Nick and I spent yesterday afternoon at the University of Nottingham, attending a meeting of the East Midlands Research Support Group (EMRSG).  This group, which comprises library staff from – you’ve guessed it – East Midlands universities, is a community of practice dedicated to sharing good practice in supporting researchers.

One thing was very clear: of the universities represented there (Birmingham, Coventry, Derby, De Montfort, Leicester, Loughborough, Northampton, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent and Warwick), only Northampton and Warwick had library staff in full time research support positions.  Most universities were still combining support for researchers with that for undergraduates – usually in the academic librarian’s role.  It therefore wasn’t surprising that nearly all attendees cited lack of time as their major challenge in developing services for researchers.

The impact of this was obvious too.  Compared to our regional counterparts, Northampton is ahead of the game in many areas, for example, in our integration with other support services; our engagement with formal university committees; and our provision of specialist services (such as the Northampton Open Journals collection). We are also better placed than most to respond to new developments in the sector – our recent activity in the area of research data management is an example of this.

Our main ongoing challenge is to ensure that our services meet the needs of all Northampton researchers.  For this to happen we need continuing dialogue with the research community.  So please, if there’s something we can help you with, just get in touch.