2021 Abstracts and speaker bios
Keynote: Open Research: the case for rebalance
Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM, Chief Scientist of Australia
Dr Foley commenced as Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist in January 2021.
Dr Foley was appointed to the role after a lengthy career at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO; she was appointed as the agency’s Chief Scientist in August 2018, the second woman to hold that role.
Dr Foley’s career in physics began with her PhD at Macquarie University on the semiconductor indium nitride. She and her colleagues were one of the first groups to carry out pioneering research that examined the properties of indium nitride in light-sensitive devices, the best-known application being white light emitting diodes used for household low energy lighting.
While working at CSIRO, Dr Foley made significant contributions to the development of a patented high temperature superconducting Josephson junction, a nanosized structure that is the critical component of the most sensitive detector of magnetic fields. She and her team have used these junctions in devices used for measuring magnetic fields, terahertz imaging (like superman vision), array antennas and high frequency communications receivers. Dr Foley and her team’s most successful application is the LANDTEM™ sensor system used to locate valuable deposits of minerals deep underground, such as nickel sulphide, silver and gold. This has led to mineral discoveries worth more than $6 billion.
Dr Foley’s scientific excellence and influential leadership have been recognised with numerous awards and fellowships, including being elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2020, along with an Order of Australia for service to research science and to the advancement of women in physics. She was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering in 2008 and was elected as an honorary Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics in 2019.
She was awarded Agenda Setter of the Year in the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards in 2019, the Australian Institute of Physics Medal for Outstanding Service to Physics in 2016, and the Clunies Ross Medal of the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering in 2015. In 2014, she was awarded the International IEEE Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions to Applied Superconductivity, and in 2013 she was named `Woman of the Year’ by the NSW Government.
At CSIRO, she led the development of a Quantum Technology Roadmap for Australia in 2020 championed emerging areas of scientific research, and has been a high-profile commentator on the opportunities presented by science and technology for Australia’s economic recovery and future resilience.
Dr Foley has a passion for advancing scientific research and has held various roles, including member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, President of the Australian Institute of Physics, President of Science and Technology Australia, Editor-in-Chief of Superconductor Science and Technology journal and Council Member for Questacon.
Dr Foley is an inspiration to women in STEM across the globe and is committed to tackling gender equality and diversity in the science sector. Throughout her career she has strived to create an environment that embraces the full human potential of both men and women for wellbeing and economic benefit and for equality.
Promoting Ethical Research in Indigenous Knowledge
Ashley Sutherland
Arts Librarian, the University of Melbourne
Aurora Milroy
Manager Indigenous Knowledge Institute, University of Melbourne
During 2020, the University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Knowledge Institute and Scholarly Services (incorporating the University Library) co-developed on an online guide on Indigenous knowledge research. The guide introduces Indigenous knowledge research and covers topics such as ethical engagement with Indigenous communities, how to handle Indigenous research data, and how to cite Indigenous knowledge holders in research.
Aurora Milroy, Manager of the Indigenous Knowledge Institute and Ashley Sutherland, Arts Librarian will discuss their collaborative process of developing the guide, focussing on the importance of building knowledge and understanding of ethical research practices. In addition to the online guide, this project also features a shared, open Zotero library which serves not only as a bibliography, but also as a demonstration of incorporating metadata about knowledge and rights holders.
Skills development needs of researchers
Kay Steel
Manager, Research & Strategic Projects, Federation University Australia
Federation University Library conducted a survey of University researchers during mid-2020. This presentation outlines some of the key findings, with particular emphasis on identified skill development needs. Where relevant, findings will be compared to those from similar recent surveys.
Analysing collections for the actual and potential usefulness for research
Gilbert Meyns
Researcher Services Librarian, University of New England
As part of a review of the library’s aggregated databases services, UNE’s Dixson Library developed a methodology to assess how library resources both are or could potentially be used by our academic staff for research. Using the programming language R, we matched resource title lists derived from an overlap analysis with metadata from our institutional repository, crossref and a range of ‘quality lists’ to ascertain the actual and potential use of these resources.
