Reflecting on the Development of Librarian Research Connections

Objectives: The increasing trend of research collaboration among library professionals across health sciences disciplines has been observed in the literature. As librarians continue doing more work outside of the perimeters of their physical library with remote education, interprofessional education, multiple clinical/campus locations, and community outreach, so too their research collaborations may expand beyond the limits of the library. The purpose of this research is to explore how health science librarians find collaborative research partners, how they build these relationships, and what scholarly products are produced.

Methods: An online survey was distributed through various professional library and academic listservs during Fall 2021. The survey was a combination of multiple choice questions and open-ended questions. Health Sciences librarians were queried about where they found collaborative partners, how they built collaborative relationships, and products produced during these collaborations. Librarians were also asked to reflect on successful and unsuccessful collaborations. Open-ended questions will be reviewed for themes related to successful and unsuccessful collaborations.

Results: The survey returned 142 overall survey responses. The majority of respondents found collaborators within their institution, and had collaborated both with library and outside faculty in their careers. Librarians collaborations more frequently produced conference presentations followed by publications, while collaborations with outside faculty showed the opposite trend. Most collaborations were maintained through regular communication, having defined roles, and forming interpersonal relationships. Successful projects relied on a common topic of interest, frequent communication, good team dynamics, and strong project management. Conflicts were reported, however, many were resolved through communication, and projects were completed.

Conclusions: With research trends shifting to open science and open data, it behooves medical librarians to have a clear path to pursuing research connections outside of their physical library, developing research partnerships with nonlibrarians, and increasing the scholarly products their research collaborations yield. Librarians should maintain good relationships with past colleagues, and work to network within their current institutions and through conferences. Collaboration takes time and effort, so selecting your partners is as important as developing the relationship. Early discussion of scope, theme, roles, and the end product is always important to project completion and avoiding conflict. Conflict doesn’t equate unsuccessful projects, however, it may create hesitancy towards future collaborations.