Motiva ting Lib ra ria ns Motiva ting Lib ra ria ns to Conduc t R e s e a rc hto Conduc t R e s e a rc h

byby

F e Ang e la M. Ve rz os aF e Ang e la M. Ve rz os a

Introduction…Introduction…

• Lib ra ria ns , e s pe c ia lly lib ra ry a dm in is tra tors with d iffic u lt de c is ions to ma ke , o fte n c a ll for more re s e a rc h .

• Is re s e a rc h re a lly wh a t is m os t ne e de d? • In wh ic h a re a s is re s e a rc h like ly to be

mos t produc tive ? • R e s e a rc h s h ould be b a s e d on a nd drive n

by s pe c ific prob le ms ide ntifie d by lib ra ria ns a nd lib ra ry a dmin is tra tors .

•Res earch by library and information profes s ionals is needed to create new knowledge and thereby contribute to the growth of LIS as a profes s ion or dis cipline.•It is needed to improve problem s olving and decis ion making in the workplace. •to make library profes s ionals critical cons umers of the res earch literature,• to better equip librarians to provide optimal information s ervices to res earchers in other fie lds .•Conducting res earch can contribute to career advancement for librarians , es pecially academic librarians on tenure track.•It can als o improve an individual’s ability to think critically and analytically, improve s taff morale , and enhance the library’s s tatus within its community.

Why res earch?…

Why librarians do not conduct Why librarians do not conduct res earch?...res earch?...

• Lack of res earch-mindednes s ;• Librarians fee l overwhelmed by the

profes s ional literature;• The great amount of res earch

jargon dis courages librarians from reading the res earch literature;

• Librarians have all that they can handle keeping up with emerging information;

• Lack of time due to technology and s ervice res pons ibilities ;

• There is inadequate education/training in res earch methods ;

• There is the perception that res earch is lacking in practical applications or mis s ion orientation;

• There is a lack of funding; or,• There is a natural res is tance to

change or new res earch ideas .

Bas ic Is s ues …Bas ic Is s ues …• Do librarians fee l ill-equipped to

conduct res earch becaus e they do not have a s o lid background in methodology?

• Is res earch dis couraged in the ir workplace?• Are they s o overburdened with daily tas ks that

they do not find the time?• Is conducting res earch important to the ir work?• Is it s ignificant to advance the ir

career/reputation?

Survey as s es s ment ques tions …Survey as s es s ment ques tions …• Is reading res earch literature part of job expectation?• Is time to read res earch literature included in

working hours ?• Is acces s to library literature readily available?• Do librarians find res earch literature applicable to their

job functions ?• Is doing res earch part of job function?• What kind of training do librarians get to be able to

conduct proper res earch?• What kind of incentives are provided to motivate

librarians to conduct res earch?• What kind of res earches are applicable or relevant to

library functions , s ervices , or have impact on the profes s ion?

Survey as s es s ment ques tions …Survey as s es s ment ques tions …

• To what extent do Librarians read the res earch literature?

• Do they apply the res ults of res earch to the ir practice?

• Do they conduct the ir own res earch?• Are they interes ted in res earch?• What are the ir attitudes toward

res earch?• How do they as s es s the ir res earch

s kills ?

Survey res ults …Survey res ults …

• Librarians who are g iven time to read on the job read library literature but not res earch-bas ed literature on a regular bas is .

• 15% of thos e who gave reas ons for not reading res earch-bas ed artic les checked that they did not have enough expertis e in res earch methods .

• 50% indicated that the ir mas ter’s degree program adequate ly prepared them to read and unders tand res earch-bas ed publications .

• Only 4 out o f 10 are g iven time to do res earch. Of the 4 g iven time, only 2 will conduct res earch.

• Only 50% of the res earches conducted were publis hed.• As to s upport, about 50% were g iven time-off; 25% internal

funding, and 15% external.• As to application of res earch to practice , only 50% occas ionally

did, while 25% s e ldom, and 15% frequently did.

Evidence-Evidence-bas ed bas ed

librarians hip librarians hip (EBL)(EBL)

• is a means to improve the profes s ion of librarians hip by as king ques tions as we ll as finding , critically apprais ing and incorporating res earch evidence from library s c ience (and other dis c iplines ) into daily practice .

• It als o involves encouraging librarians to conduct high quality qualitative and quantitative res earch.

EBL – EBL – Implementing Implementing

s trategiess trategies

• The firs t and mos t important s tep in enabling librarians to practice the ir profes s ion in an evidence-bas ed manner, is to ens ure they know how to as k well-s tructured ques tions

• A well-built ques tion focus es your s earch for information. • Ques tions can next be as s igned to a domain, or general area o f

librarians hip into which they bes t fit. • Next comes a s earch of the applicable literature (librarians hip

or o therwis e) and critical apprais al of what is found in order to de termine if the current literature is applicable to one 's own s ituation, and if it is o f value .

Librarians hip Librarians hip DomainsDomains

• Reference—providing s ervice and acces s to information that meets the needs o f library us ers .

• Education—finding teaching methods and s trategies to educate us ers about library res ources and how to improve the ir res earch s kills .

• Collec tions —building a high-quality co llec tion of print and e lec tronic materials that is us e ful, cos t-e ffec tive and meets the us ers needs .

• Management—managing people and res ources within an organization.

• Information acces s and re trieval—creating better s ys tems and methods for information retrieval and acces s .

• Marketing/Promotion—promoting the profes s ion, the library and its s ervices to both us ers and non-us ers .

Preparing Librarians to conduct res earch...

• Training s hould introduce concepts and procedures for preparing , des igning , conducting , and evaluating res earch.

• It s hould provide a s urvey o f s oc ial s c ience res earch methodolog ies and a review of the ir applications , to be knowledgeable about the s trengths and weaknes s es o f various types o f res earch methodolog ies for s tudying various types of problems and is s ues .

• Librarians s hould be active partic ipants in res earch, planning , and evaluation within an organization or ins titution.   

What can the profes s ion do to improve the s ituation?...

• librarians may need as s is tance in identifying ideas for res earch, mentoring by an experienced res earcher, financ ial s upport, time to do res earch, rewards for comple ting res earch in a timely fas hion, as s is tance in matching res earch projects with pers onal deve lopment, and encouragement to apply the res ults o f the res earch.

• LIS degree programs , profes s ional as s oc iations , and libraries have an obligation to prepare practitioners to conduct and critically cons ume res earch.

• Employers can provide appropriate incentives , s upport, and rewards inc luding the fo llowing: s taff deve lopment activities , re leas ed time for res earch, s abbatical or s pec ial leaves , merit s alary increas es , and financial and c lerical s upport for res earch projec ts .