Bioscience Research and Researchers at the University of Washington: Need and Implications

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Bioscience Research and Researchers at the
University of Washington Need and Implications

• Betsy Wilson
• May 25, 2007
• ARL Meeting

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Thanks to the Biosciences Resources and Services
Planning Task Force, especially chair Neil Rambo,
for their work, insight and assistance in
preparation of these slides.
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Fly Over

• Impetus and Goals
• Background
• Methods
• Threads and Findings
• Recommendations and Actions

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Impetus for the Study

• Growing interdisciplinary research and work
• Significant change in use patterns
• Current support split between Health Sciences and
  the Sciences hindering interdisciplinary work
• Libraries connection to the research enterprise

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Goals of the Study

• Libraries Task Force on Biosciences Services and
  Resources Planning charged to
• Assess the information use and needs of
  bioscience researchers
• Review current support to bioscience programs
• Use a customer-centered qualitative approach
• Mine existing assessment data
• Examine how other research libraries support
  biosciences
• Recommend how we can best support bioscience
  programs

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University of Washington

• Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell
• Public research university
• 30,000 undergraduates
• 11,000 graduate students
• 4,000 faculty

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UW Libraries

• Large, public research library with 21 facilities
  on three campuses
• Over 7,000,000 volumes
• 50,000 serial titles
• Digital collections
• Excellent service
• Expert staff
• Innovation
• Global collections
• Strength in assessment and planning

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BackgroundUW Research

• Nearly 1 billion in sponsored research annually
• Progress in any one domain is dependent on
  progress in many other disciplines
• Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity
• Geographically dispersed research sites
• Explosive growth of bioscience information and
  computational data
• Changes in library and information usage patterns
• Increased e-journal usage
• Decreased database usage
• Decreased on-site library use

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UW Economic and Intellectual Impact

• Federal grants support 7,600 FTE
• UW research generates 34,000 jobs state-wide
• 188 new companies launched, many biotech
• 18.6 million in tech licenses annually
• 4,000 undergraduates participate in deep research
  experiences
• Research engine, indeed

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Key Questions

• Who are the bioscience researchers?
• What do they do?
• Where are they physically, administratively, and
  intellectually?
• How do they find and use information?
• What are the barriers?
• How can the Libraries help?
• How will we know if we have made any difference?

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Biosciences Review Process

• Define scope Dec 2005
• Mine existing data
• Survey, use, institutional, peer Jan-May 2006
• Acquire new information
• Environmental scan Jan-May 2006
• Interviews (library staff) Jan-Apr 2006
• Interviews (biosci faculty) Feb 2006
• Focus groups (biosci faculty students) Mar-Apr
  2006
• Peer library surveys Apr 2006
• Synthesis and first draft May-Aug 2006
• Reaction and revision
• Final report and recommendations Sep-Dec 2006
• Incorporate into Libraries plan 2007-

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Biosciences Review Multiple Data Sources

• Qualitative (new)
• Faculty interviews (10)
• Focus groups (6)
• Experts
• Peer institutions

• Data Mining (repurposing)
• UW Institutional data
• Library use statistics
• UW Libraries Triennial Survey
• Since 1992
• UW Libraries In-Library Survey
• Since 1993

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Use of Print Collections 1995-96 To 2004-05
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Reasons for Use Pattern ChangesLook for
e-journals at least 2x week - Faculty by area
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Survey 2004 Print Collection/E-Journal Priority
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Journal Article Downloads 2004-05 4,761,704
(Counter Compliant Titles as of May 06)
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Faculty Interview Themes

• Library seen primarily as e-journal provider
• Physical library used only for items not
  available online
• Too busy for training, instruction etc.
• Faculty who teach seem to use libraries
  differently
• Faculty could not come up with new library
  services when asked

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Focus Group Findings

• First stop Google or Pub Med Central
• Subject databases are greatly underused
• Researchers suffer from an overwhelming amount of
  information, demands of immediacy, and management
  of expectations
• Researchers generate vast amounts of data and are
  having difficulty managing it
• Great need for personal information management
• Most with grant support buy what books they need
  from Amazon

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More Focus Group Findings

• The transaction cost (largely in time and
  attention) from discovery to delivery is too high
• There is a need to integrate fragmented systems
  and processes
• Researchers believe that graduate students are
  self-sufficient in seeking information

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What We Learned

• Bioscience is a major foundation for excellence
  and growth
• Use of the Libraries has changed dramatically and
  change is accelerating
• Branch libraries may be a hindrance to
  multidisciplinary research
• Users are experiencing information overload
• Libraries connection to the biosciences needs to
  be strengthened

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What it Means for the Libraries Recommendations

• Library as Place
• Consolidate life and health sciences collections
  and service points
• Accelerate and expand move to off-site storage,
  simultaneously reshaping vacated space
• Organizational Structure
• Reorganize and position libraries around broad
  user communities
• Information Discovery and Delivery
• Integrate search and discovery tools into users
  workflow
• Expand and harmonize delivery options

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Task Force Recommendations

• Collections and Resources
• Reform collection allocation decision process and
  principles
• Reference, Instruction and Liaison Services
• Increased integration of librarians with user
  workflow
• Collaborative Efforts to Further Research
  Enterprise
• Increased role in scholarly communication and
  e-science issues
• External Biosciences Community
• Deepen understanding of needs of role Libraries
  could/should play
• Libraries Communication and Marketing

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What We are Doing Actions Underway

• Biosciences/e-science position champion for
  collaborative implementation of recommendations
• Long-range Facilities Plan
• Fewer more consolidated locations
• Sand Point Remote Shelving
• Reshaping library space
• Touchdown Suite proposal pending
• WorldCat.org Local Pilot
• Harmonizing Delivery Policies and Practices
• Expanding and strengthening liaison roles and
  training
• Scholarly Communication Plan
• University Open Access Statement
• Data Inventory
• Marketing consultant