Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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Far from a Trivial Pursuit: Assessing the Effectiveness of Games in Information Literacy Instruction
No full textAbstract
Objective – To determine whether playing library-related online games during information literacy instruction sessions improves student performance on questionnaires pertaining to selected research practices: identifying citation types and keyword and synonym development.
Methods – 86 students in seven introductory English composition classes at a large urban university in the northeastern United States served as participants. Each class visited the library for library instruction twice during a given semester. In the experimental group students received information literacy instruction that incorporated two online games, and the control group received the same lesson plan with the exception of a lecture in place of playing games. A six-item pre- and posttest questionnaire was developed and administered at the outset and conclusion of the two-session classes. The 172 individual tests were coded, graded, and analyzed using SPSS.
Results – A paired sample t-test comparing the control and experimental groups determined that that there was a statistically significant difference between scores on pre-tests and post-tests in the experimental group but not the control group.
Conclusion – Students who played the online games improved significantly more from pre-test to post-test than students who received a lecture in lieu of playing online games, suggesting that participating in games related to the instruction they received resulted in an improved ability to select appropriate keywords and ascertain citation formats. These findings contribute to the evidence that online games concerning two frequently challenging research practices can be successfully applied to library instruction sessions to improve student comprehension of such skills
Assessment of Undergraduate-Driven Acquisitions at a Small College Library Shows Both Costs and Benefits
No full textA Review of:
Waller, J. H. (2013). Undergrads as selectors: Assessing patron-driven acquisition at a liberal arts college. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve, 23(3), 127-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1072303X.2013.851052
Abstract
Objective – To examine the viability of an undergraduate-focused, patron-driven acquisitions strategy in a small college library and to evaluate the titles acquired through this program for collection appropriateness, patron satisfaction, and cost effectiveness.
Design – Case study.
Setting – A small, Catholic college in the Eastern United States with 1,850 undergraduate students.
Subjects – Acquisitions of 432 print monographs selected by students and 18,624 print monographs selected by librarians and faculty members.
Methods – The author compared purchases selected from a pool of undergraduate interlibrary loan requests acquired from 2004 to 2013 to purchases acquired during the same time period through traditional means, including collection development work by librarians and selections by academic departments. The author evaluated titles for use based on circulation figures, for suitability using overlap analysis with the collections of four peer libraries, for patron satisfaction based on turnaround time, and for cost compared to items obtained through interlibrary loan.
Main Results – Student selection had some advantages, including moderately increased circulation. Traditionally acquired titles were less likely to circulate initially and only 20.46% of these titles circulated two or more times compared to 24.77% of student-selected titles. Student selections were less likely to be acquired by peer libraries, and 63.66% of student-selected titles were unique, though they had a similar subject distribution to traditionally acquired titles. Compared to interlibrary loan, student-selected purchases had similar turnaround times and in the most recent three-year period had an average turnaround time that was one day faster than interlibrary loan. However, student acquisitions were far costlier than interlibrary loan. Items acquired through this program cost the library 6.18 on average.
Conclusion – The student selection process was found to be moderately successful, and the library will continue the program. Based on the analysis of peer library holdings, the author suggests more librarian intervention in the selection process. Instead of purchasing any requests that meet the criteria for student selection, the author recommends an intermediary selection step of evaluation by librarians. Student selection did not show the dramatic advantages represented in studies conducted in larger academic libraries, and this disparity could potentially be due to a difference in selection quality between the undergraduate students at this college and the graduate and research populations of larger institutions
Undergraduates May Prefer to Learn about the Library Informally
No full textA Review of:
Murphy, J. A. (2014). Library learning: Undergraduate students’ informal, self-directed, and information sharing strategies. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 9(1), 1-20. https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/index
Abstract
Objective – To determine undergraduate student approaches to learning about research and to seeking assistance with resources and services offered by the library.
Design – Three face-to-face focus groups received the same 12 questions to discuss over 90 minutes.
