Day 6 of the EBLIP-Gloss FOLIO Course: “Ask”

A SPICE Tutorial

Revised August 2009

On Day 5 of the EBLIP-Gloss Course…

• …we asked you to identify a “burning question” about your library and information services.

• Today we will be looking at how you “ask” that question.

“To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered” (John Ruskin)

“Fuzzy questions tend to lead to fuzzy answers” (Oxman &

Guyatt 1988)

Therefore…

Your “burning question” should be…

• Focused• Relevant• Answerable

You may already be familiar with the PICO/PIOC framework

• POPULATION• INTERVENTION (sometimes

EXPOSURE)• COMPARISON• OUTCOME…commonly used for questions in evidence-

based practice (terminology drawn from epidemiology).

The alternative for EBLIP is…

• The SPICE framework• Developed specifically for library and

information questions.

SPICE• SETTING – in which context are you addressing

the question?• PERSPECTIVE – who are the users/potential

users of the service?• INTERVENTION – what is being done to

them/for them?• COMPARISON – what are your alternatives?• EVALUATION – how will you measure whether

the intervention has succeeded?

Our “burning” question

• What evidence is there that the Information Clinics are providing the same level of tuition or better than the traditional one-to-one format?

Our SPICE Example

• SETTING = ScHARR Information Resources

• PERSPECTIVE = Masters Students• INTERVENTION = Information Clinics• COMPARISON = One-to-one tutorials• EVALUATION = Ability to perform

unassisted a predetermined list of searching tasks

Now your turn…

• Recall your “burning question from Day 5.• What is the SETTING for your burning

question?• Click for a hint!• Hint: in which context are you addressing

the question?

Now your turn…

• What is the PERSPECTIVE for your burning question?

• Click for a hint!• Hint: who are the users/potential

users/stakeholders of the service?

Now your turn…

• What is the INTERVENTION for your burning question?

• Click for a hint!• Hint: what is being done to/for the

users/potential users/stakeholders?

Now your turn…

• What is the COMPARISON for your burning question?

• Click for a hint!• Hint: what are your alternatives?

And finally…

• What will be the EVALUATION for your burning question?

• Click for a hint!• Hint: how will you measure whether the

intervention has succeeded?• Please note: we will be covering

“evaluation” in more detail on Day 10 of the EBLIP-Gloss course!

You should now have a question that is…

• …focused, relevant and answerable!

References• Booth, A. (2003) “Formulating Answerable Questions”

in Booth, A. & Brice, A. Evidence-Based Practice for Information Professionals: A Handbook. London: Facet.

• Booth, A. (2006a) Australian supermodel? – A practical example of evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP). Health Information and Libraries Journal; 23 (1): 69-72.

• Booth, A. (2006b) Clear and present questions: formulating questions for evidence based practice. Library Hi Tech; 24 (3): 355-368.

• Oxman, A.D. & Guyatt, G.H. (1988) quoted in Booth 2006b.

• Ruskin, J. (1886) Proserpina quoted in Booth 2006b.

Further Reading• Booth, A. (2003) Where systems meet services: towards

evidence-based information practice. Vine: 33 (2); 65-71.• Booth, A. (2004) “Evaluating your performance” in: Booth, A.

& Brice, A. Evidence-Based Practice for Information Professionals: A Handbook. London: Facet.

• Cotter, L., Harije, L., Lewis, S. & Tonnison, I. (2005) Adding SPICE to our library intranet site: a recipe to enhance usability [online]. Available from: http://conferences.alia.org.au/ebl2005/Cotter.pdf [Accessed August 2009]

• Kloda, L. (2008). Asking the Right Question. Evidence Based Library And Information Practice, 3(4). Available from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/4426/3725 [Accessed August 2009]