Librarians are partners in research. Discuss.

There's a lot of talk these days that academic librarians should be partners in the research process with academics and students. How this is carried out differs from institution to institution, but it can include things like helping with reference management and citation, finding appropriate journals in which to publish and assisting with the writing and/or formatting process. My question during a presentation this morning was: are academics and students on board with this? Do they accept this new role of librarians? Do they see them as more than just people behind a desk who can help them find a particular reference? The answer from the podium was that it differs from department to department. Some are more accepting than others. I'm not sure. What do you think?