Setting – Academic library in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Subjects – A total of 14 undergraduate students majoring in a social science or humanities subject area. Of these, four subjects were in their second year of undergraduate study, four in their third year, and six in their fourth year. Subjects participated in focus groups with other students in their year of study. The researcher recruited subjects through printed advertisements distributed in areas frequented by social science and humanities students. 12 female students and 2 male students participated. 13 participants had attended a library instruction session in the past. Subjects were offered pizza, but were not otherwise incentivized to participate.
Methods – The researcher and an assistant conducted three focus groups with undergraduate students, eliciting qualitative comments later transcribed and coded manually for analysis. Requirements for participation included being engaged in an undergraduate major in the social sciences or humanities, and previous experience using the library. Subjects answered open-ended questions about their studies, research activities, use of the library for a variety of tasks, and help seeking preferences.
Main Results – Regardless of year of study, focus group participants reported informal approaches to learning about and conducting research. All participants were confident about using the library’s online resources, and preferred learning about library resources through self-directed practice and trial and error. Participants revealed that learning about the library informally was preferable to library instruction. Most participants indicated they had sought help from the library at one time or another. Participants prized sharing information with classmates, especially through collaboration and social networks, and they valued the expertise of professors, peers, friends, and family when doing research. Three factors may influence their choice to consult and exchange information with other trusted advisers outside of the library: convenience, familiarity, and knowledge.
Conclusion – Findings from this study align with previous findings about student approaches to seeking research assistance. The author reveals that assistance from the library, including library instruction, is less important to focus group participants than the research strategies they have developed informally, including trial and error and information sharing within one’s personal network. The author observes that the informal learning strategies implemented by undergraduates in this study mirror the strategies of adult learners, especially in the workplace. The author suggests that intentional, course integrated library instruction in the early years of undergraduate education would strengthen students’ preferred self-directed learning about research
Formal Mentoring Programs Can Provide Organizational and Professional Benefits, but are Few and Far Between in Canadian Academic Libraries
No full textA Review of:
Harrington, M. R., & Marshall, E. (2014). Analyses of mentoring expectations, activities, and support in Canadian academic libraries. College & Research Libraries, 75(6), 763-790. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/crl.75.6.763
Abstract
Objective – To determine the extent to which formal and informal mentoring is present in Canadian academic libraries and how such activities meet expectations for new librarians, practising librarians, and library administrators.
Design – Online surveys.
Setting – Canadian college and university libraries.
Subjects – Three groups were defined and surveyed: graduates from one Canadian MLIS program; librarians practising in a Canadian academic library, and library administrators directing a Canadian academic library.
Methods – Participants were selected using stratified, purposeful sampling and were invited to participate in an online survey in December 2010. Three surveys were distributed in total; one for each of the three target groups defined. The surveys contained both closed- and open-ended questions. Students from one specific MLIS program graduating in December 2010 and Spring 2011 were directly invited to participate. An incentive was offered to the student group and the librarian group to encourage participation.
Main Results – Mentoring programs in Canadian colleges and universities are present but are largely informal. Mentoring activities are positively correlated with student population, how long a mentor has worked professionally, and whether or not librarians had been mentored early in their careers. 83% of new graduates expected to be mentored when hired by a Canadian academic library while less than one quarter of librarians and no administrators reported having similar expectations when starting their professional academic careers. Over 50% of the students who responded to the survey reported that they had experienced some form of mentoring while completing their MLIS, though that may be related to the cooperative placement component of their educational program. All respondents, with the exception of university administers, indicated that library colleagues are appropriate mentors, while academic librarians and administrators felt that the mentorship relationship would not benefit were the mentor also the supervisor.
Respondents placed the greatest weight of importance on mentoring activities related to academic expertise, career guidance, psychosocial support and role models, while indicating that evaluation was not considered to have a significant place in the mentor-mentee relationship. Networking, cultural complexities, general encouragement, and career counseling were seen as important mentorship aspects for both new graduates and practising librarians. Administrators in both college and university libraries were less likely to support mentoring particularly in the areas of assisting with grant writing, evaluation, and career counseling. In general, administrators were reluctant to develop or support formal mentor programming even though a significant percentage agreed that it would benefit succession planning.
