Insights from the newest member of the team
As you may be aware there is a new member of the Research Support team…me! I’m Ellie, the new Research Librarian, and as I’ve been in post for just over 2 months, the inevitable blog post is imminent.
So, what have I been up to? Of course my first month was a blur of names and acronyms– few of which I remember, and getting to grips with different systems, procedures and policies. But amongst all the induction mayhem and wrestling with RIS, I was lucky enough to attend 2 conferences run by departments in the university; The Festival of Ideas by the Computational Foundry, and more recently ‘Building a Sustainable Future’ with the College of Science, and LINC on World Environment Day 2019.
While part of my going along was out of pure curiosity (occupational hazard of being a librarian), the main points I have taken from these two events is the breadth of interdisciplinary work, the willingness to open the research up to industry and the public, to quote Dr Jennifer Gadd ‘getting the science out of the lab and into the world’, and the genuine passion and enthusiasm shown by the academics at both events.
It is easy to become detached from the amazing work that gets done in the university when you’re sequestered in the office, and not necessarily recognise your role in the machine, so actually hearing about the work being done and seeing how outward facing it can be is really motivating.
I’m hoping that this enthusiasm and openness will carry through and help the Research Support team here in the library to support and encourage academics to engage with making their research Open Access, and work towards the wider Open Research ideals.
If you would like to read, catch up or see the extent of my over-tweeting for either of these conferences in chronological order, see https://tinyurl.com/FoundryFest , and https://tinyurl.com/BuildingSustainableFutures
