Supporting a Culture of Scholarship for Academic Librarians

Abstract

Academic library faculty require a supportive atmosphere in order to successfully engage in research and publication. At Oregon State University, the Library Faculty Association (LFA) provides venues for peer criticism of manuscripts and presentations and for the discussion of professional issues. A survey of LFA members on their level of participation in the association and their attitudes toward its various programs revealed that most were frequent participants in LFA activities and had a high regard for them. Differences in response were found between tenured and untenured faculty. Strategies for increasing the association's impact are suggested.

Tenure and Promotion Experiences of Academic Librarians of Color

“…Another case study at Oregon State University highlighted the presence of a formal faculty association designed to foster research and scholarly activities, composed of both untenured and tenured librarians. 15 This association provides opportunities for librarians to obtain feedback on their research and to identify new research collaborations and possibilities. However, neither study specifically disaggregates their results by race or ethnicity, so it is difficult to obtain a snapshot of the overall research productivity of library faculty of color.…”

Using a Blended Group Learning Approach to Increase Librarians’ Motivation and Skills to Publish

“…Oregon State University Libraries' Library Faculty Association (LFA) encourages a culture of scholarship in the institution's libraries, by creating opportunities for librarians to discuss research in progress and present completed projects to colleagues, through a writing group which meets monthly. Response to the LFA's activities has been positive and suggests that institutional support is a significant factor in developing writing among academic librarians (Sapon-White et al 2004). A cross-disciplinary group, which included a librarian, was established in a higher education institution in the North West of England in 2006.…”

“…Some are library specific (Fallon 2009;Miller and Benefiel 1998;Tysick and Babb 2006;Sapon-White et al 2004); others are cross-disciplinary and include librarians (Grant et al 2010).…”

Librarians: The next generation. Mentorship at the University of Toronto

“…To support research and scholarly output, librarians at Oregon State University established the "Library Faculty Association (LFA)" with the explicit purpose of supporting a "culture of scholarship" among library faculty who are expected to publish and conduct research 10 . The LFA provides a "variety of venues in which library faculty discuss research-in-progress and present completed projects to colleagues" 10 .…”

“…The LFA provides a "variety of venues in which library faculty discuss research-in-progress and present completed projects to colleagues" 10 . Sapon-White et al distributed a survey to LFA members to assess the association and its activities and found that the majority of respondents thought that the LFA had contributed to creating a scholarly environment for Oregon State University librarians 10 .…”