A research study conducted last year with the assistance of 15 religious studies libraries, as well as Luther Seminary, examined the research needs of religious and theological scholars. The study was conducted in conjunction with Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit research and consulting service that helps academic, cultural and publishing communities.
The study sought to identify how libraries can best support religious scholarship, as well as gain insight into how theological research needs are evolving in a digital world.
Luther Seminary staff members Andy Keck and Trisha Burr conducted research work at the seminary with 19 faculty members, and also documented a number of their personal workspaces with photos to provide additional information about how research takes place.
Some of the general findings from the report noted that many interviewees “maintained a personal physical library in their workspace for sustained access to texts. While a few might come to the library to consult or retrieve items, none really did their research in the physical library.” In addition, “physical books surrounded many scholars for their ease of consulting multiple volumes simultaneously.”
Other findings showed that many of those interviewed “preferred digital versions of primary resources for access, searching and ease of annotation/manipulation.”
In addition, “Most felt adequate support from the library as far as resources were concerned and [from] the institution in terms of sabbaticals, etc. One area noted for additional support (either by technical or human means) was some sort of sifting of possible materials for their research projects. This was often articulated as an intelligent ‘research assistant’ that might know who ‘wrote about what or who is working on what’ … Such a research assistant could also be asked to do tedious tasks such as ‘go through the 1,200 examples of the words in the Weimar edition [Martin Luther] and categorize which ones are in a liturgical text.’”
According to the report, two overarching findings emerged from interviews:
The first was that there is a “need for information professionals who can consult with faculty to curate and manage their digital scholarship … [Second] is that assistance in the research process is needed – especially in cognate fields where a sifting or orientation to the most relevant and reliable resources is helpful.”
Similar studies, composed of in-person interviews, took place at Asbury Seminary, Baylor University, Brigham Young University, Columbia University, Concordia Theological Seminary, Emory University, Naropa University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Rice University, Temple University, Tufts University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University and Yale University.
The complete report from Luther Seminary is contained at http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/staff_pubs/1/.
A larger national analysis that includes overall findings from all of the institutions involved is at http://www.sr.ithaka.org/publications/supporting-the-changing-research-practices-of-religious-studies-scholars/.