Practitioner research in an academic library: evaluating the impact of a support group

Abstract

This paper explores how a support group has contributed to building a culture of research practice at Flinders University Library. The brief of the Research Working Group (RWG) is to develop a culture of research and professional reflection in the library's professional staff. The RWG has three broad goals against which to measure its impact: to develop the professional staff's skills with regard to research engagement; to encourage analysis and investigation of the library's services and resources; and to engage more widely with the library profession and the wider higher education community through presentation and publication of research results. Professional staff completed a questionnaire examining their participation in research, their confidence in undertaking research, and plans for future research projects. The results were analysed with reference to the first goal of the RWG. The importance of practitioners undertaking research is increasingly being recognised as a core value in academic libraries. Many support groups for librarians undertaking research have been described in the literature, but few have evaluated the impact of such a group. This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the RWG on the professional staff at Flinders University Library to date.

Understanding Factors that Encourage Research Productivity for Academic Librarians

“…Common supports include writing support groups (Campbell, Ellis & Adebonojo, 2012;Exner & Harris Houk, 2010;Fallon, 2012;Tysick & Babb, 2006), journal clubs (Fitzgibbons, Kloda, & Miller-Nesbitt, 2017), support groups or forums for research conversations (Carson, Colosimo, Lake, & McMillan, 2014;Hall & McBain, 2014;Miller & Benefiel, 1998;Sapon-White, King & Christie, 2004), mentorship programs (Cirasella & Smale, 2011;Stephens, Sare, Kimball, Foster, & Kitchens, 2011), research skills development initiatives (Edwards, Jennerich, & Ward, 2009;Jacobs & Berg, 2013;McBain, Hall, & Culshaw, 2013;Schrader, Shiri, & Williamson, 2012), research leaves or release time, and funding (Smigielski, Laning, & Daniels, 2014). Alongside these supports, Canadian academic librarians are actively developing communities within and outside of their institutions to foster a positive research culture across Canada (Carson et al, 2014;Jacobs & Berg, 2013;Meadows, Berg, Hoffmann, Torabi, & Gardiner, 2013;Mierke & Williamson, 2017;Wilson, 2017).…”

Research Forum: Creating and Sustaining an Intra-library Venue to Share Library Faculty Research

“…The benefits of librarians engaging in research are numerous. At the individual level, academic librarians enjoy a sense of accomplishment by contributing to the profession; increase their understanding of and ability to participate in the research of the faculty and students they serve; advance their careers; and enjoy greater awareness of the latest library research (Finlay, Ni, Tsou, & Sugimoto, 2013;Hall & McBain, 2014;Kennedy & Brancolini, 2012;Luo, 2011;Pickton, 2016;Walters, 2016). At an organizational level, librarians' research can help justify staffing, space, and budget; apply best practices to services for patrons; and raise the library's profile among the campus community (Kennedy & Brancolini, 2012;Luo, 2011;Pickton, 2016).…”

“…As noted in Kennedy and Brancolini's 2012 survey of academic librarians, "only 26 percent [of respondents] believe that their LIS master's degrees adequately prepared them to conduct original research" (p. 437). Therefore, the need for academic libraries to provide support (such as mentoring, time, and funding) for librarians to successfully conduct research is essential and has been written about extensively (Fox, 2007;Hall & McBain, 2014;Perkins & Slowik, 2013;Pickton, 2016;Smiglielski, Laning, & Daniels, 2014;Stephens, Sare, Kimball, Foster, & Kitchens, 2011).…”

The Role of Academic Libraries in Scholarly Communication. A Meta-Analysis of Research

“…Reynolds, Smith, and D'Silva (2013)described a case study conducted at the University of Louisville where a fi eld librarian, consulted in the beginning to offer advice regarding a literature search, contributed signifi cantly to the whole research project, although, as she reported, she did not feel confi dent enough to push for changes in the research process. There are interesting initiatives to improve the skills of the library staff (de Jager, Nassimbeni, & Crowster, 2014; Hall, 2014;Hall & McBain, 2014). At Flinders University Library was launched three years project when the librarians were themselves supposed to conduct research.…”