Study into the use of applied library and information studies (LIS) research in New Zealand libraries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kathlyn Jennifer Turner
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Small Data ◽  
Specialty Area ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Information Centre ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Management Responsibility ◽  
Information Professionals

<p>The purpose of this research project was to determine the perceptions of information professionals in New Zealand regarding applied LIS (Library and Information Studies) research. To achieve this aim, a purposive sample of 130 tertiary and non-profit government libraries / information centres was selected from the New Zealand Contacts in Libraries directory. The chief librarians or library managers from these institutions were invited to offer their opinions using a brief questionnaire that included Likert and Verbal Frequency scales (Appendix A). Alternatively, the questionnaire could be distributed to another information professional from the organisation. Practitioners' reasons for and against consulting research, their tendency towards conducting it themselves and encouraging others in their employ to produce it, and ways by which the relationship between LIS research and practice might be improved were assessed using the survey instrument. The amount of research consultation undertaken by survey participants was analysed according to the following variables:  * Highest library / information qualification, whether it contained a research methods / project component, and how recently it was completed; * Major subject area (other than library / information studies) of tertiary-level study; * Experience in current position; * Level of management responsibility; * Specialty area of responsibility; * Library / information centre size; * Organisational context of the library / information centre; * Participation in conferences / professional meetings.  The study found that the amount of research consultation by information professionals comprising the sample was low, and levels of research production and encouragement for employees to conduct research were even lower. Participants most often consult the research to stay current with trends and developments in the field of LIS, and to support workplace activities such as decision-making, problem-solving, planning and evaluation. The research is most often not consulted due to time constraints. Despite small data sets that necessitated some caution in the interpretation of results, associational relationships were apparent between the amount of research consultation and all of the participant variables listed above, with one exception (level of management responsibility). Information professionals responding to this study also indicated that the most effective strategy for improving the current relationship between the LIS research and practice communities is the encouragement of research productions that include practical guidelines for the application of results in a workplace context.</p>

Study into the use of applied library and information studies (LIS) research in New Zealand libraries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kathlyn Jennifer Turner
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Small Data ◽  
Specialty Area ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Information Centre ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Management Responsibility ◽  
Information Professionals

<p>The purpose of this research project was to determine the perceptions of information professionals in New Zealand regarding applied LIS (Library and Information Studies) research. To achieve this aim, a purposive sample of 130 tertiary and non-profit government libraries / information centres was selected from the New Zealand Contacts in Libraries directory. The chief librarians or library managers from these institutions were invited to offer their opinions using a brief questionnaire that included Likert and Verbal Frequency scales (Appendix A). Alternatively, the questionnaire could be distributed to another information professional from the organisation. Practitioners' reasons for and against consulting research, their tendency towards conducting it themselves and encouraging others in their employ to produce it, and ways by which the relationship between LIS research and practice might be improved were assessed using the survey instrument. The amount of research consultation undertaken by survey participants was analysed according to the following variables:  * Highest library / information qualification, whether it contained a research methods / project component, and how recently it was completed; * Major subject area (other than library / information studies) of tertiary-level study; * Experience in current position; * Level of management responsibility; * Specialty area of responsibility; * Library / information centre size; * Organisational context of the library / information centre; * Participation in conferences / professional meetings.  The study found that the amount of research consultation by information professionals comprising the sample was low, and levels of research production and encouragement for employees to conduct research were even lower. Participants most often consult the research to stay current with trends and developments in the field of LIS, and to support workplace activities such as decision-making, problem-solving, planning and evaluation. The research is most often not consulted due to time constraints. Despite small data sets that necessitated some caution in the interpretation of results, associational relationships were apparent between the amount of research consultation and all of the participant variables listed above, with one exception (level of management responsibility). Information professionals responding to this study also indicated that the most effective strategy for improving the current relationship between the LIS research and practice communities is the encouragement of research productions that include practical guidelines for the application of results in a workplace context.</p>

scholarly journals How do early career health sciences information professionals gain competencies?

