-making and policy-formulation processes. Research output and impact metrics are not only quickly evolving but their volume has been unprecedented. This paper’s focus is the application of bibliometrics and altmetrics by academic librarians to support researchers in their respective universities. The paper argues that there is need for up-skilling or re-skilling the 21st-century sub-Saharan African academic librarian to select and apply appropriate metrics, tools and strategies to support researchers as they execute their responsibilities. The paper offers possible areas of training for academic librarians.Downloads
References
Abubakar, B.M. 2011. Academic libraries in Nigeria in the 21st century. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), Paper 446: 1–5. [Online]. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/446 (2 June 2017).
Alzahrani, S. 2010. The role of editorial boards of scholarly journals on the green and the gold road to open access. DPhil thesis. University of British Columbia.
Andras, P. 2011. Research: metrics, quality, and management implications. Research Evaluation, 20(2): 90–106.
Andrews, A., Downs, A., Morris-Knower, J., Pacion, K. and Wright, S.E. 2016. From ‘library as place’ to ‘library as platform’: redesigning the 21st century academic library. In The future of library space. S. Schmehl Hines and K. Moore Crowe, Eds. Bingley, West Yorkshire: Emerald. 145–167. DOI:10.1108/S0732-067120160000036006.
Ani, E.O., Ngulube, P. and Onyancha, O.B. 2017. A study of productivity of academic staff in selected Nigerian universities. Nigerian Libraries: Journal of the Nigerian Library Association, 47(2): 77–94.
Auckland, M. 2012. Re-skilling for research: an investigation into the role and skills of subject and liaison librarians required to effectively support evolving information needs of researchers. Stoke-on-Trent: RLUK. [Online]. http://www.rluk.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/RLUK-Re-skilling.pdf (4 June 2017).
Beamish, P.W. 2006. Publishing international (joint venture) research for impact. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(1): 29–46.
Borgman, C.L. 2010. Research data: who will share what, with whom, when, and why? Paper presented at the Fifth China-North American Library Conference. 8-12 September. Beijing. [Online]. http://syd-ney.edu.au/research/data_policy/re-sources/ANDS_Borgman_2010_re-search_data.pdf (21 May 2015).
Brewerton, A. 2012. Re-skilling for research: investigating the needs of researchers and how library staff can best support them. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 18(1): 96–110.
Corrall, S, Kennan, M.A. and Afzal, W. 2013. Bibliometrics and research data management services: emerging trends in library support for research. Library Trends, 61(3): 636–674.
Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). 2016. About CODESRIA African Citation Index. Dakar: CODESRIA. [Online]. https://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article2669 (7 November 2018).
Cox, A, Verbaan, E and Sen, B. 2012. Upskilling liaison librarians for research data management. Ariadne, 30 November. [Online]. http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue70/cox-et-al?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=upskilling-liaison-librarians-for-research-data-management-2 (19 June 2017).
Daland, H.D. and Hidle, K.M.W. 2016. New roles for research librarians: meeting the expectations for research support. Amsterdam: Chandos Publishing.
Deegan, M and Tanner, S. 2002. Digital futures: strategies for information age. London: Library Association Publishing.
Delasalle, J. 2011. Research evaluation: bibliometrics and the librarian. SCONUL Focus, 53: 15–19.
Delasalle, J. 2017. Bibliometrics and the academic librarian. A librarian abroad. 29 May. [Online]. https://jennydelasalle.wordpress.com/2017/05/29/bibliometrics-and-the-librarian/ (4 July 2017).
Doskatsch, I. 2007. From flying solo to playing as a team: evolution of academic library services teams at the University of South Australia. Library Management, 28(8/9): 460–473.
Edewor, N. 2013. An analysis of a Nigerian Library and Information Science journal: a bibliometric analysis. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 1004. [Online]. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1004 (4 June 2017).
Ezema, J.I. and Onyancha, O.B. 2017. Citation impact of health and medical journals in Africa: does open accessibility matter? The Electronic Library, 35(5): 934–952. DOI:10.1108/EL-11-2016-0245.
Goetsch, L.A. 2008. Reinventing our work: new and emerging roles for academic librarians. Journal of Library Administration, 48(2): 157–172.
Gumpenberger, C., Wieland, M. and Gorraiz, J. 2012. Bibliometrics practices and activities at the University of Vienna. Library Management, 33(3): 174–183.
Hanard, S. 2001. The self-archiving initiative: freeing the refereed research literature online. Nature, 410: 1024–1025.
Hanard, S., Carr, L. and Brody, T. 2001. How and why to free all refereed research from access- and impact-barriers online, now. High Energy Physics Libraries Webzine. [Online]. http://cogprints.org/1640/1/science.htm (12 October 2015).
Hollister, C.V. and Coe, J. 2003. Current trends vs. traditional models. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 10(2): 49–63.
Holmberg, K. 2016. Altmetrics for information professionals: past, present and future. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Housewright, R., Schonfeld, R. and Wulfson, K. 2013. UK survey of academics. [Online]. http://www.rluk.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/UK_Survey_of_Academics_2012_FINAL.pdf (2 June 2017).
Ingwersen, P. 1998. The calculation of web impact factors. Journal of Documentation, 54(2): 236–243.
Ishola, B.C. 2014. Funding problems in Nigerian university libraries: fee based library and information services to the rescue, focus on pricing policy. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 1176. [Online]. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1176 (2 June 2017).
Jaguszewski, J.M. and Williams, K. 2013. New roles for new times: transforming liaison roles in research libraries. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.
