Formulate a Question > Find the Evidence > Appraise the Evidence > Apply the Evidence > Evaluate the Results > Disseminate the Research
Looking to the literature
It is important to note that good quality quantitative and qualitative research studies are acceptable evidence. Some are of the opinion that only the hard numbers of quantitative data are valid. But librarianship as a social science relies on qualitative analysis. Finding and using the best available evidence includes studies of both types.
A challenge when finding the evidence by looking to the literature is that quite often, questions of a certain nature can be answered by looking for evidence from outside of Library and Information Science (LIS). Koufogiannakis, Slater and Crumley suggest that every LIS practice question falls within one or more of the following domains: collections, education, management, professional issues, information access and retrieval, and reference/enquires (2004). Deciding which domain the question falls into can assist practitioners in deciding where to look for the best available evidence. Business, management, marketing, and education literature can all contribute material to the evidence base for EBL. Below are some open access resources pertaining directly to LIS. When looking for evidence, be creative and look outside of the LIS box, too.
So, for example, a library manager who is looking for research on the effectiveness of library security systems might want to look at research from the retail sector as well as the library sector. Or a library that was considering an after-school homework help program might want to look at the education literature to determine whether after-school programs in general influence school performance, and, if so, what format works best.
Open Access Resources
Open Access literature is "digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions" (Suber quoted in Morrison, 46 (2006)). The resources included in this toolkit are all open access, due to the fact that often for fee LIS databases and journals are not first on the list to purchase by public libraries. The idea here is to point out the best freely available information.
Databases
LISTA (Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts) www.libraryresearch.com
-From Ebsco publishing. A free bibliographic database providing coverage on subjects such as librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management and more.
Eric http://www.eric.ed.gov/
-ERIC provides free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials and, if available, includes links to full text. ERIC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) (from website).
Journals
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) http://www.doaj.org/
-Under the Social Sciences heading, there are 96 open access Library and Information Science journals in various languages.
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP
-An open access journal containing research, evidence summaries, and commentary on EBLIP. Published quarterly. Canadian.
Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca//index.php/perj
-An open acces practitioners journal containing LIS research, conference presentations, profiles, reviews, commentary, and more. Published twice yearly. Canadian.
LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal http://libres.curtin.edu.au/
-An open access international refereed electronic journal devoted to new research in Library and Information Science. Australian. Published twice yearly.
Ariadne http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/
-A Web magazine for information professionals in archives, libraries and museums. Coverage is UK and abroad. Published every three months, beginning in January.
E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/
-an independent, professional, refereed electronic journal dedicated first and foremost to advancing knowledge and research in the areas of academic and special librarianship. Open access.
Information Research http://informationr.net/ir/
-an open access, international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines (from website).
Archives
E-LIS http://eprints.rclis.org/
-E-LIS is an open access archive for scientific or technical documents, published or unpublished, on Librarianship, Information Science and Technology, and related areas (from website). There are more than 9,400 items in the archive.
dLIST http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/
-dLIST is an open access archive for the information sciences. The archive has a global advisory board.
OCLC Research Publications Repository http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/search.htm
-This repository contains works produced, sponsored, or submitted by OCLC Research. In general, the works are research-oriented and are in the subject area of library and information science. Many items describe OCLC Research projects, activities, and programs and were originally published by OCLC, while others are from peer-reviewed scholarly journals. It currently contains links to the full text of 303 items (from website).
The Directory of Open Access Repositories-OpenDOAR http://www.opendoar.org/
OpenDOAR is an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories. Each OpenDOAR repository has been visited by project staff to check the information that is recorded here. This in-depth approach does not rely on automated analysis and gives a quality-controlled list of repositories. (from website)
Generate Your Own Evidence
- If nothing is available, consider generating your own evidence (Davies article deals with using evidence at this level). Consider both quantitative and qualitative approaches. In order to increase the body of evidence, consider publishing your research.
- Another approach is to bring your research question to appropriate interest groups or other networks you may be a part of - maybe there's wider interest in doing the research and you won't have to go it alone.
- Don't be intimidated by the idea of "research": projects can be small and practical.
- The Education Institute http://www.thepartnership.ca/partnership/bins/index_ei.asp often has sessions that deal with research methods.
Some Books to Get You Started:
- Leedy, Paul D., and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. 2005. Practical research: Planning and design. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
- Powell, Ronald R. and Lynn Silipigni Connaway. 2004. Basic Research Methods for Librarians, 4th ed. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN: 1591581125
Online tools for research activities:
Systematic Reviews:
- Petticrew, Mark and Helen Roberts. 2006. Systematic reviews in the social sciences: a practical guide. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
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