AN AUSTRALIAN DYNAMIC: REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF PARTNERSHIPS IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH, AND RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT

Australian academic libraries first became partners in the transformation of Australian data and technology enabled research in 2008 through their involvement with the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) program to advance research data management capacity and capability. The partnership of academic libraries with ANDS enabled the development of new research support services and helped to shift the knowledge base of the academic community in research data management, in Australia. Recent training initiatives like the ANDS 23 Things was directed toward academic librarians to increase their knowledge of and capacity to help researchers use national research infrastructure and to manage their data well. The academic libraries have also partnered with ANDS, now part of the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) and the Australian Access Federation (AAF) on persistent identifier implementation, DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and ORCiD (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier). In this next phase, AARNet is a partner in supporting academic librarian and researcher skills development. The three organisations are working together; to build on foundational knowledge and infrastructure. Academic librarians and researchers are being introduced to the principles of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data, infrastructure, and platforms, and taught data processing and movement techniques, through ARDC and AARNet (Australian Advanced Research Network) skills offerings. The focus of this presentation is on the changing role of academic libraries in supporting research data management and associated research infrastructures, and on the challenges. Australian national research infrastructures and academic libraries are co-evolving; together we are establishing pathways for the future, to foster new capabilities and advance our world-class research infrastructure. This transformation is enabled through our strategic alliance, an openness to dialogue and change, and by leveraging national and international partnerships