SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN ACADEMIA: THE ROLE OF LIBRARIANS

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the scientific publications in academia, and the role of librarians. Libraries are the major channel for storing; disseminating; and preserving scientific publications and contribute to the research performance of individuals and institutions. They are the most enduring feature of the academy and central to the values and practice of scholarship. The study aimed at exploring the services, research support facilities offered by librarians to faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences. It further sought to find out the availability of infrastructure facilities, scholarly communication tools used by librarians to communicate with faculty members and also the collaborative efforts between the librarians at the University of Ghana libraries and the faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana. The theory of collaboration was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The mixed methods research design was used for this study. Data used for the analysis were drawn from 204 respondents from the College of Health Sciences and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences with the use of questionnaires and structured interviews. The keys findings were that, less than half of the respondents like the services provided by the librarians; emails usage by about two thirds of the respondents was the most commonly used communication tools by librarians for faculty members. However, librarians had a perception from the interviews conducted that, faculty members were indifferent when it came to the use of the library and its facilities. The study recommends that, strategic interventions are necessary to improve the sensitisation on the services and research support services provided by librarians to faculty. Services on advice on research topic; bibliometric analysis need more attention for the faculty members. Capacity building of librarians (both in human resource and e-resources) should be enhanced in order to have better interactions with faculty members at the College of Health Sciences and College of Basic and Applied Sciences.