Hazel Hall's presentation to the University of Ulster, 13th March 2013

1. Leadership in libraries: tying Library and
Information Science research to practice
Presentation to the Institute for Research in Social
Sciences, University of Ulster
Wednesday 13th March 2013
Professor Hazel Hall

2. Welcome to this evening’s presentation
Professor Hazel Hall
@hazelh
http://hazelhall.org Slides on SlideShare at:
http://about.me/hazelh http://slideshare.net/hazelhall
h.hall@napier.ac.uk
0131 455 2760
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3. Hazel Hall
@hazelh
Event hashtag
#hhulster
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4. Library Assistant  LIS student  Assistant Librarian  Academic
“Real world” experience: KPMG 1999-2001; TFPL 2006; LIS Research Coalition 2009/12
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5. Work of the Centre for Social Informatics
One of five research centre within IIDI Research – research councils, Europe
Distributed Computing, Networking & Security E-participation
Emergent Computing E-governance
Information Society
Information & Software Systems
Library and Information Science, e.g. AHRC
Interaction Design
Smart cities
Social Informatics: exploring human- …
technology relationships in context, and their
impact, e.g. on organisations, communities
Research: contract, consultancy, “other” CPD
Knowledge management Knowledge management
Library and Information Science e.g. CILIP Library and Information Science, e.g.
Market research research resources for LIS
Online communities Social media strategies with focus on knowledge
Project management management, risk management and engagement
Social computing strategies
Sociotechnical project evaluation …
…
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6. To develop a UK-wide
network of LIS researchers
(2011-2012)
Thank you!
Nigel McCartney
Biddy Fisher
Mel Collier To explore the extent to which
LIS research projects
Stephanie Kenna
influence practice (2011)
To create outputs to support
the use and execution of
To facilitate a co-ordinated research by librarians and
and strategic approach to LIS information scientists (2012)
research across the UK
(2009-2012)
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7. Impact of the investment
LIS research on the agenda, e.g.
CILIP’s PKSB
LIRG reinvigorated
Increased research
capacity, particularly amongst
DREaM cadre
New approaches to supporting
LIS at “industry” level - Coalition
New approaches to delivering
support, e.g. DREaM infrastructure
Popularising new
approaches, e.g. One Minute
Madness
Export to other subject domains
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8. http://lisresearch.org
http://lisresearch.org/dream http://lisresearch.org/rilies
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9. @LISResearch
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10. Impact of the investment
LIS research on the agenda, e.g.
CILIP’s PKSB
LIRG reinvigorated
Increased research
capacity, particularly amongst
DREaM cadre
New approaches to supporting
LIS at “industry” level - Coalition
New approaches to delivering
support, e.g. DREaM infrastructure
Popularising new
approaches, e.g. One Minute
Madness
Export to other subject domains
I am here tonight!
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11. Published research
Need for an
adds to research
appreciation of:
context range of available
Previous work methods/tools;
Establish an understanding Relate findings to dissemination
of the research context research context channels; means of
ensuring that
Leadership important to
Need for an research output has
LIS researchers &
appreciation of what Identify an opportunity impact, e.g. for
Analyse data
has already been to make a contribution researchers
practitioner policy development.
done in the domain
in order to identify
Determine a research
(1) appropriate Collect data
approach New work
research aims and
questions and (2) Published research
methods to be directs future effort
deployed.
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12. Published research
adds to research Need for an
context appreciation of
research methods in
Previous work Establish an understanding Relate findings to order to evaluate
of the research context research context findings reported in
the literature.
Leadership important to
practitioners as
Identify an opportunity
Need for an Analyse data
to make a contribution of research
consumers
appreciation of what
has already been
done in the domain Determine a research
Collect data
in order to identify approach New work
possible practice.
