Abstracts
Abstract
Objective – The goal of this study was to assess how postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) engage with the campus library and identify barriers to access. Postdocs occupy a unique position within the research community, bridging the gap between graduate studies and permanent academic positions. Despite their critical role, there has been little formal research to examine how postdocs interact with library resources and services, likely due in part to their relatively small numbers at academic and research institutions.
Methods – Three focus group interviews were conducted at two research intensive institutions in the United States. The qualitative analysis employed an iterative coding process to explore several themes: self-proclaimed needs to succeed during postdoctoral training; perceptions of library offerings, including space, services, and collections; and barriers to success.
Results – The thematic analysis revealed that postdocs value library resources and are seeking a range of services including financial services, mentorship, and scholarly writing support. There were only minor differences observed between the two institutions. The study identified lack of communication and time as the main barriers postdocs cited for not using the library. Based on participant feedback, we developed recommendations to enhance the postdoctoral experience with library resources and support their career development.
Conclusion – This study contributes valuable insights into optimizing library services for postdocs and highlights opportunities for libraries to better align their offerings with the unique needs and challenges faced by this sector of the academic community. Our approach also serves as a model to assess and improve library offerings to other small communities.
Appendices
Bibliography
- Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Re-envisioning NIH-Supported Postdoctoral Training. (2023, December 15). Report to the NIH Advisory Committee to the director (ACD). National Institutes of Health. https://acd.od.nih.gov/documents/presentations/12152023_Postdoc_Working_Group_Report.pdf
- Barr-Walker, J. (2013). Creating an outreach program for postdoctoral scholars. Science & Technology Libraries, 32(2), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2013.789417
- Bruckmann, C., & Sebestyén, E. (2017). Ten simple rules to initiate and run a postdoctoral association. PLOS Computational Biology, 13(8), e1005664. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005664
- Cantwell, B., & Lee, J. J. (2010). Unseen workers in the academic factory: Perceptions of neoracism among international postdocs in the United States and the United Kingdom. Harvard Educational Review, 80(4), 490–516. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.80.4.w54750105q78p451
- Catalano, A. (2013). Patterns of graduate students’ information seeking behavior: A meta‐synthesis of the literature. Journal of Documentation, 69(2), 243–274. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411311300066
- Curtis, R. B. (1969). The invisible university: Postdoctoral education in the United States: Report of a study conducted under the auspices of the National Research Council. National Academy of Sciences.
- Feldon, D. F., Litson, K., Jeong, S., Blaney, J. M., Kang, J., Miller, C., Griffin, K., & Roksa, J. (2019). Postdocs’ lab engagement predicts trajectories of PhD students’ skill development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(42), 20910–20916. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912488116
- Fong, B. L., Wang, M., White, K., & Tipton, R. (2016). Assessing and serving the workshop needs of graduate students. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(5), 569–580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2016.06.003
- Forrester, N. (2021). Mental health of graduate students sorely overlooked. Nature, 595(7865), 135–137. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01751-z
- Gau, K. H., Dillon, P., Donaldson, T., Wahl, S. E., & Iwema, C. L. (2020). Partnering with postdocs: A library model for supporting postdoctoral researchers and educating the academic research community. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 108(3), 480–486. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2020.902
- Gunapala, N. (2014). Meeting the needs of the “invisible university:” Identifying information needs of postdoctoral scholars in the sciences. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 77. https://doi.org/10.29173/istl1610
- Hahnel, M., Smith, G., Schoenenberger, H., Scaplehorn, N., & Day, L. (2023). The state of open data 2023 [Report]. Digital Science. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24428194.v1
- Heidt, A. (2024). NIH pay rise for postdocs and PhD students could have US ripple effect. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01242-x
- Ince, S., Hoadley, C., & Kirschner, P. A. (2020). Research workflow skills for education doctoral students and postdocs: A qualitative study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(5), 102172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102172
- Is science’s dominant funding model broken? (2024). Nature, 630(8018), 793–793. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02080-7
- Kahn, S., & Ginther, D. K. (2017). The impact of postdoctoral training on early careers in biomedicine. Nature Biotechnology, 35(1), 90–94. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3766
- Katz-Buonincontro, J. (2022). How to interview and conduct focus groups. American Psychological Association. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2sjj0h6
- Liénard, J. F., Achakulvisut, T., Acuna, D. E., & David, S. V. (2018). Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers. Nature Communications, 9(1), 4840. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07034-y
- McAlpine, L. (2018). Postdoc trajectories: Making visible the invisible. In A. Jaeger & A. J. Dinin (Eds.), The postdoc landscape (pp. 175–202). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813169-5.00008-2
- Morgan, D. L. (1997). The focus group guidebook (1st ed.). SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
- National Science Foundation. (2021). The shifting demographic composition of postdoctoral researchers at federally funded research and development centers in 2021. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22345
- Nelson, A. (2022). Ensuring free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research [Official Memorandum]. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf
- Northwell Health. (2025). We are Northwell. https://www.northwell.edu/sites/northwell.edu/files/2025-02/we-are-northwell-fact-sheet-updatefeb2025printer-spreadsv1.pdf
- Nowell, L., Alix Hayden, K., Berenson, C., Kenny, N., Chick, N., & Emery, C. (2018). Professional learning and development of postdoctoral scholars: A scoping review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 224. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0892-5
- O’Grady, T., & Beam, P. S. (2011). Postdoctoral scholars: A forgotten library constituency? Science & Technology Libraries, 30(1), 76–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2011.545680
- Ott, N. R., Arbeit, C. A., & Falkenheim, J. (2021). Defining postdocs in the survey of Graduate Students and Postdocs (GSS): Institution responses to the postdoc definitional questions in the GSS 2010–16. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21327
- Rempel, H. G., Hussong-Christian, U., & Mellinger, M. (2011). Graduate student space and service needs: A recommendation for a cross-campus solution. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(6), 480–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2011.07.004
- Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., & Ormston, R. (2013). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
- Smith, B., Alldredge, Elham-Eid, Arbeit, Caren A., & Yamaner, Michael I. (2024). Graduate enrollment in science, engineering, and health continues to increase among foreign nationals, while postdoctoral appointment trends vary across fields (InfoBrief NSF 24-320; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics). National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf24320
- Tomaszewski, R. (2012). Information needs and library services for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars at Georgia State University. Science & Technology Libraries, 31(4), 442–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2012.730465
- Travis, J. (1992). Postdocs: Tales of woe from the “invisible university.” Science, 257(5077), 1738–1740. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.257.5077.1738
- University of Alabama at Birmingham. (2023). UAB total student demographics. https://www.uab.edu/institutionaleffectiveness/images/documents/student-demographics/Fall-2023-Total-Enrollment.pdf
- Urban Indian Health Institute. (2021). Data genocide of American Indians and Alaska Natives in COVID-19 data. https://www.uihi.org/projects/data-genocide-of-american-indians-and-alaska-natives-in-covid-19-data/
- White, E., & King, L. (2020). Shaping scholarly communication guidance channels to meet the research needs and skills of doctoral students at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(1), 102081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.102081
- Woolston, C. (2018a). The quest for postdoctoral independence. Nature, 561(7724), 569–571. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06794-3
- Woolston, C. (2018b). Why a postdoc might not advance your career. Nature, 565(7737), 125–126. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07652-y
- Woolston, C. (2020). Postdoc survey reveals disenchantment with working life. Nature, 587(7834), 505–508. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03191-7

