Rosie Higman

Prior to starting my doctoral studies I worked as a Research Services Librarian (Data) at the University of Manchester, a position I continue to hold alongside my research.

Before joining the University of Manchester I worked in research data management at Cambridge University Library and in a more traditional liaison post at the University of Reading.

I graduated from the University of Sheffield with an MSc in Digital Library Management in 2014, earning the iSchool prize for my course.

My interest in supporting and encouraging open research practices has underpinned my professional activities and led me to return to Sheffield to undertake further research in this area.

PhD project

Open Access to research publications has grown substantially over the last 10 years, from a niche interest for passionate academics and librarians to a mandated practice by governments and research funders in multiple countries.

There has been substantial research into Open Access but it has largely focused on publishers and universities and not considered wider stakeholders in the scholarly communication ecosystem, such as national libraries.

National libraries vary hugely between countries, characterised as much by their differences as their similarities, but a purpose common to most is that of preserving the publications of the nation. This is a task which will undoubtedly be affected by the move to Open Access.

This research aims to uncover how national libraries are responding to the growth of Open Access, how and why this varies across countries, and what models national libraries could adopt in the future. In a joint project with the British Library a mixed methods approach will be used to ensure the full depth and breadth of activities and approaches is being captured.

Supervisors

Stephen Pinfield

Laura Sbaffi

Torsten Reimer

Research interests

• Open access
• open research
• national libraries
• scholarly communication infrastructures

Funding and awards

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship