Librarian Instruction of Researcher Profile Systems to Graduate Students: A Case Study

Introduction: Academic liaison librarians play a pivotal role in supporting graduate students with their scholarly endeavors, particularly research dissemination. Researcher profile systems (RPSs) are important for promoting academic work; they ensure name attribution and facilitate research distribution. Academic librarians are advocates of these systems and provide support and instruction for them. This article reports on a pre–post survey evaluating a library workshop on RPSs for graduate students, as well as the changes made to the workshop based on the results of the survey. Methods: The authors co-taught a workshop about RPSs six times between 2021 and 2022. Pre- and post-surveys were distributed to all registrants and attendees. Based on the results of the surveys, the authors updated the workshop in Fall 2023. Discussion: Changes to the workshop included a broader discussion of the linkages among RPSs, less discussion about profile setup, and the inclusion of a self-reflection exercise to help students decide which tool(s) to use. The changes led to a refreshed workshop reflective of graduate students’ needs. Conclusion: RPSs are important tools in creating researchers’ online identities. Librarians play an important role in guiding graduate students through these tools to help them promote their work. Using a mixture of asynchronous and synchronous instruction encourages uptake of these tools at a scholarly institution and supports graduate students in their academic development. Further, ongoing workshop assessment is important to keep the material relevant to students. Data Availability: All research data, worksheets, and workshop presentations are available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/F6KAR