A jump to hyperspace: librarians in the times of social research sharing

Abstract

The international debate on the Person-to-Person sharing of scientific articles through the internet (social networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley) compelled an in- depth reflection in the Italian NILDE librarian community, in order to evaluate the patrons’ changes in their search habits. How will these changes affect librarians’ work? In the last four year, an exam on document delivery transactions has outlined a different trend that closely reflects requesting patrons’ subject area; the need of a quick and immediate access to scientific articles is strongly expressed by those in the science disciplines, where the number of document delivery requests has been decreased remarkably. Meanwhile among those in the social sciences, the speed is not the key factor and the number of document delivery requests is steadily growing. To better understand these trends, a national survey has been carried out in February 2016 among NILDE users and its goal was to investigate how users operate to access their wished articles or extracts of books. The presentation will show the survey results, analyze the trends and try to provide a best practice for the libraries to act upon. Through a data driven investigation, NILDE Librarians Committee is going to master new skills and means to fulfil most demanding patron's requirements.