Plugging the "whole": Librarians as interdisciplinary facilitators

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the obstacles to interdisciplinary research and examine some ways that academic librarians can help to overcome them. Design/methodology/approach: A broad review of the literature of the social sciences was reviewed for descriptions of difficulties that interdisciplinary researchers encounter. General developments in librarianship from library literature were then applied as a starting point for discussing ways that librarians can provide important services to interdisciplinary scholars. Findings: Librarians, as "meta-scholars", can provide useful services to scholars engaging in interdisciplinary research. Social implications: Interdisciplinary research has shown great potential for problem-solving, being focused more on a problem than with disciplinary distinctions. This is a worthy area for librarians to target with their skills and services. Originality/value: This is a discussion of ways that librarians can break into new roles and responsibilities, and simultaneously strengthen their profile at a time when some expect librarianship to fade away.