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The aim of this paper is to discuss how new technologies for supporting scientific research will possibly influence the librarians' work.

The discussion is conducted in a context that takes into account the emergence of e‐infrastructures as means to realise a new model of producing, using and sharing information resources and even to change the concept of information resource itself. At the core of this innovation there are virtual research environments, i.e. evolved versions of the current “research libraries”.

The environments provide scientists with collaborative and customised environments supporting results production and exchange around the globe in a cost‐efficient manner. The experiences made with these innovative research environments within the D4Science project is reported.

On the basis of this experience, possible professional profiles are suggested for librarians working in these new evolved “research libraries”.

In an economic sense, urbanization is a process of transformation of rural economy to modern economy. It is measured by the increase in urban population to total population. In India, urbanization is increasing over the last 100 years. In 1911, urbanization in India was 10.29% which reached to 31.16% in 2011. In 2018, the urban population of India was 460.78 million or 34% of the total population. In the present world, economic growth of an economy is highly dependent on the growth of Information and Communication technology (ICT). The Indian Information Technology (IT) industry also has created an important place in the global IT market. The objective of this chapter is to search for a relationship between urbanization and development of the ICT sector in India. Secondary time series data of urbanization of India have been analyzed for census years from 1951 to 2011. The data on ICT have been taken for the period 2014–2015. The data have been collected from Internet and Mobile Association of India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Cellular Operations Association of India, and District Information System of Education. For analyzing the development of ICT sector in India the variables taken are e-infrastructure, telephone density per 100 persons, mobile subscribers per 100 persons, mobile subscribers with Internet, schools with computers, and e-participation. Hypothetically, growth of urbanization is expected to develop the ICT sector. From the analysis it comes out that apart from some exceptions, the relatively economically developed and urbanized states of India are found to have a developed ICT sector. Whereas in relatively less urbanized states the development of ICT sectors are not up to the mark.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and implementation of policies, digital infrastructures and hands-on support for eResearch at the University of Göttingen. Core elements of this activity are to provide support for research data management to researchers of all disciplines and to coordinate on-campus activities. These activities are actively aligned with disciplinary, national and international policies and e-infrastructures.

The process of setting up and implementing an institutional data policy and its necessary communications and workflows are described and analysed. A first assessment of service development and uptake is provided in the area of embedded research data support.

A coordination unit for eResearch brings together knowledge about methods and tools that are otherwise scattered across disciplinary units. This provides a framework for policy implementation and improves the quality of institutional research environments.

The study provides information about an institutional implementation strategy for infrastructure and services related to research data. The lessons learned allow insights into current challenges and work ahead.

With a cross-cutting, “horizontal” approach, in the Göttingen eResearch Alliance, two research-orientated infrastructure providers, a library and an IT service, combine their services and expertise to develop an eResearch service and support portfolio for the Göttingen Campus.

The purpose of this paper is to boost multidisciplinary research by the building of an integrated catalogue or research assets metadata. Such an integrated catalogue should enable researchers to solve problems or analyse phenomena that require a view across several scientific domains.

There are two main approaches for integrating metadata catalogues provided by different e-science research infrastructures (e-RIs): centralised and distributed. The authors decided to implement a central metadata catalogue that describes, provides access to and records actions on the assets of a number of e-RIs participating in the system. The authors chose the CERIF data model for description of assets available via the integrated catalogue. Analysis of popular metadata formats used in e-RIs has been conducted, and mappings between popular formats and the CERIF data model have been defined using an XML-based tool for description and automatic execution of mappings.

An integrated catalogue of research assets metadata has been created. Metadata from e-RIs supporting Dublin Core, ISO 19139, DCAT-AP, EPOS-DCAT-AP, OIL-E and CKAN formats can be integrated into the catalogue. Metadata are stored in CERIF RDF in the integrated catalogue. A web portal for searching this catalogue has been implemented.

Only five formats are supported at this moment. However, description of mappings between other source formats and the target CERIF format can be defined in the future using the 3M tool, an XML-based tool for describing X3ML mappings that can then be automatically executed on XML metadata records. The approach and best practices described in this paper can thus be applied in future mappings between other metadata formats.

The integrated catalogue is a part of the eVRE prototype, which is a result of the VRE4EIC H2020 project.

The integrated catalogue should boost the performance of multi-disciplinary research; thus it has the potential to enhance the practice of data science and so contribute to an increasingly knowledge-based society.

A novel approach for creation of the integrated catalogue has been defined and implemented. The approach includes definition of mappings between various formats. Defined mappings are effective and shareable.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding about drivers of enterprise systems complexity (ESC), as well as its multi‐faceted conceptualization.

