Estonian Research and Development and Innovation

3.2. RDA RESOURCES AND SUPPORT PROCESSES

3.2.1. RDA support system

The coordination and organisation of research activity at institutional level is supported through following officials and units: Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Research, Research Secretary, the head of the Centre of Doctoral Studies, heads of academic departments with a research profile and the Research Committee. The coordination and organisation of artistic activity at institutional level is supported through following officials and units: Vice Rector for Development, the Concert and Performance Centre with its Advisory Board, heads of academic departments with an artistic profile.
The Research Secretary supplies administrative support to the research projects of EAMT (research groups and individuals), in particular assisting the project of Estonian music history writing, coordinates the Centre of Excellence and the Graduate School of Cultural Studies and Arts and organises the reporting of research activities. The position of research secretary was created in May 2016 with the aim of reducing the workload of research staff and enhancing the quality of management of research activity.
In November 2011 the Research Ethics Committee was established and in November 2015 the Research Committee was set up in accordance with the objectives relating to the development of RDA.
Support for the artistic activity at EAMT is mostly provided by the Concert and Performance Centre. This support unit consists of three employees, who produce concerts and stage performances. The information regarding concert organisation is provided to students and staff via mailing lists; concert programmes are displayed on the web-page of EAMT and on electronic screens. As in most of the music and theatre academies in Europe, EAMT supports predominantly the artistic activity of its students, while the staff members participate in the artistic field through professional concert organisations, orchestras and theatres. However, sometimes EAMT organises also public performances of its staff members, which are usually free of charge and quite popular among the audience (e.g., concerts of the teaching staff of the Piano Department, dedicated to the 200^th anniversaries of the births of Chopin and Liszt). Indirectly EAMT supports its staff members in artistic activity by providing flexible working conditions that allow them to combine teaching with an active artistic life. The performances of the visiting professors are often linked to their master classes.
The support system of RDA includes the Library, which has an important role in supporting RDA not only as the study library of the Academy, but also as a research library that provides public services such as the collection, management and mediation of sources for academics, artists in the field of music and theatre and the general public. By developing its services and collections, the Academy library serves the main goals of the study, creative and research work of EAMT, as well as the division of tasks of the research libraries. The Library participates in developing the shared online catalogue of Estonian libraries (ESTER), the database of Estonian articles (ISE) and the database of the international repertory of music literature RILM (Répertoire international de littérature musicale), administers the database of Estonian translations of vocal music Loreta, and takes part in the activities of the Estonian Libraries Network Consortium (ELNET Consortium), the Estonian Music Library Association (Eesti Muusikakogude Ühendus, EMKÜ), the Estonian Librarians Association (Eesti Raamatukoguhoidjate Ühing, ERÜ) and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML).
The development of collections at the Library meets the latest requirements. Due to the financing of the acquisition of published research resources through MER, the budget of the Library has grown. This gives an opportunity to shape the collections systematically (including e-resources).
An area for improvement is the use of electronic or digital books, which until now have been accessible to the members of the Library via licence-based databases only. In this case the content of the books does not necessarily correspond with the needs of the members of the Library. No special e-book collection has been purchased by EAMT yet.
In order to better understand the needs of research staff, teaching staff and students, the Library consults with the academic units: the wishes of the departments are given priority by purchasing the newest professional literature, scores and recordings.
Since 2000 the Library has systematically mediated the international databases and other e-resources, facilitating the accessibility of digital research findings year by year. The list of the e-resources is available on the homepageof EAMT.
Since 2011 the members of the EAMT Library are allowed remote access to library licence-based databases with the Estonian ID-card.