The quest for deeper meaning of research supportThis monograph is the culmination of months of contemplation as to whether UCT Libraries was ready to launch its open monograph publishing service using the new principle of diamond open access publishing. As one of the hosts to the Academic and Research Libraries Standing Committee of IFLA, the Library was presented with a unique opportunity to pilot publishing quality papers presented at the preconference.

The standard of the abstracts made it incomprehensible not to pursue with the urge to share the ensuing full papers with the largest reading audience as possible. The high quality of the abstract and subsequent papers, and the drive by UCT Libraries to enter the open monograph publishing arena, gave the project the necessary impetus.

The quest for a deeper meaning of research support is advanced on the principle that need for librarians to make the paradigm shift away from reactive ‘disseminators’ of information to proactive partners in the research and teaching and learning processes. In that transition, the librarians need to provide a wider range of services including the new. The inclusion of services such as research data management, open scholarship, bibliometrics, and systematic reviews as ‘mainstream’ services has to become the norm as librarians engage the principle of being a research partner or collaborator.  

August 2015
Cape Town, South Africa

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