Chapter 4: A Breath of Fresh Air: New Bibliometric Services at EPA-RTP Library

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Library at Research Triangle Park (EPA-RTP), North Carolina, is a special library of the federal government located within the organization’s largest research facility. In addition to being a repository for air-related research, staff assist agency scientists and engineers through the provision of both traditional and forward-looking library services. Though the EPA-RTP Library had been involved in occasional bibliometrics-related reference inquiries and projects, the idea for a formalized research impact product did not take shape until recently. In 2016, library staff embarked on a journey to develop bibliometric services capable of demonstrating the value of agency scientists’ and engineers’ contributions to the organization. Years of exploration and experimentation resulted in products that packaged data from citations, scientific databases, and alternative metrics tools, with graphical visualizations communicating a story of impact. Through first the creation of a career-centric profile and later an article-focused output, library staff have worked to establish themselves as partners in bibliometric analysis, with further plans to grow several of these individual deliverables into a suite of research impact services.