Library and Information Research (LIR)
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Practical tips on interviewing the great and the good
Get PDFBased on experience of researching for a PhD and many years working in information policy, this article provides practical tips to guide anyone wishing to interview experts as part of their research. It takes a common-sense approach to the whole process, starting with the initial decisions to be made, types of interviews, how to get your interviewees on board, prioritisation of interviewees, venues and timing. It then takes you through recording and managing the interviews, and finally covers transcription and wrapping up. The need for careful planning and flexibility are stressed. A checklist of 42 tips to help you plan your interviews is appended
COURT, Joy. Read to Succeed: Strategies to engage children and young people in reading for pleasure. London: Facet Publishing. 2011.
Get PDFPrioritising research and dissemination: a Delphi study of NHS Highland midwives
Get PDFThis paper reports on a Delphi study undertaken by a health librarian and two midwifery professionals, to determine the research priorities of midwives working in NHS Highland. Six important topics were identified: workforce issues, second stage of labour, obesity in pregnancy, women’s expectations of pregnancy and of childbirth, place of birth, and breastfeeding. Related evidence was examined to identify topics where dissemination of existing evidence was needed. The study dealt both with the practice of midwifery in general and with the information needs of local midwives in particular. The Delphi technique was found to be a useful method to determine research priorities but it was not without its limitations
Imagination in LIS Research
Get PDFThe quality of research in information science and library science is criticized. Researchers are encouraged to use their imagination, empathy and lateral thinking skills. Choice of topic, use of existing theories and theoretical models, literature searching, application of methods and methodologies, and appraisal of results are all areas in which imagination can be used productively. Several published studies are discussed briefly by way of example
BLANCHETT, Helen, POWIS, Chris and WEBB, Jo. A guide to teaching information literacy: 101 practical tips. 2012.
Get PDFGenerating research income: library involvement in academic research
Get PDFThis paper considers the increasingly diverse role of the academic librarian, particularly with regard to research support and involvement in university projects and applied research. It considers how such involvement can enhance the status of the library within the institution and provide positive opportunities to promote and develop the involvement of library staff with departments across the university.
The paper focuses on the Coventry University Library’s involvement with a JISC funded project D-TRACES, which sought to further embed Replay, the Siobhan Davies Dance Archive, into the curriculum in order to increase its use and uptake within teaching, learning and research. This was a joint project between the University Library and the Dance Department, and was supported by the Siobhan Davies Dance Company. The library’s role in this project focused on conducting the user analysis of the existing use and take up of the resource and the production of a report that would inform the next stage of the project, to further embed Replay within teaching and learning
Portable devices- libraries trying to meet the demands of the iPhone generation
Get PDFThis paper presents a study of portable digital devices that was undertaken by Library Services at the University of Birmingham. The project team systematically examined a number of portable devices ranging from e-book readers to smart-phones to investigate how accessible services and resources provided by the library were on these devices. A number of limitations and restrictions were found that related to IPR and other issues rather than their size. The team also surveyed University members to find out which devices they currently use and how they use them. The results to this contradicted previously made assumptions regarding internet use by students, and have proved useful for planning future library services and developments. The paper also demonstrates the cost effectiveness of running small tests on devices, and how for a small amount of money a library can find key information about its own users, a group who may be very different to those of other institutions
On the gaining of understanding; syntheses, themes and information analysis
Get PDFMethods for gaining qualitative understanding, in the specific sense defined by Jonathan Kvanvig, of sets of information instantiated in documents, in the context of library/information research, are reviewed and compared. A number of methods are relevant to this kind of study, including critical and systematic reviewing, meta-ethnography, historical analysis, philosophical analysis, content and discourse analysis, and grounded theory. It is concluded that, while such studies are carried out in library/information research, there is no agreement on the most appropriate methods. It is suggested that the most appropriate methodology is based on critical interpretive synthesis, carried out in the style of ethnographic, chronological or conceptual analysis
A personal reflection on researching and writing my dissertation: "The effect of homelessness on information access, identity formation and social interaction".
Get PDFThis is a brief account of research undertaken for a dissertation, The effect of homelessness on information access, identity formation and social interaction, submitted to the University of Strathclyde in 2010 for the degree of M.Sc. Information and Library Studies. The dissertation aimed to add to the information science literature on homelessness, which often focuses on practical information needs, by considering access to information sources – specifically newspapers, television, radio, books and the internet – that may affect ‘higher-level’ needs. The findings contradicted initial expectations regarding the extent to which homelessness would restrict access to these information sources, but the decision to address higher-level information needs proved well-founded, since participants clearly pursued these alongside more basic physiological needs. The research has implications for the provision of information and services within both organisations serving the homeless and public libraries. This paper presents the research and its findings from a personal perspective
Content Analysis of Research Articles in Information Systems (LIS) Journals
Get PDFThis article analyses the origins and data collection methodologies of research articles published in three Information System journals (Information Systems Research; Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association - JAMIA; and MIS Quarterly) between 2005 and 2007. A coding sheet was utilized to collect the relevant data for content analysis. Most articles were written by multiple authors based in the USA. Over 80% of the articles published in JAMIA were funded with over 40% for the other two journals. The data collection methodologies were diverse, but the most popular for all three journals was the questionnaire. A variety of statistical packages were used to analyze quantitative data while coding was the most popular method for analyzing qualitative data. These journals published more mixed methodological approach studies compared to previous research in this area