Learning from Experience: Librarians as Research Partners

Given current discussions in the field about librarians’ engagement in research partnerships, this study examines the experiences of librarians at The Ohio State University, a doctoral university with very high research (R1), to better understand their preparation for the collaborations, the knowledge and skills they contributed, their roles on project teams, their motivation for joining teams, and the subsequent criteria they have adopted for determining participation on future projects. Interview and post-interview survey findings indicate librarians have developed their own strategies for determining their roles on research teams based on their individual strengths and that they have benefited from the experiences overall. This study also reveals inconsistencies in support for this form of engagement and makes recommendations for libraries related to scoping involvement and establishing criteria for participation of librarians on research teams.