Investigating the effects of the implementation of open access publishing on the roles of academic librarians

Authors

Fitzpatrick, Amy

Issue Date

2020

Degree

MSc Information and Library Management

Publisher

Dublin Business School

Rights

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Abstract

This research study aimed to determine if academic librarians in Dublin have redefined their role after implementing open access publishing in their libraries. This was done through semi-structured qualitative interviews with 7 participants from 6 third level institutions based in Dublin. The study found that academic librarians had redefined their role due to the open access initiatives in their institutions and that this change in the role was due to the influence of the initiatives themselves, advancing technologies, the available resources, and external and internal influences. All participants in the study regarded this redefinition as a positive change and predicted that open access library publishing will become the predominant path for scholarly communication in the future.