How is digital scholarship supported in practice? This chapter aims to respond to this question, informed by the results of a small-scale survey of 20 UK and Irish Higher Education (HE) libraries carried out in January 2016. The quantitative data generated by the survey is supplemented by a small number of case studies to provide a more detailed view of individual institutions’ activities. The survey's aim was to capture the extent to which libraries are engaged with a range of services and systems associated with digital scholarship. Responses were gathered from institutions ranging from research intensive to small specialist, from different mission groups and locations.

The survey considered the impact a technology-rich learning and research environment has on the role of the library and, conversely, how libraries are optimizing their contribution to emerging digital practices and how this is helping to develop new expertise. It is evident that the skills librarians are developing are often in response to emerging service needs alongside new uses of library spaces, as Sinclair (2014) comments:

The context for the survey drew on the work of Vinopal and McCormick (2013), who in their article ‘Digital Scholarship in Research Libraries’ included a model for the delivery of scalable and sustainable services in support of digital scholarship. The model emerged from research, observation of trends and interviews with peer US institutions. The principles underpinning it have been adapted and reworked to fit the UK and Irish HE context and were used as a basis for the survey questions.

The approach taken by Vinopal and McCormick places emphasis ‘on developing, maintaining and integrating standard tools, platforms, and support services for a large community of users’ and, as such, stresses the importance of scalability, reuse and impact.