Miggie Pickton, Research Support Librarian, Northampton University. Paper given at the ALISS 2013 summer conference

1. Supporting research by becoming a
researcher
Miggie Pickton
ALISS Summer Conference
Senate House, London
30th July 2013

2. Outline
• What is research?
– Academic and practitioner research
• What do researchers do?
– The research lifecycle
• How does being research active help you to support others?
– Benefits of engaging in the process
– Using the outputs and outcomes
• Getting started as a practitioner researcher

3. What does research mean to you?

4. Find new
knowledge
Establish facts
Increase
understanding
Systematic
enquiry
Solve
problems
SynthesiseGenerate and
test theories Investigate
Conduct
experiments
Use rigorous
methodology
What is
research?

5. Research: some definitions
• “The systematic investigation into and study of materials
and sources in order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions” (Oxford Dictionaries)
• “Research is a systematic enquiry which is reported in a
form which allows the research methods and the outcomes
to be accessible to others” (Allison,1995, p.6)
• “Research can be defined as the attempt to derive
generalisable new knowledge by addressing clearly defined
questions with systematic and rigorous methods”
(Department of Health, 2005, p.3)

6. Academic vs practitioner research
‘Academic’ research
• Problem solving or curiosity
driven - purpose is to create
new knowledge (or confirm
existing knowledge)
• Grounded in disciplinary context
(literature, theory,
methodology, interpretation)
• Make political, societal,
economic... „impact‟ (REF)
• Audience: other scholars, policy
makers, practitioners
• Produce outputs of publishable
quality (peer review)
‘Practitioner’ research
• Focused on current problem
or need
• Pragmatic approach to theory
and methodology – often
investigative or evaluative;
also used for benchmarking
• Results inform practice –
support decision-making,
policy and strategy for benefit
& impact
• Audience: colleagues,
managers, service users
• Dissemination often
(unfortunately) a secondary
consideration
6

7. What do researchers do?
Identify new
research area
Produce
research
proposal
Bid for funding
Conduct
literature
review
Collect and
analyse data
Write up
Disseminate
Evaluate and
review
The
research
lifecycle:

8. How does being a researcher help you
support others?
Benefits accrue as soon as you become research active, for
example through:
• Understanding the research process
• Becoming familiar with research tools
• Developing empathy with researchers
• Increasing your own credibility among researchers
• Building collaborative relationships
... and of course further benefits arise from the new knowledge
gained and its application to service development

9. Understanding the research process
[An academic colleague...] “wanted to run some focus groups
in partner colleges and wanted advice. Fortunately, I'd just
done some reading on managing focus groups for my own
research, so was able to recommend an excellent practical
textbook and talk through some logistical issues - and then...
was able to give her advice from my own current experience on
formulating good questions.” (Researcher 4)
Re current awareness:
“Once you‟ve done it you
realise what they‟re looking
for.” (Researcher 1)
“Having conducted research
projects myself I understand
the process and I can target my
services at researchers‟ needs
at each stage.”

10. Familiarity with research tools and
resources
“Without my own research work, I would have located the
textbook but wouldn't have been able to recommend it from
personal experience, nor had the personal recent knowledge
which made me feel confident in offering her suggestions and
advice.” (Researcher 4)
“They appreciate advice on
bibliographies and maintaining
these... having done it yourself
you understand the importance.”
(Researcher 1)
“I show them my own
ResearchGate profile
and blog. They are able
to see the potential
impact these can make.”
(Researcher 2)

11. Empathy with researchers
“Having published my own
articles and seen them cited I
can now use this experience in
my teaching.”
(Researcher 2)
“Understanding their
concepts and terminology
enable me to engage with
them at a deeper level”
(Researcher 3)
“Knowing that I have had
experience of research makes a
difference to the kind of
questions they ask... more are
related to my personal
experience” (Researcher 2)
“Having been a journal
editor myself I understand
the challenges of building
and maintaining a scholarly
publication. This is
invaluable in supporting
researchers wishing to do
the same.”

