Competency L
"Understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups."
Introduction
When I ask students what they think research entails, the following answers are usually given:
-Based on facts alone, without theory or judgment
-Read or used only by experts or college professors
-Done only in universities by people with Ph.D. degrees
-Going to the library and finding articles on a topic
-Hanging around some exotic place and observing
-Conducting an experiment in which people are tricked into doing something
-Drawing a sample of people and giving them questionnaires
-Looking up lots of tables from government reports or books
-Using computers, statistics, charts, and graphs
The first of the three answers are wrong, and the others describe only part of what constitutes social
research. (Neuman, 2003, p. 2)
The above passage reflects the limited view many students have of research. While completing my undergraduate studies at California State University (CSU) Stanislaus, I served as a writing tutor at the university writing center for three years. During that time, I worked with students from a variety of backgrounds, including students taking remedial writing courses. As many were beginning college students, most associated research papers as “boring” and something they only needed to do to graduate from college. Aside from the fact that writing comprises most of the work done in college, reading published research studies and reflecting on the ideas presented in them—through writing—is the process that allows one to engage in one’s chosen discipline. Professionals publish research articles to share the work they have done with other professionals in the field in order to further knowledge in a specific area (pure research) or provide solutions for real-life problems (applied research).
For example, librarians and information professionals read research studies in the areas of library, technology, education, and business to help them make more informed decisions that affect library usage, service, collections, or funding; improve teaching methodologies; and keep up with changes in the field. Librarians and other information professionals also conduct social research of their own to help them make decisions relevant to their target communities. Librarians often seek answers to how people use a service or system (behavioral research), what people think about a service or system (cognitive research), and what attitudes people have when using the service or system (affective research) (Peters, 2010).
Depending on the questions, problems, or ideas to be examined, data is gathered by conducting a survey, experimental or quasi-experimental methods, qualitative methods, or content analysis. While surveys are more common research design tools, they are not appropriate for every research project. Experimental designs formulate a hypothesis, control the independent and dependent variables, set up experimental and control groups, and try to establish causal relationships (Peters, 2010). Qualitative research involves making observations in a natural setting, is used to generate theories, and the data is normally in the form of words rather than numbers (Peters, 2010). Content analysis is “often unobtrusive; studies evidence of information behavior, such as usage statistics; and usually involves studying a document or set of documents, looking for instances and patterns” (Peters, 2010). After analyzing the data, librarians can then make conclusions that can be incorporated into a research article for publication and/or a report for a library manager. The evidence and recommendations included in the report serve as the basis for making informed decisions.
Librarians, like all researchers, must also be ethical when using human beings as test subjects. In university settings, studies need to be approved by an institutional review board or similar committee. These committees approve proposals that provide sound research methods and measures to protect participants from harm--"not just physically but by embarrassing them, violating their privacy, and so on" (Booth, Colomb, and Williams, 2008, p. 83)
The process of research, however, is not always straight-forward and conclusions may not always be clear. Research is also never done. Librarians must continuously research to provide the best service and tools for their ever-changing communities.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency L, I am submitting assignments from LIBR 200 Information and Society, LIBR 204 Information Organizations and Management, and LIBR 282 Seminar in Library Management, which emphasized grant writing.
LIBR 200: E-books and E-readers Research Paper
In LIBR 200, the final assignment was to write a thirty-page research paper exploring any library or information science topic of our choice. For the assignment, I chose to explore the utility of e-readers and e-books in academic settings. At the time, many universities were undergoing similar studies through e-reader pilot programs. The results of the usage and user studies were mixed, which was not surprising given that the topic is technology, which is constantly changing and improving. (The topic of my research paper also demonstrates that it is important to keep up with literature on a topic, particularly in subjects like technology that change rapidly. The research I utilized was recent in early 2010 when I completed the paper, but many new studies have been published since that time.) My abstract reads, "Test runs of Amazon's Kindle, the Sony Reader, and iRex iLiad have not been overwhelmingly successful in academic settings, particularly because they are better suited for individual consumer use. Without understanding this background, it is difficult for librarians to build e-book collections and for vendors to learn how they can improve e-book technology to better meet the needs of college students and faculty. Ebooks are useful, but the technology needs improvement in order to make them more effective."