2016 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany A. Myers, MSLIS, AHIP ◽  
Bredny Rodriguez, MLS, AHIP
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Discussion List ◽  
Level Of Confidence ◽  
Medical Library ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Information Professionals

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe early career health sciences information professionals’ self-reported attainment of the Medical Library Association (MLA) Competencies for Lifelong Learning and Professional Success and to investigate the various methods by which participants developed these competencies.Methods: A SurveyMonkey survey was designed to ascertain participants’demographic information and their competency attainment. ‘‘Early career’’ health information professionals were defined as those with less than five years of professional experience. Participants were asked to rate each of the seven competencies on a five-point Likert scale regarding their level of agreement with the statement, ‘‘I have demonstrated this competency.’’ Participants who responded positively were then asked to indicate how they acquired the competency on a multiple-choice, multiple-answer list. Free-text fields were provided for general comments and for participants to elaborate on their answers. The survey was distributed through the MLA email discussion list and other related email discussion lists. Participation was anonymous.Results: One hundred eighty-seven responses were received. Out of those 187 respondents, 95 completed the entire survey. The majority of early career health sciences information professionals agreed that they had attained all 7 competencies. Of the various methods used to develop competencies, the most selected method was formal library and information studies education. Participants were least likely to report attaining competencies via mentoring, volunteering, or internships. Participants reported the highest level of confidence in having attained the ‘‘Health Sciences Information Services’’ competency, and the lowest level of confidence in having attained the ‘‘Research, Analysis, and Interpretation’’ competency.Conclusions: These results contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding proposed changes to the MLA competencies. The results may also inform the development of educational and professional development opportunities for prospective or early career health information professionals.

scholarly journals “How Do I Do That?” A Literature Review of Research Data Management Skill Gaps of Canadian Health Sciences Information Professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Justin Fuhr
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Research Data Management ◽  
Skill Gaps ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Canadian Health ◽  
Information Professionals

Abstract: There is a recognized need to provide research data management (RDM) services in health sciences libraries. A review of the literature reveals numerous strategies to provide training for health sciences librarians as they provide RDM services to health sciences researchers, faculty, and students. However, no consensus emerges through this literature review with respect to RDM training initiatives. With training initiatives being developed and documented, more in-depth research will emerge that verifies which initiatives have the greatest success for upskilling information professionals in managing research data. This is an area where future library and information studies research can be conducted. It is the hope that with this literature review, I can conduct my own survey to gain more perspective on RDM in a Canadian health sciences library context.

On "Diversity" as Anti-Racism in Library and Information Studies: A Critique

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David James Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
Specific Exercise ◽  
Critical Information ◽  
Racial Formations ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Library Studies ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Diversity Discourse

Drawing on a range of critical race and anti-colonial writing, and focusing chiefly on Anglo-Western contexts of librarianship, this paper offers a broad critique of diversity as the dominant mode of anti-racism in LIS. After outlining diversity's core tenets, I examine the ways in which the paradigm's centering of inclusion as a core anti-racist strategy has tended to inhibit meaningful treatment of racism as a structural phenomenon. Situating LIS diversity as a liberal anti-racism, I then turn to diversity's tendency to privilege individualist narratives of (anti-)racism, particularly narratives of cultural competence, and the intersection of such individualism with broader structures of political-economic domination. Diversity's preoccupation with demographic inclusion and individual behavioural competence has, I contend, left little room in the field for substantive engagement with race as a historically contingent phenomenon: race is ultimately reified through LIS diversity discourse, effectively precluding exploration of the ways in which racial formations are differentially produced in the contextually-specific exercise of power itself. I argue that an LIS foregrounding of race as a historical construct - the assumption of its contingency - would enable deeper inquiry into the complex ways in which our field - and indeed the diversity paradigm specifically - aligns with the operations of contemporary regimes of racial subordination in the first place. I conclude with a reflection on the importance of the Journal of Critical Information and Library Studies as a potential site of critical exchange from which to articulate a sustained critique of race in and through our field.

Towards an Archival Critique: Opening Possibilities for Addressing Neoliberalism in the Archival Field

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Cifor ◽  
Jamie A. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Archival Studies ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Contemporary Life

Neoliberalism, as economic doctrine, as political practice, and even as a "governing rationality" of contemporary life and work, has been encroaching on the library and information studies (LIS) field for decades. The shift towards a conscious grappling with social justice and human rights debates and concerns in archival studies scholarship and practice since the 1990s opens the possibility for addressing neoliberalism and its elusive presence. Despite its far-reaching influence, neoliberalism has yet to be substantively addressed in archival discourse. In this article, we propose a set of questions for archival practitioners and scholars to reflect on and consider through their own hands-on practices, research, and productions with records, records creators, and distinct archival communities in order to develop an ongoing archival critique. The goal of this critique is to move towards "an ethical practice of community, as an important mode of participation." This article marks a starting point for critically engaging the archival studies discipline along with the LIS field more broadly by interrogating the discursive and material evidences and implications of neoliberalism.

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