Leabharlann UCDUCD Library

Collaboration between university libraries and the research community in Ireland

Sean Phillips

4th 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 1975-2003:Ireland and other advanced economies

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

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 (2007-2013): affirms that “the 'knowledge triangle' - research, education and innovation - is a core factor in meeting the ambitious Lisbon goals”.

National Development Plan 2000-2006

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 2006-2013

• 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

0.26 0.27 0.280.33

0.390.45

0.480.52

0.670.70

0.83

0.95

1.02

1.09

1.16

1.24

1.33

1.42

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Public Investment in R&D

Hypothetical

Sources: Historical - State Expenditure on R&D 2005-6, Forfás.Future – CSA estimates based on NDP.

NDP 2000-2006Total = €4.0B

NDP 2007-2013Total = €8.2B

€ Billion

0.36 % of GNP

0.55 % of GNP 0.70-0.75 % of GNP

Studies and reviews

• OECD Review of Higher Education in Ireland (2004)

• Irish Universities Association Reform of 3rd level and creation of 4th level Ireland: securing competitive advantage in the 21st 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, 2005-2010, 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

Research Performers 2006 (€633 M)

UCD20%

UCC15%

TCD14%NUI-G

10%

UL7%

DCU5%

NUI-M4%

Teagasc7%

Hospitals (e)3%

RCS2%

Marine Institute1%

Dept Ag1%

Dept CMNR1%

Dublin IT1%

Waterford IT1%

Bord Iascaigh Mhara1%

Other*6%

Source: Forfás

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 2004-2008

• HSS component €15m for 2006-2009

IRel Management & Relationships

Steering GroupMonitoring

GroupLicensing GroupWeb Site Group

IRIS Ltd.

IUA Librarians

GroupFundersHEASFI

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 2007-2009

• 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 (2004-2009) 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