The research I analyzed was used as the basis for a proposal to evaluate an e-reader pilot program at CSU Stanislaus that I wrote for LIBR 285. The proposal is used as evidence for competency N. This research paper shows that by reading studies and analyzing their methods and conclusions, perhaps better decisions can be made for libraries considering similar endeavors. The studies I read helped me to determine what questions a university library undergoing an e-reader program might ask of participants.
LIBR 204: Employee Recognition Programs Research Paper
In LIBR 204, the final assignment was to write a research paper exploring a library management topic. For this assignment, I chose to explore the various types of employee reward and recognition programs in place in academic libraries. In the course, I learned that people are motivated by different things in the work environment—money is not the only incentive. For library organizations who have had to cut hours and reduce staff members in the current economic downturn, library staff are faced with doing more work tasks with fewer employees with whom to share the work. Recognition for their efforts is essential to improve morale. Although this research paper is not an exhaustive study, it provides several examples of recognition programs employed by university libraries that could be adapted by other libraries. The abstract of my paper reads, “The author indicates that library managers can show appreciation for their employees in ways that do not cost much money and that promote an atmosphere of appreciation. The need for recognition is based on motivational content and process theories as well as research from both the business world and academic libraries. Included are examples of recognition programs, ideas for awards, as well advice for starting a program in the library workplace.”
LIBR 282: Grant Proposal for the Waterford Branch of the Stanislaus County Library
As libraries face budget shortfalls, savvy librarians must be equipped with the research skills to write effective grant proposals in order to garner additional financial or in-kind support for projects from funders. LIBR 282 focused exclusively on teaching students how to write a grant, from the first research steps to the final cover letter. The class syllabus reads, “Students will work with a real library or other organization, assess library needs and future service development, create a marketing piece that outlines organizational mission and strengths, research current and potential funders, develop an actual grant or proposal for implementation, and determine funding and management priorities for alternative resource development” (Wong, 2010). A fellow student and I concentrated our efforts on developing a grant for the Waterford Branch of the Stanislaus County Library in the hopes of receiving $1,000 to boost the materials budget. The student I collaborated with is a school librarian and former employee of the Stanislaus County Library, and while I am a current employee of the library system, I did not work for the system at the time we completed the grant. While we did not turn in the grant to our funder (in hindsight, this was for the best because the funder we selected is already very much involved with the library system; we were unable to get much information on past or current library funders while working on the grant), the knowledge we gained by completing the grant writing process will be very useful in our careers as information professionals. Through the process, we learned how to pinpoint library needs; research grant opportunities by exploring blogs, corporate and government websites, and the Foundation Center database; and market library organizations to funders. The pieces of evidence I am including—the cover letter, library profile, goals and objectives, budget summary, and evaluation plan—are the outputs of our research process.
References
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., & Williams, J.M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago.
Neuman, W.L. (2003). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
Allyn and Bacon.
Peters, T. (2010). Intro to conducting and using research in LIS [PowerPoint slides].
Wong, P. (2010). Greensheet LIBR 282-02/282-11 [Lecture notes].
When I ask students what they think research entails, the following answers are usually given:
-Based on facts alone, without theory or judgment
-Read or used only by experts or college professors
-Done only in universities by people with Ph.D. degrees
-Going to the library and finding articles on a topic
-Hanging around some exotic place and observing
-Conducting an experiment in which people are tricked into doing something
-Drawing a sample of people and giving them questionnaires
-Looking up lots of tables from government reports or books
-Using computers, statistics, charts, and graphs
The first of the three answers are wrong, and the others describe only part of what constitutes social
research. (Neuman, 2003, p. 2)
The above passage reflects the limited view many students have of research. While completing my undergraduate studies at California State University (CSU) Stanislaus, I served as a writing tutor at the university writing center for three years. During that time, I worked with students from a variety of backgrounds, including students taking remedial writing courses. As many were beginning college students, most associated research papers as “boring” and something they only needed to do to graduate from college. Aside from the fact that writing comprises most of the work done in college, reading published research studies and reflecting on the ideas presented in them—through writing—is the process that allows one to engage in one’s chosen discipline. Professionals publish research articles to share the work they have done with other professionals in the field in order to further knowledge in a specific area (pure research) or provide solutions for real-life problems (applied research).
