The IReL initiative levelling the playing field

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The IReL initiative levelling the playing
field?
INULS 2007
INULS 2007
The IReL initiative levelling the playing
field?
Siobhán Dunne Dublin City University
Siobhán Dunne Dublin City University
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Todays presentation

• What exactly is IReL? some background..
• Ireland as an international player
• Value Added Services for Researchers
• Opportunities and Challenges
• Conclusion

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• Consortial purchasing scheme to support research
  in 7 universities
• Desktop access to published research output of
  leading journals
• 2 years of discussion between IUA and SFI/HEA
• 20m over 5 yrs 2004-2009
• Initially provided resources in ICT
  Biotechnology followed by Humanities and Social
  Sciences

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The Story so far..

• Phase 1 (2004)
• 48 STM Databases
• 203 STM Individual and society titles
• Phase 2 (2005)
• 30 HSS Databases
• 29,000 HSS Monographs

2,000 STM e journals!
18,000 HSS e journals!
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How is IReL administered?
IUA Librarians Group
Publishers
CCL
SFI HEA
IRIS
7 Libraries
Local promotion
Steering Group Monitoring Group Licencing
Group Web Site Group
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Collaboration on a grand scale

• For Libraries
• Pressure on university/research funding agencies,
  so.
• Economies of scale centrally negotiated
  centrally administered value for money
• For Researchers
• Geographic barriers no longer an issue
• Facilitates cross institutional research

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• A splendid example of how through collaboration
  at the level of institutions and at the level of
  funding agencies, Ireland can hope to compete
  with the best in the world
• Tom Boland, HEA Chief Executive IReL launch,
  June 2006

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Raising the bar for international competitiveness

• Provision of world class information
  infrastructure
• Increasing awareness of where to publish papers
  increased international visibility
• Attracting high profile international post docs
  top quality research industry

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To be competetive in all aspects of research we
need to supply our researchers with easy access
to current literature top research institutes
worldwide have such facilities
This is the single most positive development in
the Irish research environment in recent years.
Without IReL, no serious research group would
be attracted to set up here.
When I tell colleagues outside Ireland about
IReL they are very envious
No self respecting researcher will come to
Ireland without this service being available.
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IReL has increased the competitiveness of Irish
research internationally
61 of researchers agree
IReL Impact Survey 2007
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How can libraries support their universities in
gaining a competitive edge?
UCC The institutions commitment to assuring a
high quality graduate educational experience is
reflected in the provision of a new graduate
research library and a growing suite of skills
development modules
TCD The library is the heart of research
activitythe college library is one of the
largest in Europe

• Consideration of library services by potential
  researchers
• 7 IUA libraries sharing almost identical online
  presence
• Provision of value added services
• Key Resources
• Dedicated Personnel
• 2. Supporting technologies

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Value Added Service 1 dedicated personnel

• Research Support Library Staff
• Who are the research community?!
• Becoming one of the research team
• Tailored training on resources specific to centre
  needs

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Value Added Service 1 dedicated personnel

• Promotion of performance measurement tools
• Collaboration with Office of Research
• Timely dissemination and promotion of IReL
  resources

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Value Added Service 2 - Supporting Technologies

• Provision of bibliographic supports to ensure
  full exploitation of information
• Provision of tools for exposing IReL resources
• A-Z lists
• Link Resolvers
• Federated Search products

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Opportunities Challenges

• Awareness Raising
• Asserting the role of the library.and restoring
  our image
• Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!

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IUA Librarians Group
Publishers
CCL
SFI HEA
IRIS Ltd.
7 Libraries
Local promotion
Steering Group Monitoring Group Licencing
Group Web Site Group
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Promoting IReL Resources

• Brochures, promotional stands, library newsletter
• Library web sites

www.library.dcu.ie/Eresources/IReL.htm
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Branding...

• Library Web sites
• Publisher web sites

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Opportunities Challenges

• Are we reaching the right people with the right
  resources?
• ..in the right way?

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How Researchers have been locating information on
IReL resources
IReL Impact Survey 2007
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.. how they would like to locate information on
IReL resources
IReL Impact Survey 2007
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Other Value Added Services

• Online Information Literacy tutorial
• Research Blogs portals
• Email Alerts convenient for researcher/low cost
  
• Presence on centre intranets/discussion forums
• An IReL website?

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• Collaboration Competition 2 sides of the IReL
  coin

• Now that we have common access to the same
  comprehensive information sources, we are no
  longer two or three tiers within
• the third/fourth level system. With a level
• playing field, there is a much greater
  willingness to work as a community
• Comment from researcher IReL Impact Survey 2007