College & Research Libraries
vol. 78 no. 3 314-327
March 2017
Authors:
Shailoo Bedi, Director, Academic Commons and Strategic Assessment in University of Victoria Libraries
Christine Walde, Grants and Awards Librarian, University of Victoria Libraries
Abstract
Academic librarians have always played an important role in providing research services and research-skills development to faculty in higher education. But that role is evolving to include the academic librarian as a unique and necessary research partner, practitioner, and participant in collaborative, grant-funded research projects. This article describes how a selected sample of Canadian academic librarians became embedded in faculty research projects and describes their experiences of participating in research teams. Conducted as a series of semistructured interviews, this qualitative study illustrates the emerging opportunities and challenges of the librarian-researcher role and how it is transforming the Canadian university library.