Background to the Programme
Scholarly communication is an increasingly dynamic area and the support researchers require is becoming more complex. The changing policy landscape means there are more requirements than ever before for researchers to adhere to. Librarians are in a perfect position to help but they are not always confident in the changing research landscape.
The Research Support Ambassador Programme at Cambridge University Libraries aims to upskill staff in the areas of scholarly communication so that they feel more confident and able to support their local research community. What began as a face to face programme has developed into a self-paced online programme which guides learners through the basics of research support.
Now available
Due to popular demand the Research Support Ambassador Programme is now available to a wider audience. Comprising six core units, this open educational resource will allow learners to develop their knowledge about the key areas and the different ways in which they can support researchers. Each unit of the resource builds on the previous content and learners can follow all of them or dip in and out as needed.
Units include:
- Introduction to scholarly communication
- Managing data
- Open Access
- Publish or perish?
- Copywrong to copyright
- Measuring the impact of research
Find out more
An article about the programme: Developing the 21st Century Academic Librarian: The Research Support Ambassador Programme was published in 2017 and outlines the changes that have taken place since the programme was launched in 2015. Many of these changes have been in response to feedback from programme participants as we work towards making the programme as useful for learners as possible. If you don’t have time to read the whole article then you can read the rather fantastic cartoon abstract published to accompany the article instead! You can also watch a trailer for the programme below: