Rouages : Camille Tedesco "Linking people and tools".

Camille Tedesco is in charge of training and research support at the Service Commun de Documentation (SCD). At the BU de Richter, but a world away from the classic image of the librarian, she takes us on a tour of her duties as part of the Rouages video series produced by the University of Montpellier.

" Students and lecturers still have a rather old-fashioned image of university libraries, and are not necessarily aware of all the services we can offer them ", Camille Tedesco observes, without fatalism. It was in 2020 that the young training and research support officer left Paris to join the UM's common documentation service team, "with the chance to work in the particularly pleasant setting of the BU Richter while covering all sites and disciplines ".

"That these training courses are useful to them

"I know it sounds naive, but I really like the idea of coming to work every morning to be of service, to support people in their search for solutions," continues Camille, whose work revolves around two main missions, starting with training. " I train students in law, economics, management and political science at bachelor's, master's and doctorate levels. On the training menu are classic items such as documentary research " using the various resources made available to them by the University, but also everything they can find in open access ", explains the trainer. The management of bibliographic references using the Zotero tool also remains very much in demand by students and lecturers alike.

Alongside these fairly standard training courses, the SCD is also considering more innovative proposals for the 2022-2023 year, such as training on fakes news, literature review, information skills or bi-monthly workshops on monitoring or digital identity. " Our aim is for these courses to be useful in their university and even professional careers, and to help them succeed as students. And as we can see, when a student is happy with what he or she has learned, they tell other students or teachers, who in turn come to us for help."

"Making connections

Changing hats! Camille Tedesco explains: "In concrete terms, I help researchers to manage the data they produce as part of their research projects. This mission is divided into two poles: a publication pole focusing onopen access , which was set up at the UM in 2017, and a more specific pole focusing on research data, open data in other words, which we've been working on since 2020." A rapidly evolving field undergoing national and international structuring, and one in which researchers often need to be listened to and guided.

" My job is to find the right tools and practices for each researcher, discipline or doctoral student, the ones that are best suited to their needs, discipline and research project in particular. We act as a link between them and the resources/tools. Camille Tedesco has no ready-made answers to these questions, but instead provides support, guidance and, where necessary, referrals to other services, in order to offer a fully customized solution. Here again, monitoring and updating are essential to keep abreast of the latest national, European and international policies, as well as the full range of services offered at the University.

"A little spark

These missions are in line with current needs, but still struggle to make themselves known to the public concerned, despite the efforts made by the shared documentation service: " We are present when there are major milestones, in collaboration with other university departments. For example, we contact all new ANR research project applicants, and we offer bi-monthly themed webinars that we broadcast in conjunction with the DRED and DIPA. But the best is still word of mouth, which is all the more effective if students, teachers or researchers come away satisfied or even surprised by the training.

So Camille tracks down in the eyes of those she trains " the little spark, the look that lights up when they understand what I'm explaining to them and how useful it's going to be. I think that's one of the most satisfying moments in my job! And what about books? " I don't touch any books in my job ," concludes Camille Tedesco, illustrating the diversity of profiles and professions found in today's BUs.