Where to from here? Identifying training and professional development needs of scholarly communication staff
Dr Danny Kingsley
Visiting Fellow, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU
Dr Joanna Richardson
Scholarly Communication Consultant
Dr Mary Anne Kennan
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University
Understanding scholarly communication is becoming increasingly important within research institutions. In response, the number and range of scholarly communication-related roles within academic libraries, and other departments and divisions, have been growing steadily for nearly 20 years. Yet there are very few formal training opportunities for people moving into these roles. This has led to something of a crisis, with a recent paper in the US identifying that “scholarly communications librarians experience impostor phenomenon more frequently and intensely than academic librarians more broadly” (https://shsu-ir.tdl.org/handle/20.500.11875/2866).
This talk will describe an Australasian research project building on the US study looking at scholarly communication knowledge and skills. Our study focusses on people who support institutional repository management, publishing services, research practice, copyright services, open access policies and scholarly communication landscape, data management services, and assessment & impact metrics. The findings will help identify future training and workforce development needs.
IATUL Research Impact Things
Janice Chan
Coordinator, Research Services, Curtin University
The IATUL Special Interest Group – Metrics and Research Impact (SIG MaRI) recognised the lack of formal training to upskill staff transitioning into research support roles. In 2020, the SIG MaRI formed a project team to develop a self-paced professional development program, IATUL Research Impact Things, which was launched in October 2020, and openly available at www.iatulimpactthings.info. This presentation will describe the development of the program, topics covered and how library staff can use the resource and run the program at their organisation.
Open access policies at Australian universities
Simon Wakeling
Lecturer, Charles Sturt University
It has long been recognised that policies and mandates are key drivers of open access (OA) publishing and dissemination. While a great deal of attention has been placed on funder policies, researchers are also often covered by institutional policies or guidelines. This presentation will provide an overview of the state of open access policies at Australian universities. It will report on a research project that is analysing all existing OA policies, or policies that are related to open access (for example dissemination of research output policies) at Australian universities. In addition to reporting whether universities have policies explicitly related to open access, and what those policies require of researchers, the project also explores how universities define OA, and the extent to which their policies represent a form of OA advocacy. The presentation will include highlights from a comparison of university policies for their similarities and differences, a discussion of their key characteristics, and an assessment of the potential future role of such policies in the context of the national and international OA landscape.
Librarians and RDM: Developing Core Knowledge and Fostering Confidence
Andreas Mertin
Data Librarian, UTS
Research data management (RDM) is becoming a greater priority for research institutions and individual researchers. And although this is a positive step, it does pose a challenge for liaison librarians who are often called upon to advise researchers on RDM best practice, but who may not have sufficient knowledge or confidence to conduct RDM specific consultations. To help meet this need and provide foundational knowledge for the liaison librarians at UTS, we developed an online module utilising a skills framework and backward design that focused on core knowledge and skills to provide support to researchers across the university. This presentation will discuss how we developed the skills framework that was used to identify the required skills for all liaison librarians and how this informed the development of learning outcomes used to design an online module to cultivate these core RDM skills within an institutional specific context and foster confidence in having RDM related conversations with researchers.
From support to collaboration: joining the research team
Janet Catterall
Liaison Librarian, James Cook University
Outlining a research project that seeks to examine systematic reviews on mental health and the law. A health and a law librarian are part of the research team to examine the work being done in this space, adding their synthesis and evaluation of current searching methodology to the overall analysis of existing research. The collaboration evolved from a long-standing research support relationship. There is much potential and benefit in such partnerships for building rigorousness and reproducibility of systematic reviews in interdisciplinary areas.
Pre-recorded Presentations
23 Scholarly Communication Things – QUT Style
Catherine Radbourne
Research Support Librarian, Queensland University of Technology
An overview and brief look at the 23 Scholarly Communication Things program, hosted on Pressbooks and developed by the QUT Office for Scholarly Communications and QUT Library. I will show the 23 topics chosen and demonstrate one or two.
Cultivating a Culture of Copyright Literacy
Katya Henry
University Copyright Officer, Queensland University of Technology
Rani McLennan
Copyright Information Officer, Queensland University of Technology
Copyright strikes a balance between creators’ rights and users’ needs. It can be complex, confusing, and frustrating; some may even find it dull. Yet copyright impacts the entire academic community – students, researchers, teaching and professional staff – in profound ways. It is the mechanism that allows access to knowledge, it is the structure that underpins the publishing industry and access to research. It is more important (and interesting!) than many people realise. Our aim is to make copyright more accessible, approachable, and engaging, to make our enthusiasm for copyright infectious. In this pre-recorded lightning talk, we will provide an overview of our vision, our plans, our strategy and partnerships for progressing towards a culture of copyright literacy.
