STEM Faculty Perceptions of Library Research Support and Bibliometric Services: A Qualitative Study

Academic librarians strive to provide quality support for faculty researchers. Existing content analysis of top-ranking university libraries’ websites revealed the main types of research services provided by academic librarians. But what specific services do STEM faculty consider essential for their research needs? What are the most effective communication methods to convey research service information to STEM faculty? How do STEM faculty follow cutting-edge developments in their fields? Do STEM faculty value information provided by bibliometric tools? This study attempts to answer the above questions through interviews with 30 STEM faculty at a medium-sized R1 university. Patterns in each discipline and across all interviews were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis to capture both semantic/surface and latent/implicit meanings of participants’ comments. Findings demonstrate that their data management needs go beyond a plan template, and they do not prioritize open access publishing. Along with their communication preference, current awareness of tool preferences and perceptions of bibliometric tools, and research impact evaluation are shared.