Conclusion – New graduates and practising librarians expect to participate in some form of mentoring activities yet there are very few Canadian academic libraries providing formal mentorship programming. The value of the mentor-mentee relationship with respect to organizational planning, recruitment and retention, as well as career planning, is perceived as high amongst new graduates, practising librarians, and administrators
First-Time Use Books are Frequently Available for Patron-Driven Acquisition
No full textA Review of:
Herrera, G. (2015). Testing the patron-driven model: Availability analysis of first-time use
books. Collection Management, 40(1), 3-16. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2014.965863
Abstract
Objective – To determine whether a hypothetical Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) purchasing model is acceptable in terms of making available print monographs after their initial publication.
Design – Quantitative data analysis.
Setting – A large public university located in the southern United States of America.
Subjects – 8,020 item records representing books used at the author’s institution for the first time in 2012. Non-circulating monographs and items such as personal copy reserve materials and government documents were excluded from the sample.
Methods – Using the libraries’ ILS, a listing of the titles of monographs that received first-time use in 2012 was generated and exported to Microsoft Excel. The Getting It System Toolkit (GIST) was used to batch-search possibilities for acquisition and/or access, including purchase (including Amazon and Better World Books) and free access (such as HaithiTrust and Google Books).
Main Results – A total of 76% (6,130) of titles from the sample of 8,020 were available for purchase. A total of 3% (165) of these titles were both available for purchase and freely available online. Books not available either freely or by purchase represented 21% (1,682) of the sample. When participation in a regional resource-sharing consortium was accounted for, only 1% (101) of the titles could not be obtained. Books published before the 1920s were more likely to be freely available due to being in the public domain; however a majority of the titles (64%; 5,127) had a publication date of 1990 forward. The humanities represented the largest disciplinary grouping at 57% (4,563), with Social Sciences (31%; 2,472) and STEM (11%; 879) following.
Conclusions – In sum, the results indicated a very low margin of unavailability for titles. The author notes that, based on the findings, there should be no PDA purchase restrictions according to publication date if a large-scale program were to be implemented at their institution, and that researchers requiring humanities titles would be likely to benefit most from such a program (p. 14). It should be noted that a significant budget for PDA was allocated at the author’s institution
Informed Systems: Enabling Collaborative Evidence Based Organizational Learning
No full textAbstract
Objective – In response to unrelenting disruptions in academic publishing and higher education ecosystems, the Informed Systems approach supports evidence based professional activities to make decisions and take actions. This conceptual paper presents two core models, Informed Systems Leadership Model and Collaborative Evidence-Based Information Process Model, whereby co-workers learn to make informed decisions by identifying the decisions to be made and the information required for those decisions. This is accomplished through collaborative design and iterative evaluation of workplace systems, relationships, and practices. Over time, increasingly effective and efficient structures and processes for using information to learn further organizational renewal and advance nimble responsiveness amidst dynamically changing circumstances.
Methods – The integrated Informed Systems approach to fostering persistent workplace inquiry has its genesis in three theories that together activate and enable robust information usage and organizational learning. The information- and learning-intensive theories of Peter Checkland in England, which advance systems design, stimulate participants’ appreciation during the design process of the potential for using information to learn. Within a co-designed environment, intentional social practices continue workplace learning, described by Christine Bruce in Australia as informed learning enacted through information experiences. In addition, in Japan, Ikujiro Nonaka’s theories foster information exchange processes and knowledge creation activities within and across organizational units. In combination, these theories promote the kind of learning made possible through evolving and transferable capacity to use information to learn through design and usage of collaborative communication systems with associated professional practices. Informed Systems therein draws from three antecedent theories to create an original theoretical approach.
Results – Over time and with practice, as co-workers design and enact information-focused and evidence based learning experiences, they learn the way to decision-making and action-taking. Increasingly more complex experiences of information exchange, sense making, and knowledge creation, well supported by workplace communication systems and professional practices, further dialogue and reflection and thereby enrich analysis and interpretation of complexities and interdependencies.
