Academic Library and Research Data management Roles: The Case of Norwegian Libraries

Abstract

Within the knowledge society, data constitutes a significant fragment. The management and sharing of data especially with respect to research data coupled with the influx of information communication and technology is thus becoming paramount for not only researchers but also academic librarians. In the case of Norway the research council of Norway in 2014 came up with a policy recommendation requiring researchers to include data management plans to their research activities and hence advance innovations and knowledge sharing. To meet up with these recommendations, the responsibility therefore lies on traditional academic libraries and librarians as to how they can position themselves in this ever-changing environment of research data (e-Research) management. This thesis therefore investigates the roles of academic libraries in supporting researchers who are mandated by their research funders to comply with the principles and guidelines of open access research data. Hitherto, the willingness of academic libraries and librarians to take up this new mandate in response to the Research Council of Norway published policy remains part of the core of this study. Towing a constructivist lane, the study employed a qualitative case study through the use of semi-structured interviews augmented by documentary analysis to some selected Norwegian academic librarians. The study revealed three-fold key role, which academic libraries could play in the university community. Additionally the study observed that academic libraries might be required to improve their technical skills and competency sets through training and other capacity building programmes by collaborating with national agencies like Norwegian Center for Research Data (NSD) and Norstore.