Abstract
The chapter seeks to analyze how librarians in Zimbabwe are responding to increasing librarian roles in the provision of research data services. The study sought to ascertain librarians' awareness and preparedness to offer research data management services at their institutions and determine support required by librarians to effectively deliver research data services. Participants were invited to respond to the survey, and survey monkey was used to administer the online questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using content analysis, and it was thematically presented. Findings revealed that librarians in Zimbabwe are aware of their role in research data management, but the majority are not prepared to offer research data management services due to a lack of the required skills and resources. Challenges that were noted include lack of research data management policy at institutional levels and information technology issues such as obsolescence and security issues.
TopIntroduction
This study is a development from the baseline studies on the state of research data management in Zimbabwe done in 2017 and 2019 (Chigwada, Chiparausha & Kasiroori 2017; Chigwada, Hwalima & Kwangwa 2019; Chiparausha & Chigwada 2019). These studies were done to evaluate how researchers were managing their research data in research institutions in Zimbabwe. The major findings indicated that research data management was a new concept in Zimbabwe and researchers were managing their own research data. The need to create awareness among all the stakeholders, train both librarians and researchers, and having enabling institutional and national policies was emphasised. Pryor (2012) stated that the research output in the 21st century is data which is the primary building block of all the information. He added that the data should be managed to ensure that it remains discoverable and accessible over a long time. Research Data Management was defined by (Whyte & Tedds 2011) as the organization and description of data from its entry to the research cycle through to the dissemination and archiving of valuable results. This purpose of this study is to assess the preparedness of librarians in Zimbabwe to offer research data management services since awareness had been created a number of studied had been done to provide a roadmap for stating these services (Chigwada, Chiparausha & Kasiroori 2017; Ndhlovu 2016; Ndhlovu 2018; Ndhlovu & Ngwenya 2017; Nhendodzashe & Pasipamire 2017; Chigwada, Hwalima & Kwangwa 2019; Chiparausha & Chigwada 2019). It is against this background that the study sought to meet the following objectives:
- 1.
To ascertain librarians and researchers awareness on their role in research data management;
- 2.
To determine the level of librarians’ preparedness to offer research data management services; and,
- 3.
To assess the challenges faced by librarians and researchers in research data management.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Research Data Management: It is the process of organising, storing, preserving, and sharing of data collected and used in a research project.
MOOCs: Online courses aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. It is an acronym which stands for massive open online courses.
Academic Library: It can be a physical or digital space that houses scholarly research materials that support the university or college teaching and learning activities.
Tertiary Institutions: it is a form of post-secondary education which offers degrees, diplomas, technical, or teacher education courses.
Webinars: It is a seminar conducted over the internet.
Self-Training: This is when a learner takes the initiative to learn using his/her own resources.
On the Job Training: It is a concept of learning by doing where workers learn new skills by performing the work in the actual work environment.