Building strategic partnerships to support research impact & discovery in Canadian Research Libraries

This paper will update the international community on how Canadian research libraries are moving from supporting to taking a strong leadership role in key components of the University’s digital research support infrastructure and, in doing so, expanding the campus’ understanding of what good research libraries can and should do. The research will include real-world examples of research libraries leading campus implementations of Research Information Management Systems (RIMs) or Campus Research Information Management Systems (CRISs) to help document the institution’s research output; to partnering or leading the introduction of Bibliometrics services as a strategy for quantifying research impact; and to overseeing campus planning for research data management. The paper will outline some of the technology solutions being used across the country, but will focus most of the emphasis on the strategic relationships, service philosophies and project management expertise libraries are bringing to the table. The paper will also seek to flag the new competencies required to be successful in this new and rapidly changing environment.