Fatta mångfald : skilda perspektiv på forskarstöd bland doktorander

Sammanfattning: Academic libraries provide support to researchers, but this group is diverse and the particular situation of doctoral students is often overlooked or seen as uniform. To inform the development of such research support, to meet the needs of all doctoral students, it is of utmost importance to grasp the diversity within the group. The purpose of this study was thus to map this research field and systematically describe and understand doctoral students' relation to the research support offered by academic libraries. In order to meet this purpose, two studies were employed: (1) a literature review of recent scholarly articles concerning how doctoral students are portrayed in scientific literature, and (2) a survey of all doctoral students at seven faculties at Lund University in Sweden. A web-based questionnaire was designed to investigate doctoral students estimated use, needs, and benefits of the research support provided by the academic libraries, examining through an intersectional perspective any patterns in their answers based on fundamental social categories, as well as on other factors identified as important in the literature. The results clearly show significant diversity in estimated use, needs, and benefits of the research support, with statistically significant associations with age and background, the role of their supervisor, if they have attended a course in information literacy provided by the libraries, type of faculty, phase of their doctoral studies, and type of funding. By grasping the diversity among doctoral students, the academic libraries can develop their activities to offer all doctoral students equal support.