The open research support and scholarly communications sectors are key growth areas within universities. They support open research practices, open access, repository management, publishing advice, bibliometrics and research data management. However, in the rapid evolution of this sector a skills gap has developed. There are difficulties with identifying and describing the skills needed and in recognising their interconnectedness. This lack of role profiles presents challenges in the recruitment and development of open research support staff. Competencies are usually gained on-the-job, and through self-development. There is a high turnover of trained employees between research support teams and out of the sector.
In addressing the skills gap, ORCC aims to identify and map the skills and competencies needed by the current and future open research support workforce. Professionalising these roles across the sector will achieve the very highest quality of support for researchers. ORCC engages heavily with the library and research management communities through active outreach at community workshops and conferences.
ORCC was founded in 2017 and was previously known as SC3. Its new name (as of July 2021) is Open Research Competencies Coalition (ORCC).
Resources about the experience of working in scholarly communications
So, what is it really like to work in research support and scholarly communication?
In their own words: working in scholarly communication
New to OA? Top tips from the experts
Repository Professionals: The Next Generation
Blogs about what we have been doing
Developing a skilled workforce to support scholarly communication – event report and next steps
Developing skills for scholarly communication
Plans for Scholarly Communication Development
Planning scholarly communication training in the UK
Shifting sands: notes from UKSG2017 workshop on skills
Research we have done
Skills in scholarly communication – needs & development
Where did they come from? Educational background of people in scholarly communication
ORCC members
Dr Nancy Pontika – CORE/Contact for ORCC Nancy.Pontika@open.ac.uk
Helen Berry – CILIP
Helen Clare – Jisc
Dr Andrew Cox – University of Sheffield Information School
Joy Davidson – Digital Curation Centre
Dr Christina Kamposiori – RLUK
Dr Danny Kingsley – Visiting Fellow for Australian National University
Valerie McCutcheon – University of Glasgow/ ARMA
Elizabeth Newbold – UKSG/ STFC UKRI
Ann Rossiter – SCONUL
Clare Sewell – Cambridge University Library
Alison Sutton – University of Reading Library/ UKCORR
Dr Katie Wheat – Vitae
To find out more about many of the organisations from which our ORCC membership is drawn, please see the partnerships page on the UKCORR website.