Kebede, G. 2002. The changing information needs of users in electronic information environments. The Electronic Library, 20(1): 14–21.
Kennan, M.A., Corrall, S. and Afzal, W. 2014. “Making space” in practice and education: research support services in academic libraries. Library Management, 35(8/9): 666–683.
Klobas, J.E. 1999. Networked information resources: electronics opportunities for users and libraries. OCLC Systems, 15(2): 10–11.
Kostos, D. 2016. The role of academic librarians in research. [Online]. http://www.jove.com/blog/2016/08/03/the-role-of-academic-librarians-in-research (15 June 2017).
Library Journal and Gale CENGAGE Learning. 2015. Bridging the librarian-faculty gap in the academic library. [Online]. https://s3.amazonaws.com/WebVault/surveys/LJ_AcademicLibrarySurvey2015_results.pdf (19 June 2017).
Mamtora, J. 2013. Transforming library research services: towards a collaborative partnership. Library Management, 34(4/5): 352–371.
Melchionda, G.M. 2007. Librarians in the age of the internet: their attitude and their roles. New Library World, 108 (3/4): 123–140.
Namuleme, R.K. and Kanzira, A.N. 2015. Research support services in academic libraries in Uganda. In: The quest for a deeper meaning of research support. R. Raju, A. Adam, G. Johnson, C. Miller, and J. Pietersen, Eds. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Libraries. DOI:10.15641/0-7992-2526-6.
Noruzi, A. 2006. The web impact factor: a critical review. The Electronic Library, 24(4): 490–500.
Obegi, F.M. and Nyamboga, CM. 2011. The changing and evolving roles of information professionals in the digital age. Paper presented at the KLA annual Conference Mombasa: Kenya. [Online]. https://erepository.mku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/3863 (23 May 2017).
Ocholla, D.N., Ocholla, L. and Onyancha, O.B. 2013. Insight into research publication output of academic librarians in Southern African public universities from 2002 to 2011. African Journal of Libraries, Archives & Information Science, 23(1): 5–22.
Olivia, C. 2007. The role of librarians: past and future. D-Lib Magazine, 15(6): 22–25.
Parker, R. 2012. What the library did next: strengthening our visibility in research support. Paper presented at VALA2012 16th Biennial Conference. 6-9 February 2012. Melbourne, Australia. [Online]. https://www.vala.org.au/vala2012-proceedings (25 May 2015).
Priem, J., Groth, P. and Taraborelli, D. 2012. The altmetrics collection. PLoS ONE, 7(11): e48753. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0048753.
Ravenscroft, J., Liakata, M., Clare, A. and Duma, D. 2017. Measuring scientific impact beyond academia: an assessment of existing impact metrics and proposed improvements. PLoS ONE, 12(3): 1–21. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0173152.
Rice-Lively, M.L. and Racine, J.D. 1997. The role of academic librarians in the era of information technology. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 23(1): 31–41.
Roemer, R.C. and Borchardt, R. 2015a. Meaningful metrics: A 21st-century librarian’s guide to bibliometrics, altmetrics, and research impact. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Roemer, R.C. and Borchardt, R. 2015b. Altmetrics and the role of librarians. Library Technology Report, 51(5): 31–37.
Roemer, R.C. and Borchardt, R. 2015c. Major altmetrics tools. Library Technology Report, 51(5): 11–19.
Schouten, T. 2010. R&D 1: quality and metrics: how to measure and predict software engineering. [Online]. http://www.cs.ru.nl/~ths/sdm1/theo2010/Metrics.ppt (24 May 2017).
Schrader, A.M. 1981. Teaching bibliometrics. Library Trends, 30(1): 151–172.
Sidorko, P.E. and Yang, T.T. 2008. Refocusing for the future: meeting user expectations in a digital age. Library Management, 30(1/2): 6–24.
Tancheva, K., Gessner, G.C., Tang, N., Eldermire, E., Furnas, H., Branchini, D., Steinhart, G., Foster, N.F. 2016. A day in the life of a (serious) researcher: envisioning the future of the research library. New York: Ithaka [Online]. http://www.sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/SR_Report_Day_in_the_Life_Researcher030816.pdf (24 May 2017).
Thelwall, M. 2004. Link analysis: an information science approach. London: Elsevier Academic Press.
Thelwall, M. 2009. Introduction to webometrics: quantitative web research for the social sciences. Willinston: Morgan & Claypool.
Thelwall, M. 2010. Webometrics. In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. 3rd ed. 5634–5643. DOI:10.1081/E-ELIS3-120044480.
Thelwall, M. 2014. Five recommendations for using alternative metrics in the future UK Research Excellence Framework. LSE blog. 23 October. [Online]. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/10/23/alternative-metrics-future-uk-research-excellence-framework-thelwall/ (2 June 2017).
UCI Libraries. 2018. Research impacts using citation metrics: Home. [Online]. https://guides.lib.uci.edu/researchimpact-metrics (7 November 2018).
Wilsdon, J. and Belfiore, E. 2015. The metric tide: report of the independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management. Bristol: HEFCE. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.4929.1363.
Wolff, C. 2016. Canadian Association of Research Libraries faculty survey: executive summary of findings. New York: Ithaka.
Zenke, P. 2012. The future of academic libraries: an interview with Stephen Bell. Education Futures. [Online]. https://educationfutures.com/blog/2012/03/the-future-of-academic-libraries-an-interview-with-steven-j-bell/ (19 July 2017).
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors (copyright owners) should be properly acknowledged when works are cited. Authors retain publishing rights without any restrictions.
South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science is an Open Access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of Open Access.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
