Changing Roles for Research and Information Skills Development: Librarians as Teachers, Researchers as Learners

Abstract

University libraries have been dealing with the training needs of their users for a long time. Today, this need continues to be pressing with day to day immersion in print and digital information and the transformations of the tools for its access. Librarians play a fundamental pedagogical role for teachers and researchers who are urged by the Open Science movement to acquire new information skills. They develop information literacy training adapted to these needs. The paper presents a case study that explains three pedagogical paths: tutorial support for teachers and researchers in their daily lives; the provision of electronic resources and training for its proper use; and the development and dissemination of an online publication that seeks to improve their knowledge and practice skills related to Open Science. The actions that librarians can develop are vital because they are the basis for the creation and application of cross-curricular skills in lifelong learning, so necessary for teachers and researchers who need to quickly adapt to new information contexts.