12. Credibility among researchers
“Authority comes
because they know
you‟ve been there and
done it.” (Researcher 1)
Being known as a researcher
means “they are a lot more likely
to come and talk to me about
their research.” (Researcher 3)
“We‟ve come a long way from
the perception that I am
simply the person that orders
books” (Researcher 3)
“You come to be seen as an
equal partner; not serving, but
contributing.” (Researcher 5)
“Having bid for and won external
funding gives me kudos among the
researchers that I support.”
“I was flattered to find out
that the School of Education
wanted my work to be
included in the REF.”
(Researcher 2)

13. Building collaborative relationships
“Not only have I been into colleagues' lectures to plug my
project and try to recruit students for surveys and focus groups
etc, but having the imprimatur of some research behind
me, even a small-scale project, makes it easier to ask
colleagues to allow me, say, into their lectures for short chunks
of co-teaching ” (Researcher 4)
Re the development of an online
interface: “As a result of our close
working relationship I was able to
go to the Faculty and ask for
students to test the interface.
The result was a joint paper with
the academic.” (Researcher 5)
“Involving other researchers
in my bids for funding has
raised my own profile and as
a result I have been invited
to join other projects.”

14. Benefits from outputs and outcomes
• Evidence:
– to support and justify decision-making and policy
– to solve problems
– to demonstrate service value
• ...ultimately leading to improvements in service (making an
impact)
• Greater engagement with your user community – by
understanding their perspective, showing an interest in
their needs and responding to their concerns
• Recognition and respect (within and beyond the institution)

15. Research with impact
15
Students‟ use of
learning spaces
Users‟
experience of e-
books
Reading lists as
pedagogical toolsRepositories and
digital
preservation
Transitions in
Higher Education
Reading groups
for community
engagement
Mobile learning
Scaffolding
information
literacyDelivery of
maths tutorials
online
Researchers‟ data
management
practice

16. Becoming a researcher: getting started
• Identify a potential research topic – it‟s OK to start small
• Make a case for your project – convince your line manager of the
need and benefit of it (it will help if your research is relevant to
your day job and supports organisational priorities)
• Write a research proposal/plan (courses and guidance are
available e.g. Eve, 2008; Pickton, forthcoming)
• Consider:
– Collaborating with partners (e.g. academic staff; colleagues from other
support departments; professional colleagues from other institutions –
anyone with whom you have shared goals) – especially if you are a
first-timer
– Combining your project with a professional or academic qualification
(e.g. PGCTHE, Chartership)
– Submitting a bid for funding – externally (e.g. HEA, JISC, LIRG) or
internally (e.g. Institutional L&T awards) 16

17. Summary and conclusion
1. Research means different things to different people and
practitioner research can be just as valuable as the
academic variety.
2. We already have some knowledge of the research process
from our experience of supporting researchers.
3. We now know from those who have done it that the act of
doing research brings enormous benefit to our roles in
supporting researchers.
4. The outputs and outcomes of practitioner research projects
also directly inform and benefit our service.
5. So what‟s not to like?

18. • Dr Karen McAulay is a Music Librarian and musicologist of 18th-19th
century Scottish music. Karen is currently seconded to work part time on
an AHRC-funded project.
• Moira Bent is a Faculty Liaison Librarian and National Teaching Fellow.
Her interests include information literacy development, international
students support and research support.
• Clare McCluskey is Academic Liaison Librarian for Education and
Theology and a University Teaching Fellow. Clare belongs to a university
research group with which she engages both professionally and as an
active researcher.
• Hazel Rothera is conducting a Learning and Teaching Fellowship project
on the use of a new VLE to support students‟ information literacy. She is
Subject Team Leader and Subject Librarian for Education.
• Dr Graham Walton is Head of Planning and Resources at Loughborough
University Library and an Honorary Research Fellow with the Department
of Information Science.
I am grateful to the following practitioner researchers for sharing their
experiences with me:

19. References
• Allison, B. (1995) Research methods. Leicester: De Montfort University. [Online]
Available from: http://dc356.4shared.com/doc/iQD3_b0D/preview.html [accessed
24.07.13].
• Department of Health (2005) Research Governance Framework for Health and Social
Care. 2nd Ed. [Online] Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/139
565/dh_4122427.pdf [accessed 24.7.13].
• Eve, J. (2008) Writing a research proposal: planning and communicating your
research ideas effectively. Library and Information Research, 32(102), pp.18-28.
• Pickton, M. (forthcoming) Writing your project plan. In: Grant, M.J., Sen, B. And
Spring, H. Research, evaluation and audit: ten practical steps to demonstrating your
value. London: Facet Publishing.
• Rankin, C. (2013) Research and the practitioner.
What do we mean by practitioner research? Presented to: Library and Learning
Services Research Summer School, University of Northampton, 17 June 2013.