SPEAKERS

The phrase “research impact” can have many different meanings and interpretations, depending on the audience, setting, or discipline you're interacting with. From societal impact to citations and research metrics, panelists will dive into the research impact universe and share use cases and perspectives from a variety of institutions and disciplines. Panelists will address questions like, how might research impact be viewed differently from the perspective of a research development professional, a faculty member going up for promotion, a funding agency, or a technical entrepreneur? How does impact translate across industries, disciplines, or different types of research and creative works?

When we gain a broader understanding of how different members of the research and creative communities interpret, define, and report on “research impact”, we can begin to better leverage and design systems that support the full breadth of our communities' needs. Panelists will examine how RIMS are currently playing a role in tracking, reporting on, and communicating about impact throughout the research, scholarly, and creative lifecycles, and where they hope RIMS can take us in the future.

As Research Information Management Systems (RIMS) become more central to institutional research infrastructure, library professionals are increasingly recognized as essential partners in their implementation and ongoing management. This panel will explore the metadata expertise and service orientation that library workers bring to RIMS, especially in managing the complexities of research output metadata across disciplines and platforms.

Panelists will discuss how their work contributes to RIM system stewardship, from developing metadata crosswalks and interpreting publication data to integrating open access resources and institutional repositories. Specific challenges, such as copyright compliance, data deduplication, and reconciling repository content with RIMS, will be explored, along with lessons learned from outreach, cleanup, and system configuration efforts.

We will also address how library values—privacy, transparency, responsible metrics, and user-centered support—inform how library staff design services and workflows. This includes support strategies like documentation, workshops, one-on-one consultations, and acting as a liaison with both faculty as well as offices across campus.

Finally, the panel will spotlight the unique challenges of representing creative and performing arts outputs in RIMS, where standard data structures often fall short. Presenters will discuss the hands-on work of structuring data for arts activities, the high-touch support this requires, and the importance of incentivizing and recognizing faculty participation in the system.

Attendees will come away with practical insights into the evolving role of library workers in RIM system management, and the competencies that position them as both technical experts and trusted campus partners.