How can librarians efficiently support Research 2.0?

What is it about?

Research 2.0 (Science 2.0, eScience) is a new approach to doing research, made possible by network technologies. Reserch 2.0 is based on collaboration and sharing data and information. It is present in the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. This paper is an inventory of tasks and roles set by Research 2.0 for libraries in supporting research in higher education and in other institutions, now and in the near future. Research 2.0 is data-intensive, that is the importance of research data has grown to an extent, never seen before. This development requires more attention to activities, such as data management and data curation that focus more on data citation and the quality of data. Among numerous task, libraries also have to make their constituencies aware of tools and issues that usually do not come from the library, but are known to the librarians. These include – among others – open access to scientific publications, open data, alternative metrics of scientific output, and social media tools designed for researchers.

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Why is it important?

A number of researchers see libraries’ role restricted to being dispensaries of books and articles, because academic libraries have focused mainly on collecting journals, monographs and other documents. Now, this may be changed, if the librarians pay enough attention to the core process of research and the dynamics of change within scholarly communities – among others – by offering the above services.

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