Published research
directs future effort
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13. Importance of research-led practice
To exploit existing knowledge base for services (outcomes)
improvement  improve decision making for services delivery
To enhance the value of prior work – to capitalise on significant
investment in previous studies, to raise the value of previous studies
through reuse
To demonstrate the value and impact of service delivery
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14. … reduced anti-social behaviour
…contributed to improvements in
pupils’ exam results
…attracted international student fee
income
… raised research assessment ratings
… increased literacy levels
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15. Barriers to research-led practice: “evaluation by-pass”
(Booth, 2006)
Valuable research work is often not published at all
Multidisciplinary nature of the LIS literature, across publications of various
domains, makes it difficult to access
Much valuable research is held in grey sources: straightforward access not always
obvious, e.g. unpublished internal studies, summaries on listservs
There is a preference amongst practitioners for face-to-face dissemination channels
- tailored, lowered incidence of information overload, addresses issues of
fragmented infrastructures – but opportunities to attend professional events are few
Some practitioners suffer restricted access to social media channels – valued for
immediacy, updates on on-going projects
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16. And what about practitioner-led research (as opposed to
research-led practice)?
Irony of librarians helping others identify evidence to support their
practice, but less likely to do for themselves
Few LIS practitioners publish research in international peer-reviewed
journals – except North American librarians seeking tenure
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17. Time constraints of the practitioner role
Limited knowledge of research
approaches
Low internal support of research activity
Poor access to external support of
research activity, e.g. funding, mentors
Failure to recognise research of others
and own research activity/skills as such
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18. Attribution problems of mediated research
Original sources of mediated research often not obvious, e.g. when it
contributes to training material
There is a cumulative and indirect effect of exposure to research output
– RiLIES1 identification of “impactful” research projects
Attribution of cause and effect is not always accurate or obvious – in
LIS, and in other domains
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19. Alios Alzheimer was not the first to
identify Alzheimer’s disease in 1906
Arabic numerals are Indian
Halley’s comet was not discovered by
Halley in C18th, but by astronomers in
210BC
Pythagoras’ theorum really belongs to
a bunch of Babylonian mathematicians
… and Stigler’s law should really be
attributed to Robert K Merton!
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20. Addressing the issues: project conception
Researchers should involve practitioners in research design
Funders should support research that is relevant to the needs of the
practitioner community and – allied to this – an explicit goal of research
should be to influence practice
Research undertaken should have high level support: steering
committees, influential stakeholders
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21. Addressing the issues: project execution
Practitioners should be invited to participate in the research from the
outset, e.g. capacity building workshops as hook
Information about the project should be disseminated throughout its
duration (and not just at the end)
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22. Addressing the issues: project reporting
Output is best “digested” by practitioners in teaching and community
support materials
Recommendations should be made explicit – data should not be left to
“speak for themselves”
Opportunities for face-to-face delivery should be sought
Textual sources need to be presented in accessible language
Report in the “right” places: professional journals, open access, tweet
and blog, use key researcher connectors
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23. Advice for practitioner consumers of research
Focus on developing critical appreciation of research output
Volunteer to take part in the projects of others, e.g. offer case
study, answer surveys, join focus groups etc.
Keep up to date using feeds (including @LISresearch)
Use the resources at http://lisresearch.org
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25. Advice for budding practitioner-researchers
Participate in the research of others
Become active in the practitioner-researcher community: join
LIRG, attend events, develop online profile as a practitioner-researcher
Garner support for your research efforts, both internally and externally
Look out for opportunities offered through grants and awards, e.g. John
Campbell Trust, SLA, UKeIG, CILIP – see also
http://hazelhall.org/2013/02/12/winning-ways-apply-for-that-award/
Use DREaM project and RiLIES2 resources
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27. Leaders
Support your subject domain
Mentor and reverse mentor
Consider research as part of staff’s job description – it’s in the PKSB
Facilitate staff needs to network - both face-to-face and online - so that
they can stay up to date
Share contacts for high profile, prestigious project partnerships
Act as research role models, especially given your power to influence
(follow Annie Mauger’s example)
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28. EVERYONE!
Derive value from three years of targeted investment
Tie library and information science research to practice
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29. Reference
Booth, A. (2006). Clear and present questions: formulating questions
for evidence based practice. Library Hi Tech, 24(3), 355-368.
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30. Photo credits
All thing bright and twittery (9 July 2011) by SimonJordan. Available
from My world in photos:
http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1266216, accessed 14 March 2013. [Slide
3]
Mind the gap (26 November 2006) by Luigi Rosa. Available from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30571787@N00/307814064, accessed 14
March 2013. [Slide 17]
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31. Leadership in libraries: tying Library and
Information Science research to practice
Presentation to the Institute for Research in Social
Sciences, University of Ulster
Wednesday 13th March 2013
Professor Hazel Hall