Research in Librarianship: Challenges, Competencies, and Strategies

by

Fe Ange la M. Verzos a

Why librarians do not conduct 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 ibilitie s• 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 .

•to improve problem s olving and decis ion making in the workplace •to create new knowledge and thereby contribute to the growth of LIS as a profes s ion or dis cipline•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•it can als o improve ability to think critically and analytically, improve s taff morale , and enhance the library’s s tatus within its community.

Why res earch?…

Is res earch neces s ary?

• 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 m a ke , o fte n c a ll for m ore 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 m os t

produc tive ? • R e s e a rc h s h ould b e 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 dm in is tra tors .

Competencies

• Intellectual curiosity • Research-mindedness• Diligence and persistence• Ability to be resourceful and

enterprising• excellent communication skills• committed to life-long learning

and personal career development • Research training skills

How to becomecompetent…

• learn to think like researchers – critically, analytically, methodically

• educate ourselves on research methods

• read other librarians’ researches, and try to evaluate their work, critiquing on their shortcomings or limitations

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 of 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 of 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.   

Evidence-bas ed librarians hip (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.

Challenges and Opportunitie s

• 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 them 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 activitie s , 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 .

Conclusion If research has an important

role in understanding the needs to which libraries should be responsive, and if librarians need to conduct research in order to better assess the effectiveness of their approaches to delivering library services, then librarians and other LIS professionals, including the agencies responsible for educating them, and their employing institutions, should be more attentive to such a critical activity as library research.

Thank you for listening!