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Demystifying Research - Viv Bell, Alison Hicks, Pamela McKinney, Katie Wise, and Laura Woods.pptx

The document provides advice from a panel of experts on conducting research as a library and information science professional. The panel answers questions from attendees about finding research partners, measuring impact, managing research time, determining worthwhile research topics, and communicating research to non-experts. The panel emphasizes finding mentors, looking for problems to solve in one's workplace, networking at events, and focusing research on filling real gaps in existing evidence.

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Demystifying Research
Before we start… Please take a few minutes to introduce yourselves and chat to the people either side of you. Some discussion suggestions: ▪ Why did you sign up for this session? What are you hoping to learn? ▪ Do you have any previous experience of doing research, either in academic or workplace settings? ▪ What are your current research plans, if any? ▪ What would you like to ask the panel?
Viv Bell Academic Skills Consultant University of Salford Dr Alison Hicks Assistant Professor, UCL Editor of the Journal of Information Literacy Dr Pam McKinney Senior Lecturer University of Sheffield Katie Wise Library & Knowledge Specialist Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Laura Woods Subject Librarian, University of Huddersfield PhD student, University of Sheffield Questions? Enter questions online via WooClap, or just put your hand up!
Do you have any advice for LIS professionals wishing to contribute to research who have entered the profession from non-traditional routes (i.e. without a degree in Library and Information Science)? • Find a mentor who can help you through the process. • Useful to read up on research methods, as well as looking at research others have published. • Look for opportunities in your workplace – is there a problem that needs solving? • Don’t underestimate your prior knowledge!
I would like to do some research, but I don't know many other people who would like to do the same. How can I find other people that would like to write an academic article with me? • LILAC is a great opportunity to meet and talk to people with similar research interests! • Look up people who have published research on similar topics and reach out to them. Everyone loves hearing that their research is of interest! • Is there anyone in your workplace, even in a different team/department, who might have a perspective to bring in? Can you attend local/internal professional development events to build contacts/ideas?
I'm interested in the knowledge management side of the NHS trusts and how research fits into this framework in reality. • Some Knowledge Management techniques work well with research, e.g. Knowledge Cafes to collect data. • Communities of Practice could be used to find researchers to collaborate or disseminate surveys further. • Consider ethics: don’t reuse data if it’s not been collected for that purpose and be transparent in why and how you are using it.
Do you have any suggestion to teach students what research is? A couple of very useful books: • Alison Pickard’s Research Methods in Information • Creswell & Creswell’s Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches.
What are the key things we need to learn about generative artificial intelligence in order to support research? • Be aware of the range of tools now available (especially those that promise to do systematic literature reviews – these are heavily promoted to PhD students in particular) and their limitations. • If you are publishing, check the AI policy of the journal you are submitting to and see what is allowed, what you have to document/acknowledge.
Do you have any recommendations of funding bodies/organisations where you can apply for LIS research funding? • The Information Literacy Group is currently looking at relaunching our research bursary scheme – watch this space! • The Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is a key funding body for LIS research, but it is competitive. The RLUK-AHRC Professional Practice Fellowship scheme could be a good one to look at. Becky Scott has recorded a presentation about her experience of applying for this. • Find out if your workplace has any funding available for internal research projects. These can often be inexpensive so may not require much funding. • Society for Research in Higher Education, Arts Council, Association for Learning Development in Higher Education,
Do you have any specific recommendations of literature resources that are particularly good in this field? • The Journal of Information Literacy is a key, open access title for IL researchers! • Most disciplines have a journal dedicated to educational/HE practice in that field, e.g. Journal of Engineering Education. • If you are a CILIP member, you have access to several LIS databases and journals as a member benefit.
How do you measure impact of IL? • Firstly, question if this is a good use of time! Information literacy is notoriously difficult to measure, and there is a danger of oversimplifying in order to produce quantitative measures to satisfy institutional demands to prove “impact”. • May be able to measure outcomes (e.g. grades etc.) but it is challenging to link these back to a specific IL intervention like a one-shot class. • If you are being asked by your higher-ups to prove impact, see what data you can realistically collect and how you can tell a story with it. • Theory of Change is one approach to impact evaluation that has been used to provide a framework for evaluating the impact of IL teaching development - please get in touch with Pam McKinney if you’d like to have a chat about this approach
Any advice on researching sensitive or difficult topics or issues? • Practice self-care, reflect on your own feelings as part of the process. • Take advantage of any wellbeing/counselling services at your workplace. • Think through carefully what topics you are researching and how you will prioritise care for yourself and your research participants. • Take advice from the research ethics team at your institution (if there is one)
Do you prefer to do your research alone, with someone else or in a team? • It varies! Often depends on the nature of the research. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks. • When deciding, consider whether you and potential partners share goals, pressures or time frames. • Consider taking ownership for one part of the paper (to manage desire for control) - factor in the need to build trust for joint projects.
Do you have any tips/suggestions about how to find and/or manage the time needed to carry out research or write for publication? • Research is time-consuming, so be realistic with yourself about what you can fit in, especially if you have other demands on your time such as caring responsibilities. • Get your line manager on side. Having a supportive manager is invaluable! • Carve out specific time for your research and defend that time – don’t let it get taken over by other priorities! • Project management techniques such as a kanban board (either a physical board or using a digital tool like Trello) can be helpful for managing your workflow. Shut Up and Write sessions can encourage! • Many people find the Pomodoro method useful for writing
If there were no barriers what research topic would panel members like to undertake to fill a gap in the evidence? (other than on AI!) • Laura: An idea from an earlier conversation at LILAC: how do HE students from different educational pathways (e.g. A levels, BTEC, EPQ) understand information literacy? • Katie: attitudes to information literacy and academic skills of healthcare staff returning to study (just started this!) • Alison: Negative space, which refers to what is missed from our typical IL focus + disagreeable nature of IL! (Topic of my 50th anniversary JIL piece) • Pam - IL in specific contexts and lifestages so we can understand more about the contextual nature of IL
How do you talk about your research to non- researchers? • Avoid jargon! Can you summarise your research topic in one, plain- English sentence? • Start with the benefits: what difference do you expect/hope your research to make? • Let your passion for the subject come through - why do you care about it?
How do you determine that a research project is worth pursuing? Sometimes I feel people do research just to publish. • Look at what else is already out there! Are you trying to answer a question that has already been answered? • Think about the gap (what has not been studied, or has been studied badly) • Think about what specific benefit your project will bring. Is there a benefit to asking an old question in a different setting/circumstance? • Practise slow scholarship!