Leabharlann UCDUCD Library Collaboration between university libraries and the research community in Ireland Sean Phillips 4 th UNICA seminar, Prague, 15 May 2008

The background Main factors in economic development Change in economic policy (1950s) Investment in education (1960s and 1970s) EU membership (from 1973) Investment in research (from 2000) …and also… Social partnership Tax policy Geography, demography, language

GNP per capita : Ireland and other advanced economies Source: World Bank, 2003

The policy agendas National agenda –a knowledge-based society and economy European Union agenda –the Lisbon strategy (2000): to make the EU "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010" –Framework FP7 ( ): affirms that “the 'knowledge triangle' - research, education and innovation - is a core factor in meeting the ambitious Lisbon goals”.

National Development Plan Enterprise and development component Technology Foresight fund (€646m) Administered by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Education component Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (€605m) Administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA)

National Development Plan Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation €8,200m in total, including – SFI funds – HEA funds – EU funds – Other public funds – Private sector funds Doubling of PhDs by 2013

Public Investment in R&D Hypothetical Sources: Historical - State Expenditure on R&D , Forfás. Future – CSA estimates based on NDP. NDP Total = €4.0B NDP Total = €8.2B € Billion 0.36 % of GNP0.55 % of GNP % of GNP

Studies and reviews OECD Review of Higher Education in Ireland (2004) Irish Universities Association Reform of 3 rd level and creation of 4 th level Ireland: securing competitive advantage in the 21 st century (2005) Higher Education Authority Review of Research Infrastructure (2007) Royal Irish Academy Advancing Humanities and Social Sciences Research in Ireland (2007)

…and the response The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) - €300m, , to be applied to: Institutional restructuring and reform Teaching and learning reforms Quality improvement initiatives Inter-institutional collaboration Improved performance management systems Management information systems

The university libraries University College Dublin Trinity College Dublin Dublin City University National University of Ireland Maynooth National University of Ireland Galway University College Cork University of Limerick Acting together, the IUA (Irish Universities Association) Librarians’ Group

Collaborative priorities National on-line journals resource Open-access repositories Federated search facility Digitisation

The research stakeholders Deans (Vice-Presidents) of Research Research Support Offices Researchers (academic staff, postgraduate and postdoctoral students) Deans of Graduate Studies Irish Universities Association Science Foundation Ireland Higher Education Authority

IReL – Irish Research e-Library About 30,000 e-journals Contents determined by librarians and researchers Centrally funded (by SFI and HEA) Centrally managed (by university librarians) STM component €20.25m for HSS component €15m for

IRel Management & Relationships Steering Group Monitoring Group Licensing Group Web Site Group IRIS Ltd. IUA Librarians Group Funders HEA SFI CCL Publishers IUA Libraries Local Promotio n

IReL-Open Open access promotion IUA (Irish Universities Association) statement SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) and IRCSET (Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology) mandates OA repositories in each university National portal Three-year project Links with universities’ research management systems Funded from the strategic innovation fund

IVRLA – Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive Digitise materials from 4 separate repositories: –University Library Special Collections –Irish Folklore Archive –School of History and Archives –School of Irish In a range of formats: –Print, manuscript, graphic, photographic, audio and video Establish storage, management & integration systems Develop a researcher-oriented interface –Personalised and customisable –User-defined and recommender services –Annotation facilities Study costs, legal aspects, digital curation Scalable and transferable

IVRLA – Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive €2.1m over 5 years ( ) from PRTLI Managed by, and based in, University Library Co-operation with Directors of Repositories Co-operation with Heads of relevant academic departments Consultation with researchers

Planned developments Extending IReL to the entire research community Single federated search system for all research libraries Inclusion of digital theses in OA repositories Retrodigitisation of print theses

Libraries moving centre-stage? Virtual learning environments Information skills training for undergraduates and researchers Research initiatives (e.g. IVRLA, IReL, IReL-Open) Fundamental shift in the nature of our engagement with the academic community Sharing of the mission From support to partner

More opportunities… Digital Humanities Observatory –Collaborative, led by Royal Irish Academy Foras Feasa –Collaborative, led by National University of Ireland Maynooth Long Room Hub –Institutional, Trinity College Dublin

…and more challenges Developing further academic/researcher partnerships Developing research-focussed tools Continuation of financial support Providing for non-priority subjects