Down the Rabbit Hole with O’Reilly Online Learning
Christina Street
Data Librarian, CSIRO
Online learning has been at the forefront for many of us due to the current environment we found ourselves in this year. To enable our researchers to continue their learning, gain new skills and collaborate with colleagues, we have introduced them to O’Reilly online learning. This online platform contains expert-created and curated learning materials in various formats. Some examples being, video tutorials, self-paced learning paths, live training, interactive coding environments and so much more. But it does come with a word of caution. Once you go down the rabbit hole, O’Reilly Online Learning may test your time management skills, and not because you’re not finding what you need, but more likely because you are finding more than you expected. That can only be a good thing.
In at the deep end – Exploring the research world in a newly created role, in a newly created team through a restructure during a pandemic!
Jennie Skulander
Research Liaison Librarian, University of Newcastle
Sally Murray-Walsh
Research Liaison Librarian, University of Newcastle
Jess Birchall
Research Liaison Librarian, University of Newcastle
Nicole Faull-Brown
Research Liaison Librarian, University of Newcastle
Our team of four newly engaged Research Liaison Librarians will share our experience of diving in at the deep end and learning to swim in our new roles, one final hurdle to round out the notorious 2020.
Rewriting bibliometric web content: With a little help from our friends!
Maria Connor
Library Research Specialist, Griffith University
When Griffith University Library staff were tasked with rewriting bibliometrics web content, our first question was “What information do researchers really need?” Would sending an informal questionnaire about bibliometrics during lockdown garner any responses? We were pleasantly surprised when it did and feedback gathered shaped the content for the new (biblio)metrics webpage. We’ll talk about themes that informed the webpage and how the process helped us learn more about client needs in this area.
Trusted Data Repositories – an Australian Community of Practice
Richard Ferrers
Research Data Analyst, ARDC
This presentation will describe the ARDC work with 20 organisations to certify their repositories using the Core Trust Seal specification.
A peek behind the scenes in QUT’s Office for Scholarly Communications
Stephanie Bradbury
Manager, Scholarly Communications Services, Queensland University of Technology
QUT’s Office for Scholarly Communication (OSC) was established in early 2020. It operates under a dual leadership model of Professor Ginny Barbour as the Academic Lead and Stephanie Bradbury, Manager. The OSC is made up of a dynamic group of experts in scholarly communication, and is advised by a university-wide Advisory Group whose members are drawn from across the university to ensure all areas of research are represented, and to reflect the diversity of QUT staff and students. Meet the experts and hear how their scholarly communication services are meeting the challenges of 2021.
Practicing what we preach: building a culture of collaboration in the research support community
Helen Chan
Information Services Librarian, UTS
Wade Tozer
Research Capability and Development Coordinator, UTS
Colm Halbert
Executive Manager, Research Capability and Development, UTS
RES Hub is a key initiative launched by the DVC-Research at UTS in 2019. Its purpose is to provide an ecosystem of research support that brings together expertise and representation from faculties and support units. The Library and Research Office have worked closely throughout this initiative to contribute to major projects such as a Research Outcomes Capability Framework and a central program of training and service offerings. What has emerged from this is a strengthening of the relationship between our units and across the university a deepening culture of collaboration. This talk will highlight the approaches used to launch RES Hub and how these will support research at UTS.
Better Together ; successes of an across-University research support systems upgrade project
Rachel Chidlow
Research Services Manager, Libraries & Learning Services, The University of Auckland
The University of Auckland recently completed a project to upgrade both DSpace and Elements to recent versions. This presentation will cover the collaborative across-University approach we took with the project and how we successfully worked with a number of teams from across the University to get this project across the line.
Taking HDR support online
Alex McManus
Librarian, University of Technology Sydney
Sarah Su
University of Technology Sydney
There is a recognition across UTS of the need for more faculty-level support for higher degree research students (HDRs). Whilst research support does exist, students often complain that it’s difficult to find as there are too many channels of communication. The Library has recently teamed up with the Faculty of Health to support their new initiative in a centralised offering of online support that integrates library content with the key skills that HDRs need.
