From – ‘A Study of Correlation, The Effect Of R&D Information Tools On Research Success,’ Elsevier Corporate Markets

submitted by Kristopher Patterson, Kansas/Western Missouri, New York, Southern California and San Francisco Bay Region Chapters, Biomedical & Life Sciences, Engineering, Petroleum & Energy Resources, Science-Technology, and Transportation Divisions

Researchers, engineers and scientists are under increasing pressure to outperform their competition and contribute to the growth of their companies. Responses from over 600 R&D professionals established a strong correlation between the contributions made by librarians and research success. In other words, a distinct correlation exists between providing researchers, engineers and scientists with librarians and their ultimate success in R&D activities. Listed below are key takeaways from how a librarian is viewed from the perspective of a research, engineer and a scientist. Among researchers who work with librarians, 90% believe librarians make significant contributions to their R&D efforts.

While Engineers and Scientists indicate that librarians affect the R&D process in a variety of meaningful ways:

• Locate specialized information researchers have difficulty finding 59%
• Organize a firm’s internal documents for use by researchers 53%
• Connect researchers with the correct/most applicable resources 45%
• Suggest print resources not available electronically 42%
• Save significant search time for researchers, making them more productive 42%
• Are knowledge managers, helping researchers take advantage of resources 40%
• Save time & aid in research, contributing to cost savings & revenue 38%
• Determine authoritativeness/relevancy of resources 38%
• Help researchers work faster, accelerating the research process 37%
• Direct researchers beyond the obvious resources 36%

For further information, please see the detailed report, or contact me (K.Patterson@elsevier.com).

Kristopher Patterson is Elsevier’s Marketing Manager for North & South America as well as an Adjunct Professor for Touro College. He is based in New York, New York and in his spare time, he still tries to figure out the Dewey Decimal System.