Librarians As Researchers-Miggie Pickton

Librarians as researchers Combining research with the day job Miggie Pickton UC&R Yorkshire and Humberside ‘ Librarians as Researchers’ Event 27 th May 2010

Outline
Why me?
What do we mean by research?
Why bother with practitioner research?
Research and the practitioner:
Doing it
Sharing it
The manager’s role
What next?

Why me?
Qualified 2005 (‘born again librarian’)
Day job: ‘Research Support Specialist’ within a converged library/IT dept
Responsible for:
Supporting researchers at The University of Northampton
‘ Coordinating and managing ’ applied research within Information Services
Current projects:
KeepIt: digital preservation and repositories (JISC funded)
Research data management project
Joint Editor of Library and Information Research
PhD (long time ago) in Geography
... my perspective is that of a practitioner, not an academic

What do we mean by ‘research’?
Academic research:
Purpose is to create new knowledge (or confirm existing knowledge)
Problem solving or curiosity driven
Grounded in disciplinary context (literature, theory, methodology, interpretation)
Every step justifiable/evidenced
Produce outputs of publishable quality – peer review
Audience: other scholars, policy makers, practitioners
Make an ‘impact’ (especially with REF in mind)

What do we mean by ‘research’?
Practitioner research:
Focused on current problem or need
Pragmatic approach to theory and methodology – often investigative or evaluative
Results inform practice – support decision-making for immediate benefit
Limited external dissemination
Innovative practice
A driver for research?

Why bother with practitioner research?
What are the benefits:
To the individual?
To the organisation?
To the profession?
Discuss in small groups (10 minutes) then feed back

Benefits to the individual
Interesting – opportunity to explore something in more depth, learn something new
Challenging – develop new skills, stretch yourself
Variety – a change from routine, opportunity to do something different, work with new people
Increase job satisfaction
Support professional development
Enhance personal reputation
Improve career prospects
...

Benefits to the service or organisation
Gather evidence of value / demonstrate impact
Engage with users:
Understand their perspective
Show interest in their needs
Do what they do (library as ‘academic department’)
Support decision-making
Improve service / solve problems
Increase staff motivation
Achieve recognition (within and beyond the institution)
...

Benefits to the profession
A means of furthering professional excellence (CILIP, n.d.)
Create new knowledge
Provide an evidence base for practice
Provoke positive change
Develop an engaged and vibrant professional community
Enhance reputation
...
CILIP (n.d.) A CILIP policy for information and library research

Doing it – what to research
You may already have a pressing need, but if not:
Evaluate service performance e.g. are current services for academic staff meeting identified staff needs?
Identify gaps in service provision and recommend measures for filling these e.g. could more be done to support international students?
Measure impact/effectiveness e.g. of a new approach to information literacy teaching
Investigate potential new services e.g. use of mobile technologies for alerting or accessing resources
Identify good practice elsewhere and introduce it to your own workplace e.g. advocacy for the institutional repository

Doing it – establishing context
Read around your subject in professional and scholarly publications
Attend professional events (like this) and conferences e.g. CoFHE & UC&R conference 21 st -23 rd June; LIS Research Coalition conference 28 th June – for information gathering and networking
Join special interest groups: UC&R , LIRG or establish your own e.g. East Midlands Research Support Group
Check out the LIRG Directory of research and researchers (and add your work to it!)
Subscribe to mailing lists and use RSS feeds for alerting e.g of funding opportunities, research news
(Selectively) use Twitter or other social networking tools to raise own and others’ awareness of ongoing projects

Doing it – how to start
Make a case for a new project – convince your line manager of the need for it
Support departmental/organisation priorities (keep it relevant)
Write a research proposal (courses and guidance are available e.g. Eve , 2008)
Collaborate with partners (e.g. academic staff; colleagues from other support departments; professional colleagues from other institutions – anyone with whom you have shared goals)
Submit a bid for funding – externally (e.g. HEA, JISC, LIRG) or internally (e.g. L&T awards, Roberts funding)
Eve, J. (2008) Writing a research proposal: planning and communicating your research ideas effectively. Library and Information Research , 32(102), pp.18-28.

Doing it – how to make it happen
Don’t rush into it – be clear with your aims and objectives; plan carefully; pilot your methodology; consider at the start how you will analyse the results
Involve colleagues - bounce ideas around; test the methodology; collect data; data analysis...
Time and timing - your own time/workload management is crucial, but timing is important too (think of the academic cycle – is the project feasible now?, are participants available?)
Ask for advice from academic colleagues (especially if your institution has a LIS department); consider finding a mentor
For bigger projects consider bringing in extra help e.g funded research assistant or intern

Sharing your work
Choose your target audience carefully - immediate colleagues; service users; broader profession; funders; policy makers – and produce outputs appropriate to that audience
Present your work formally and informally:
Internal meetings, workshops, poster displays, newsletters, etc
Upload a research report to your library website
Present your work at a conference (poster, paper, ‘minute madness’)
Write a journal article - Library and Information Research has a policy of actively encouraging new authors and practitioner research (other journals are available  )
Consider a book chapter or even a book
Where do you find out about research? – put your work there!

Management support is key
Managers can support research by:
Allowing staff time for research activity
Encouraging and supporting requests for training and development
Advising and supporting bids for research funding
Promoting a culture of research informed practice
Promoting practitioner research internally and externally

To embed a research culture into the library workplace:
Departmental strategy and planning
Job descriptions
PDR process
Dedicated role (e.g. Research Support Specialist)
Research forum (e.g. Research & Innovation Group – regular meetings and online in iSpace)

What next?
Think about how you might use what you have learned today in your own role:
What are you doing already that is different or innovative, and how might you share this practice with others?
What research project might you undertake to support or improve your service?
How might you promote or contribute to your own library’s research culture?
How might you share what you have learned today with colleagues?
How will you convince your managers to support you?

Thank you Miggie Pickton [email_address]

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Librarians As Researchers-Miggie Pickton

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