Academic promotions and researcher OA motivation
Claire Ovaska
Senior Liaison Librarian, James Cook University Library
Alice Luetchford
Liaison Librarian, James Cook University Library
This presentation will focus on JCU Library’s advocacy to have academics report on their three most significant open access (OA) research outputs in their JCU academic promotion application. Resulting applicant-librarian research support conversations are high-value education opportunities. Academics are never more motivated or interested in engaging with Library OA instruction.
Registered Reports: rewarding good science
Sally French
Health Liaison Librarian, QUT
Registered reports offer an elegant solution to some of the questionable research practices that arose out of the imperative to “publish or perish”. This talk aims to inspire stakeholders in science to nudge research behaviour with thoughtful use of rewards.
A holistic approach to metrics and impact
Rochelle Palmer
Librarian, Research Services, Edith Cowan University
In an increasingly complex research environment metrics should be seen as evidence leading to the creation of a complete picture of the researcher based upon their strengths and activities. Rather than focusing on a one size fits all approach. Evidence can be gathered supporting activities in both scholarly communications and in the broader community. The events of 2020 have shown the increasing importance of the role researchers undertake in educating and informing in all disciplines. Supporting researchers in compiling these sorts of metrics and evidence means that the Research Support librarian must have a solid understanding of disciplines and research types. As well as knowledge around the types of activities that researchers have long carried out as part of their outreach to the wider community, industry, practitioners in the field, policymakers and other stakeholders. As well as providing support at the point of need, through the development of resources such as LibGuides, on-demand training recordings, live training both online and in-person, and individual consult sessions.
This session will look at the role of the ECU Library- Research Services team in supporting our researchers. Focusing on our training and support services, institutional repository, open access, data management and publishing and how the team works together to have a holistic approach to supporting researchers in showing impact using metrics. As part of this process an in-depth case study will be explored, based on a researcher from a discipline with non-traditional research outputs. This will show a real-world example of working with researchers to gather and demonstrate evidence in a meaningful way.
Workshops
Genomes and podcasts and VR, oh my! Supporting emerging outputs across the research lifecycle
Dr Vanessa Crosby
Associate Director Scholarly Communications and Repositories, UNSW Library
Dr Robin Burgess
Senior Data Librarian, UNSW Library
From the rise of High-Performance Computing and Big Data, to the proliferation of new sub-disciplines, and the emergence of born-digital, non-traditional research outputs, the research landscape is undergoing rapid transformation. Researchers at the cutting edge of their fields face a variety of challenges. Locating data storage capable of managing petabytes of data, finding platforms for showcasing and preserving born-digital multi-media outputs, and demonstrating the value of their work in an environment that still privileges traditional, high impact journal articles are just some of the concerns brought to Librarians with more and more frequency.
This year alone, this session’s presenters have encountered questions from researchers about novel genome assemblies, research podcasts, submissions to parliamentary inquiries and multi-site immersive VR artworks. Emerging research outputs and activities pose new challenges for libraries and push the boundaries of services and infrastructure built to support traditional publications.
Librarians and research support specialists can increasingly expect to encounter questions like:
Is this research data or a research output?
How do I store and preserve a virtual reality artwork built with bespoke software?
Can I put a PID on it?
I put my podcast on a commercial platform. Do I still own the rights and can I make it Open Access in the institutional repository?
How can I demonstrate the impact of my novel genome assembly for my upcoming promotion?
The session will run as a hackathon, with participants collaborating in breakout groups to assemble resources and best practice guidance for emerging research outputs and activities. We’ll be crowdsourcing the curliest emerging research outputs from the research support community prior to the workshop, so prepare to be challenged!
Active Research Data Management
Dr Sara King
Training and Engagement Lead, AARNet
In this lightning-fast train-the-trainer workshop taster, we will be exploring and discussing methods for active research data management. Participants will become familiar with the CloudStor interface and its associated tools and services for managing active research data. Learn how to organise, maintain, store and analyse active data, and understand safe and secure ways of sharing and storing data.
Please check that you have access to cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au. If you do not have CloudStor access you can still attend, just advise the organiser beforehand so arrangements can be made.