Research Know-How for Research Support Services: Preparing Information Specialists for Emerging Roles.

The panel will discuss the importance of understanding the research environment for providing effective information and technology support to researchers, and the implications for curricula in professional education. Our specific context is growing involvement of academic libraries and information services in managing research data, but the issues raised have wider implications for educating and developing other information specialists (e.g., in research institutes, government agencies, public libraries). Studies in the past five years have identified technical and discipline-related skills and knowledge gaps as potential constraints on developing library research data services. Our recent research in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland confirmed the need for data curation and technology skills, but also found practitioners engaging in other forms of research support, and expressing needs for a multilayered introduction to the research environment, extending beyond the research skills typically gained in masters programs, including subjects such as academic culture and practice, and research policy and evaluation. The panelists represent a mix of academic and practitioner viewpoints from different countries. They will each offer their views on what is missing and should be added to graduate curricula, and how programs can make space, asking the audience to respond with their own suggestions, counter-arguments, and alternative visions, using an interactive style from the start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]