Conclusions - Research projects and evaluation studies conducted since 2003 demonstrate the transformative potential of the holistic Informed Systems approach to creating robust workplace learning environments. Leaders are responsible for design of workplace environments supportive of well contextualized, information-rich conversations. Co-workers revisit both the nature of organizational information and the purpose of organizational work. As colleagues better understand the complexities of the organization and its situation, they learn to diagnose problems and identify consequences, guided by Informed Systems models. Systemic activity and process models activate collaborative evidence based information processes within enabling conditions for thought leadership and workplace learning that recognize learning is social. Enabling communication systems and professional practices therefore intentionally catalyze and support collegial inquiry to co-create information experiences and organizational knowledge through evidence based practice to enliven capacity, inform decisions, produce improvements, and sustain relationships. The Informed Systems approach is thereby a contribution to professional practice and workplace renewal through evidence based decision-making and action-taking in contemporary organizations
A Comparison of Beginning and Advanced Engineering Students’ Description of Information Skills
No full textAbstract
Objective – The purpose of this research was to examine how beginning and advanced level engineering students report use of information when completing an engineering design process. This information is important for librarians seeking to develop information literacy curricula in the context of engineering design.
Methods – Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews about information strategies used in engineering design with 21 engineering students (10 first and second year; 11 senior and graduate). Researchers transcribed interviews and developed an inductive coding scheme. Then, from the coding scheme, researchers extracted broader themes.
Results – Beginning level engineering students interviewed: (a) relied primarily on the parameters explicitly given in the problem statement; (b) primarily used general search strategies; (c) were documentation oriented; and (d) relied on external feedback to determine when they had found enough information. Advanced level engineering students interviewed: (a) relied on both their own knowledge and the information provided in the problem statement; (b) utilized both general and specific search strategies; (c) were application oriented; and (d) relied on self-reflection and problem requirements to determine when they had found enough information.
Conclusion – Beginning level students describe information gathering as externally motivated tasks to complete, rather than activities that are important to inform their design. Advanced level students describe more personal investment in their use of information through consideration of information based on their prior knowledge and questioning information. Future research should consider how to best support beginning level engineering students’ personal engagement with information
A User Survey Finds That a Hospital Library Literature Search Service Has a Direct Impact on Patient Care
No full textA Review of:
Farrell, A., Mason, J. (2014). Evaluating the Impact of Literature Searching Services on Patient Care Through the Use of a Quick-Assessment Tool. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association, 35(3),116-123. doi: 10.5596/c14-030
Abstract
Objective – To assess the impact of a library provided literature search service on patient care.
Design – Multiple choice questionnaire survey.
Setting – Hospital library.
Subjects – 54 library users who had requested a literature search and indicated the primary purpose of their request was patient care.
Methods – A multiple choice questionnaire survey was designed, building on previously published library impact surveys and best practice guidelines, with input from staff in the local research department. The survey was reviewed by library staff, researchers and prospective respondents and piloted. The survey was sent out with the answers to literature search requests and a small incentive was offered to those who completed the survey. The survey was followed up with reminders.
Main results – The response rate was 57.5% (n=54/94). The most common staff groups requesting literature searches were physicians (33.3%), nurses (22.2%), therapists (16.7%), pharmacists (11.1%) and residents (7.4%). The majority stated that their questions had been answered (77.8%), while 18.5% indicated their questions had been partially answered, for reasons such as the answer leading to more questions, or parts of the question had not been addressed. Two (3.7%) of the respondents’ questions were not answered, either because no answer existed, or because the question didn’t contain enough detail.
Of those who replied that their question had been answered, 64.3% judged the information to have had an immediate impact on patient treatment or management. Other uses of the information included refreshing memory, avoiding an adverse event, diagnosing a patient, or preventing a referral. The percentage of respondents judging there to be no immediate impact on patient care was 16.7%. The impact on diagnosis and treatment was further investigated in those who had said there had been an immediate impact, with 22.2% saying the information determined their choice of drug, 29.6% saying the information confirmed their choice of drug, while 18.5% stated the information changed their choice of drug. All respondents replied that they intended to use this information in the future, regardless of whether the information had an immediate impact, or if their question had been answered.
Conclusion – The authors concluded that the survey results show hospital libraries can have an impact on patient care through a literature searching service. They also found that the library was answering its literature service users’ questions