Major Grant Success for University Library
Dr Hope Williard, an Academic Subject Librarian with the University of Lincoln library, has been awarded a Professional Practice Fellowship, jointly funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council and Research Libraries UK (AHRC-RLUK).
The professional practice fellowship originated in a scoping study carried out by RLUK in 2021 regarding the current state and future potential of libraries’ engagement with academic and scholarly research.
It offers early career librarians a grant of up to £25,000 to carry out a research project that will enable them to build their research capabilities and confidence, advocate for libraries as partners and leaders in research, and promote transformative change within their own institutions and disciplines and farther afield.
This project is one of only ten selected for this initial round of AHRC-RLUK funding, which saw applications from early career librarians all over the United Kingdom. The University Library joins institutions such as the British Library, Cambridge University Library, and the University of Leeds Library as part of the initial cohort of grant recipients.
Hope’s project will investigate how PhD students in history learn to find and use digital resources in academic libraries, and how training programmes in digital skills could be improved to support lifelong learning and skills development through the completion of their degree and beyond. Digital skills are a fundamental part of historical research in the twenty-first century: historians produce, consume, and interact with all manner of information online.
Speaking about the impact the funding will have, Ian Snowley, Dean of Student Learning and University Librarian at Lincoln, said, “I’m delighted that Hope’s important project has been recognised nationally with this support and funding.
“This is vital work which will inform the development of Library support for research not only at Lincoln but throughout the sector.”
Story submitted by Liz Mallett
emallett@lincoln.ac.uk