RSS feedsRIN’s study Overcoming barriers: Access to research information content found that researchers are encountering difficulties in accessing content they need and this in turn has a significant impact on the quality of their research. If the UK research community is to operate effectively and produce high quality reports that has a wider social and economic impact, this issue has to be quickly addressed.
The report suggested that new technological developments, including open access publishing models and the availability of e-books may have helped to solve some of theses problems, but there is little evidence that they have had a positive impact to date.
It showed that the impact of this lack of access on the efficiency and the quality of research across the higher education sector and beyond is very real. It also revealed that the infrastructure to provide this in higher education institutions is lacking.
The report looked at the nature and scale of key restrictions on access to information resources of importance to researchers, the impact of these restrictions and the ways in which they might be alleviated or overcome.
RIN examined the frequency with which researchers encounter problems in accessing content and identified barriers including intellectual property and copyright restrictions. It also reviewed the arrangements academic and research libraries have in place to provide access to researchers who are not members of their institutions.
Following the study, RIN called for higher education institutions, librarians, publishers, funders and governments to work together to reduce the barriers to accessing research information content and highlights a number of recommendations for measures that need to be taken to overcome the barriers to access currently being experienced by the research community.
According to the study, although researchers do not complain about problems of “finding information” in this age of electronic information, gaining access is an issue because of the complexity of licensing arrangements, restrictions placed on researchers accessing content outside of their own institution and the laws protecting public and private sector information.
This means that research into important information resources can be missing. Researchers report that they are frustrated by this lack of immediate access and this slows their progress, hinders collaborative work, and may well affect the quality and integrity of the work produced.
It warned that unless licensing and technical issues are resolved, moves towards a digital environment may impose new barriers, as researchers face restrictions on access to resources which would have formerly been accessible to them in print. With impending funding cuts in higher education institutions’ budgets next year, libraries are already facing increasingly difficult decisions about which subscriptions to keep as cancellations will only add to these problems for researchers.
Its spokesman said: “Our report shows that libraries need to ensure they can continue to provide access to content through a range of sources, including interlibrary loans and document supply services, and that they implement efficient, effective and user-friendly systems to ensure researchers can gain easy access.
The RIN, SCONUL and UUK will maintain a close watch on developments in the intellectual property regime and ensure that researchers’ interests are taken into account.”
An ideal solution for researchers would be the implementation of a national library membership card to enable access and borrowing rights at all higher education institutions in the UK, RIN concluded.
