Academic Librarians’ Conception and Use of Evidence Sources in Practice

Abstract

Objective – The objective of this study was to explore and understand how academic librarians use evidence in their professional decision making. The researcher aimed to gain insights on the relevance of the current EBLIP model to practice, and to understand the possible connections between scientific research and tacit knowledge within the practice of LIS. 
 
 Methods – A grounded theory methodology was used, following the approach of Charmaz (2006). Participants were 19 academic librarians in Canada. Data was gathered via online diaries and semi-structured interviews over a six-month period in 2011. 
 
 Results – Two broad types of evidence were identified (hard and soft), and are generally used in conjunction with one another. Librarians examine all evidence sources with a critical eye, and try to determine a complete picture before reaching a conclusion. As well, librarians use a variety of proactive and passive approaches to find evidence. 
 
 Conclusions – These results provide a strong message that no single evidence source is perfect. Consequently, librarians bring different types of evidence together in order to be as informed as possible before making a decision. Using a combination of evidence sources, depending upon the problem, is the way academic librarians approach decision making.

What Do Australian Library and Information Professionals Experience as Evidence?

“…An understanding of "evidence" in EBLIP is evolving, both from acknowledgements of different types and sources of evidence in the literature, as well as findings from empirical studies seeking to identify evidence in organizational contexts (Gillespie, 2014;Koufogiannakis, 2012;Partridge, Edwards & Thorpe (2010). Research evidence is found to not be the only type of evidence to inform practice (Koufogiannakis, 2012, p.18).…”

Determinants of Evidence Use in Academic Librarian Decision Making

“…In evidence-based practice, evidence is normally recognized as published research; however, the first paper published from the wider study 7 shows that academic librarians use a multitude of evidence sources depending upon the situation and decision to be made. This paper considers evidence from a wide perspective and looks at determinants within the context of whatever librarians considered to be appropriate evidence sources within the situation they were encountering.…”

Complexity in decision making: Determining university library opening hours

“…A small Canadian study (Koufogiannakis 2012) revealed types of information that librarians use in order to make decisions, which included not only quantitative data but also informal information from other librarians. This latter source of information also came to the fore in Ravenwood, Walton and Stephens 2015; respondents were clear that much of the benefit from the day for them came from hearing about the experiences of other library managers.…”