Librarians’ messages to publishers: turning research into practice

In early 2017 a piece of research was carried out via questionnaire asking librarians to share the messages they wanted to convey to publishers. There was the option of anonymous submission to encourage candour. This research aimed to supplement messages offered to publishers and other organizations via library advisory board meetings, conference talks and other channels. The hope is to facilitate understanding and to progress the library/publisher partnership that is essential for a healthy future for research communication. A lightning talk at the 2017 UKSG Annual Conference summarized the key findings. This article now shares the findings in more depth and delves into the detail of the most recurrent themes. It also features some organizational case studies which illustrate how the findings are being used practically and/or how these organizations ensure they understand the needs of the libraries they work with. These case studies may help other publishers with the implementation of listening programmes