Building Responsive Research Capacity: A Survey of Academic Health Faculty

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of and satisfaction with the University of South Florida Health Libraries (USFHL) research support services (RSS). A secondary objective was to understand the research skills of academic health faculty. The data will help inform future service offerings. The mixed methods study is comprised of two phases: a survey followed by focus groups. The survey assessed 1) knowledge of and satisfaction with specific RSS, 2) faculty confidence in performing 10 specific research tasks, and 3) preference for potential class topics. Open-ended fields allowed for additional comments and suggestions. Respondents self-identified if they were willing to participate in subsequent focus groups. The survey was emailed to all Health faculty, with two reminders. Basic demographics broke out respondents by their college, department, or school; years of conducting and publishing research, and writing grants. Preliminary analyses of the 105 respondents indicated most were extremely/satisfied with USFHL RSS, which were defined as consultations with the librarians, library classes/workshops, LibGuides, and research databases. Less than half of faculty reported confidence in using qualitative research methods and applying for research funding. Potential class topics identified were the 1) scholarly publishing topics, 2) conduct of types of literature reviews, 3) research metrics, 4) research tool recommendations, and 5) effective search strategies. A third of participants volunteered to participate in future focus groups. The qualitative data centered around issues with access and tools; requests for additional trainings, and praise for librarians, resources, & services. Based on initial findings, we plan to add more grants workshops and develop a series on finding, critically reviewing, and writing qualitative studies