The Office for Scholarly Communication - Libchat: So… what do researchers actually do?

We talk a lot about supporting research and supporting researchers... but what do they actually do? Is the support for research into epigenetics and support for research into art history and visual culture different? If so, how, and should it be?

Under the term ‘research’ comes a whole plethora of activities that aren’t core ‘research’ - The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions (OED) – public engagement, technical requirements, data management, dissemination, communication, impact, each of which has its own subsets of requirements and measuring, including open access compliance, funder compliance, data security, bibliometrics, and the REF.

Good research support is vital for successful delivery of research and throughout their time at Kent, researchers engage with different teams in Information Services, for specific tasks or requirements, but where do these fit into the bigger picture? How does the work IS do contribute to changing the world?