Kelly Miller
Associate Dean for Learning and Research Services
University of Miami
Kineret Ben-Knaan
Research and Assessment Librarian
University of Miami
James Sobczak
STEM Librarian
University of Miami
Angela Clark Hughes
Director, Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Library
University of Miami
In this presentation, representatives from the University of Miami will describe how librarians at the university are participating on interdisciplinary research teams working on societal problems, such as climate change and racial injustice. Thanks to a collaboration with the University of Miami’s Office of Research that administers the University’s Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge (U-LINK) initiative, librarians have been embedded on approximately fifteen interdisciplinary research teams since January of 2018. As fully-integrated team members, librarians are playing significant roles by providing information discovery and access, serving as connectors to experts and resources, and improving team collaboration and communication—especially by serving as informal “cultural translators” between disciplines. Perspectives shared in this presentation will include those of a library administrator, assessment librarian, and two subject librarians serving on U-LINK teams. Presenters will describe how the collaborative program has developed, the individual experiences of librarians on specific research projects, and how librarian involvement has been assessed. They will also provide a glimpse into lessons learned and implications for future librarian professional development and relevant space and service design.
U-LINK at the University of Miami:
https://ulink.miami.edu
May 2020 Science of Team Science Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-0hmgLXd_4&feature=youtu.be
September 2020 OCLC webinar: https://www.oclc.org/research/events/2020/091020-librarians-interdisciplinary-research-teams-case-study.html
September 2020 Blog post:
https://i2insights.org/2020/09/22/librarians-and-interdisciplinarity/