The Benefits of Research for Academic Librarians and the Institutions They Serve

Montanelli, Dale S.; Stenstrom, Patricia F.

doi:10.5860/crl_47_05_482

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…I would like to see it be an expectation as long as there are ways that it can be worked into peoples' work lives […] I guess for multiple reasons because, you know, it helps you understand what your patrons are struggling with […] This positive attitude towards research and publication has often, but not always, been expressed in the LIS literature (Isaac, 1983). Research publication and presentation has been described in the LIS literature as beneficial to personal professional practice (McCluskey, 2013;Montanelli and Stenstrom, 1986;Powell et al, 2002;White, 2001), the practitioner's institution (Montanelli and Stenstrom, 1986), and the field of librarianship as a whole (Goode, 1961;Haddow and Klobas, 2004;Jackson, 1999). The Vet Participants' generally benevolent attitude towards research contrasted with the ambivalent attitudes of the New Participants.…”

Section: Category 2: Driving Change In the Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional identity: a grounded theory study of veteran academic librarians

Sare

Bales

2014

Library Review

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Purpose – This qualitative study aims to analyse veteran academic librarians’ perceptions of librarianship to develop a grounded theory that models this group’s understandings of the profession. In addition, this study compares its findings to a previous grounded theory study that modelled novice academic librarians’ perceptions of the profession. Design/methodology/approach – Using the long interview technique, the analysts interviewed 15 veteran academic librarians, i.e. those with 10 or more years continuous experience as professional academic librarians, who work in Texas universities and four-year colleges. Qualitative analytical methods were used to develop a substantive grounded theory from the data. Findings – Two theoretical categories emerged that model academic librarian perceptions of the profession: orienting self (and others) to a shifting profession and driving change in the field. These categories depict academic librarianship as a profession focussed on change, and the theory valuates both mentoring and practitioner research as important elements of this change. Practical implications – The results of the study may provide useful information to help orient librarians new to the field. Originality/value – There is a dearth of systematic empirical analyses that explores the personal meanings that academic librarians attach to professional identity. This paper works to fill this gap and to complement the existing critical/cultural and quantitative research concerning the professional identity of librarians.

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Section: Category 2: Driving Change In the Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional identity: a grounded theory study of veteran academic librarians

Sare

Bales

2014

Library Review

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“…67‐9). Nonetheless, it is undisputable that there also arise benefits from the research results of academics for information professionals in their practical work (McClure, 1989; Montanelli and Stenstrom, 1986) and in their continuing professional development (Abu Bakar, 2005). And there can also be benefits from the everyday problems and solutions by the practitioners for LIS academics.…”

Section: The Gap Between Lis Academics and Practitionersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practitioners and academics as authors and readers: the case of LIS journals

Schlögl

Stock

2008

Journal of Documentation

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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between practitioners and academics in scholarly communication in library and information science (LIS) journals.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a reader survey, a citation analysis and an editor survey. The reader survey identifies both differences in journal rankings between practitioners and academics and the contribution of practitioners to LIS journals. The editor survey provides the proportions of practitioners and academics for the journals. The citation analysis shows the disparities in information exchange between the journals mainly preferred by practitioners and those more favoured by academics. Furthermore, it is possible to explore if practitioner journals differ from academic journals in the citation indicators and in other data collected in the editor survey.FindingsIt is found that: practitioners play an active role both as readers and as authors of articles in LIS journals; there is only a low level of information exchange between practitioner and academic journals; the placement of advertisements, the size of the editorial board, requirements concerning an extensive bibliography, the number and the half‐life of the references show a clear distinction between practitioner and academic journals. Interestingly, the impact factor did not turn out to be a good indicator to differentiate a practitioner from an academic journal.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is only exploratory because it is based on separate studies previously conducted. Further research is also needed to explore the relationship between practitioners and academics more deeply.Originality/valueThe value of this paper lies in bringing together the findings from complementary studies (reader survey, editor survey and citation analysis) and identifying hypotheses for future research, especially with regards to the roles of and interactions between LIS practitioners and academics in scholarly communication.

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“…Perkins and Slowik (2013) reviewed ACRL's "Standards for College Libraries" in the past half-century, and pointed out that the professional standards have clearly confirmed the importance of inquiry and research activities such as scholarly publication, presentation of papers and reviews of books, and set the line for determining research quality of academic librarians so that their world could be more easily translatable to the academic community as a whole. Montanelli and Stenstrom (1986) specified that the value of research for academic librarians included job promotion, personal acknowledgement, enriched relationships with teaching faculty, increased ability to change, and better library service through shared knowledge and experience. Similarly, through a study of scholarly e-journals, DuBose and Durant (2001) noted that the advantages of research for academic librarians included delineation of research subjects, collaboration with others, improved understanding and application to daily issues, and their own changing development as librarians.…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

JAL in the Past Decade: A Comprehensive Analysis of Academic Library Research

McKinney

2015

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

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Abstract:A content analysis is conducted to examine the peer-reviewed articles published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship (JAL) from 2004 to 2013. Five key variables are studied: authorship, article type, topic, research methods/design, and research theories/models. About three-fourths of the articles were authored by at least one librarian, and over half of the articles were co-authored. More than two-thirds of the articles were primary research articles, and a total of 24 topics related to academic libraries were covered, among which information literacy was the most popular one. Survey and content analysis are the two most frequently used research methods in the articles. This study, capturing the topical and methodological substance of academic library research, will generate ideas for providing effective research training/education for academic librarians and contribute to the enhancement of research culture and research practice among them.

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The Benefits of Research for Academic Librarians and the Institutions They Serve

Cited by 24 publications

References 8 publications

Professional identity: a grounded theory study of veteran academic librarians

Professional identity: a grounded theory study of veteran academic librarians

Practitioners and academics as authors and readers: the case of LIS journals

JAL in the Past Decade: A Comprehensive Analysis of Academic Library Research

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