Research Collaborations Among Health Sciences Librarians

Librarians collaborate in their positions daily to assist patrons with their needs. Many of these interactions are brief with collaborations quickly forming and then being dissolved as librarians provide for the needs of their patrons. Collaborations allow librarians to advance the purposes of the library and reach out and assist the institution. Unlike these brief daily interactions, research collaborations require librarians to make long-term commitments to projects. How can we ensure that these collaborations are successful? Study of research collaborations can assist librarians in determining how to build and maintain research collaborations and avoid or overcome conflicts and barriers. Finding others with similar interests, maintaining communication through multiple channels, and basic project management skills are key to successful research collaborations.