Case studies were conducted among German Mittelstand companies by an international research team. A grounded theory approach was followed, with the first phase of the case studies being exploratory, and the second phase being more focused.

Case study findings suggest that ESC is a multi‐dimensional construct consisting of the following dimensions: seamlessness, adoption date, number of integrated subsystems, system type/composition, number of functional areas linked, and number of users. Drivers of ESC identified via the case studies include the multi‐dimensional constructs of competition, complexity of processes, complexity of products, global operations, and the firm's customer base. Grounded theory development is used to conceptualize the measures of these drivers. Founded in these exploratory observations propositions for future research are developed.

The research reports on the experiences of companies with enterprise systems (ES), and explores organizational factors determining system complexity; as a sampling frame Mittelstand companies in Southwest Germany are chosen, making this study one of the few exploring ES within this context. The paper also places ESC within theoretical domains, especially the STS theory. The conceptualization of ESC and its antecedents presented provides a starting point for future academic research into this area.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of the emergence of virtual research environments (VREs) and related e‐research tools for scholarly work and communications processes.

The concepts of VREs and of e‐research more generally are introduced and relevant literature is reviewed. On this basis, the authors discuss the developing role they play in research practices across a number of disciplines and how scholarly communication is beginning to evolve in response to the opportunities these new tools open up and the challenges they raise.

Virtual research environments are beginning to change the ways in which researchers go about their work and how they communicate with each other and with other stakeholders such as publishers and service providers. The changes are driven by the changing landscape of data production, curation and (re‐)use, by new scientific methods, by changes in technology supply and the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of research in many domains.

The paper is based on observations drawn from a number of projects in which the authors are investigating the uptake of advanced ICT in research. The paper describes the role of VREs as enablers of changing research practices and the ways in which they engender changes in scholarly work and communications.

Librarians and other information professionals need to be aware of how advanced ICTs are being used by researchers to change the ways they work and communicate. Through their experiences with the integration of virtual learning environments within library information services, they are well placed to inform developments that may well change scholarly communications fundamentally.

The paper contributes to emerging discussions about the likely trajectory and impact of advanced ICTs on research and their implications for those, such as librarians and other information professionals, who occupy important support roles.

A growing number of small states are in the process of establishing ICT agencies to address information society issues of e‐government, e‐infrastructure, e‐industry, e‐learning, and e‐commerce. Some large countries are in the process of integrating telecommunications, IT, and broadcasting into a single ICT agency. This paper outlines the functional requirements for such an agency, and presents a range of international best practices for their focus and operation. The paper also suggests interim measures that can be taken before such agencies are legally established.

The aim of this paper is to review the concept of the virtual research environment (VRE) in the light of its development over the past five years, and assess its applicability to the arts and humanities disciplines.

Evidence from a number of case studies exemplifying the VRE approach is reviewed, and the case of a VRE in archaeology, the Silchester Roman Town project, is discussed in detail. The interpretive implications of using computers as a means of dealing with artistic and humanistic data, are highlighted.

There is a critical comparison to be drawn between VREs in the sciences and the humanities/arts. This is caused by the “fuzzy” nature of data and workflows in the latter, as compared with the more formal and definable research practice in the former. It is proposed that, to deal with this, the plan of any project which seeks to set up a VRE in the humanities should consider the research process under three headings: processes which the VRE seeks to introduce, existing processes which it seeks to undertake digitally, and processes which will be unaffected by the VRE.

In order to progress “the VRE” from being an artificial construct, driven by dedicated project funding, towards being an embedded part of research practice, those concerned with developing VREs need to consider the nuances of those research practices. This paper seeks to review those nuances by synthesizing data and experience from existing projects, thereby facilitating that embedding process.

Large scale research infrastructures (LSRIs) are rising in the competitive and globalized research environment, since they offer to external researchers-users, inputs and services for cutting-edge, large scale researches. Such researches would not be possible with usual infrastructures and budgets of single universities and research institutions. However, despite the strategic relevance acknowledged to LSRI by the nascent literature and by national policymakers, there is a lack of understanding of configurations and key performances of a LSRI. This paper aims to bridge this gap by identifying key morphologies of LSRIs and analysing their performances.

The research is carried out adopting a mixed research methodology, merging a literature review with a survey conducted on a sample of 11 LSRIs; they provided the data set for the parametrization of a morphological matrix.

The research led to the identification of seven LSRIs morphologies, with different performance linked to their structure.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper originally proposes the data set needed to develop a morphological analysis of LSRIs.