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Library Teams

Introduction

Library Teams with expertise in particular areas are available to work with faculty and students to help them meet specialized library needs. In addition to our research subject and functional specialists, Library Teams introduce faculty and students to more library faces and services and will enable us to provide more focused, advanced, and timely support for more people.

Collections

The Collections Development and Management Team is responsible for maintaining a strong collection of research resources for the UNB academic community. These may include books, serial publications, archives, discovery and bibliometric tools, images and films or streamed media, data sets, and other types of content in both print and online formats.

As open scholarship has evolved, library collections work has shifted, to include publishing costs along with reading costs for research output, and we are exploring ways to support innovations in open scholarship infrastructures.

Visit: Collections Development.

Members: Saran Croos, Merle Steeves, Barry Cull, David Ross, Richelle Witherspoon, Erik Moore, Tatiana Zaraiskaya, Julie Morris, Linda Roulston.

Data

The Data Team is responsible for promoting and advancing data literacy at UNB through instruction, one-on-one consultation and support for faculty and students. Team members work with librarian colleagues and faculty members to embed data literacy in appropriate courses and programs, provide specialized expertise (including research data management and data visualization) to support data-intensive research and scholarship, and advise UNB Libraries on related resources (collections, software and hardware) and emerging service areas.

Members: Saran Croos, Tatiana Zaraiskaya, Siobhan Hanratty, Mario Tiozzo, Erik Moore, Mike Nason

Emerging Technologies

The Emerging Technologies Team monitors "technology and libraries” broadly, and provide strategic advice for the implementation of new library-based technology. At present, this includes service areas and issues like controlled digital lending, AI/ML, text data mining, and digital humanities/scholarship, but are expected to change and evolve over time. Activities in this Team overlap with the standing Digital Research and Scholarship Committee, but are primarily focused on new technological trends, rather than the continued development and maintenance of established technology-focused services and infrastructure at UNB Libraries.

Members: Joanne Smyth, David Ross, Siobhan Hanratty, Evan Echols, Julie Morris

Instruction

The Instruction Team takes a leadership role in developing curriculum that integrates digital information literacy and research skills, crucial for modern academic success. We actively engage in special projects aimed at advancing information literacy, which are critical for the library's alignment with the university's educational goals and accreditation standards. Along with our subject librarian colleagues, our responsibilities include the creation of diverse instructional materials, such as specialized research guides, instructional videos, online modules, and others, designed to enhance students' research capabilities. In collaboration with our faculty colleagues, we strive to integrate these resources and information literacy skills into their courses, ensuring a seamless fusion of library services with academic curricula.

The team also facilitate broader discussions on professional development, best practices, and new initiatives with librarians and archivists beyond the instruction team, fostering a community of continuous learning and improvement. We commit to staying current with the latest trends in library science, teaching methodologies, and technology, which aids in continually enhancing our skills and the services we offer.

Visit: Library Instruction & Course Collaboration

Members: Marc Bragdon, Alex Goudreau, Catherine Gracey, Fiacre O'Duinn, David Ross, Aggie Sliwka, Mario Tiozzo

Scholarly Communications

The Scholarly Communications Team supports UNB researchers as they chronicle and publish the results of their research. We can provide assistance with research data management, Tri-Agency (and others’) open access policy compliance, identifying appropriate publishing venues, upholding author rights through copyright and CC licenses, and keeping APC costs in check.

UNB Libraries host and maintain UNB Scholar, our institutional research repository, along with an institutional iteration of Dataverse, both of which are contributing to a global discovery network, OpenAIRE, requiring metadata standards and persistent identifiers such as ORCID. This effort ensures that the inter-connectedness of researchers, institutions, funders, grants, works cited, etc. is made plain, and describable through bibliometric analysis.

The Team works with the Library’s Centre for Digital Publishing (CDS) which hosts 21 active scholarly journals. Of especial interest to undergraduates, it also seeks to expand the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in UNB’s classrooms.

Visit: Open Scholarship & Publishing Support

Members: Merle Steeves, Catherine Gracey, Mike Nason, Evan Echols, Julie Morris.

Knowledge Synthesis

The Knowledge Synthesis / Systematic Reviews (KS/SR) Team leads the provision of services to faculty and students (including training/instruction and research partnerships), monitors trends and developments in knowledge synthesis methodologies, and acts as a clearinghouse of KS/SR information for the UNB community.

The KS/SR Team develops and delivers instructional and informational materials that define and describe knowledge synthesis and systematic reviews to help develop the university community’s understanding of KS/SR principles and processes. Where appropriate, the team also engages with UNB researchers as members of research teams, leading search strategy development, implementation and reporting.

Visit: Knowledge Synthesis and Systematic Reviews

Members: Richelle Witherspoon, Alex Goudreau, Barry Cull