Inside-Out? Discussions in Research Librarianship

Libraries are continually evolving to support the processes of academic and other research, which increasingly involves use of technology and occurs in digital environments. Does this “inside-out library” signal a need for librarians supporting researchers to also evolve their digital capabilities? What skills do inside-out librarians require, how can they acquire these skills and how much discipline specific knowledge do they need to be effective? At the 2019 eResearchNZ conference a group of librarians discussed these and other related questions. The authors used an informal focus-group methodology to capture the major themes of the discussion, and the results indicate that there is no one right answer. Instead there are many different pathways and opportunities for librarians in the inside-out library, and personal attributes can play as much a role in being successful as specific qualifications and skill sets.