For example, librarians and information professionals read research studies in the areas of library, technology, education, and business to help them make more informed decisions that affect library usage, service, collections, or funding; improve teaching methodologies; and keep up with changes in the field. Librarians and other information professionals also conduct social research of their own to help them make decisions relevant to their target communities. Librarians often seek answers to how people use a service or system (behavioral research), what people think about a service or system (cognitive research), and what attitudes people have when using the service or system (affective research) (Peters, 2010).
Depending on the questions, problems, or ideas to be examined, data is gathered by conducting a survey, experimental or quasi-experimental methods, qualitative methods, or content analysis. While surveys are more common research design tools, they are not appropriate for every research project. Experimental designs formulate a hypothesis, control the independent and dependent variables, set up experimental and control groups, and try to establish causal relationships (Peters, 2010). Qualitative research involves making observations in a natural setting, is used to generate theories, and the data is normally in the form of words rather than numbers (Peters, 2010). Content analysis is “often unobtrusive; studies evidence of information behavior, such as usage statistics; and usually involves studying a document or set of documents, looking for instances and patterns” (Peters, 2010). After analyzing the data, librarians can then make conclusions that can be incorporated into a research article for publication and/or a report for a library manager. The evidence and recommendations included in the report serve as the basis for making informed decisions.
Librarians, like all researchers, must also be ethical when using human beings as test subjects. In university settings, studies need to be approved by an institutional review board or similar committee. These committees approve proposals that provide sound research methods and measures to protect participants from harm--"not just physically but by embarrassing them, violating their privacy, and so on" (Booth, Colomb, and Williams, 2008, p. 83)
The process of research, however, is not always straight-forward and conclusions may not always be clear. Research is also never done. Librarians must continuously research to provide the best service and tools for their ever-changing communities.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency L, I am submitting assignments from LIBR 200 Information and Society, LIBR 204 Information Organizations and Management, and LIBR 282 Seminar in Library Management, which emphasized grant writing.
LIBR 200: E-books and E-readers Research Paper
In LIBR 200, the final assignment was to write a thirty-page research paper exploring any library or information science topic of our choice. For the assignment, I chose to explore the utility of e-readers and e-books in academic settings. At the time, many universities were undergoing similar studies through e-reader pilot programs. The results of the usage and user studies were mixed, which was not surprising given that the topic is technology, which is constantly changing and improving. (The topic of my research paper also demonstrates that it is important to keep up with literature on a topic, particularly in subjects like technology that change rapidly. The research I utilized was recent in early 2010 when I completed the paper, but many new studies have been published since that time.) My abstract reads, "Test runs of Amazon's Kindle, the Sony Reader, and iRex iLiad have not been overwhelmingly successful in academic settings, particularly because they are better suited for individual consumer use. Without understanding this background, it is difficult for librarians to build e-book collections and for vendors to learn how they can improve e-book technology to better meet the needs of college students and faculty. Ebooks are useful, but the technology needs improvement in order to make them more effective."
The research I analyzed was used as the basis for a proposal to evaluate an e-reader pilot program at CSU Stanislaus that I wrote for LIBR 285. The proposal is used as evidence for competency N. This research paper shows that by reading studies and analyzing their methods and conclusions, perhaps better decisions can be made for libraries considering similar endeavors. The studies I read helped me to determine what questions a university library undergoing an e-reader program might ask of participants.
LIBR 204: Employee Recognition Programs Research Paper
In LIBR 204, the final assignment was to write a research paper exploring a library management topic. For this assignment, I chose to explore the various types of employee reward and recognition programs in place in academic libraries. In the course, I learned that people are motivated by different things in the work environment—money is not the only incentive. For library organizations who have had to cut hours and reduce staff members in the current economic downturn, library staff are faced with doing more work tasks with fewer employees with whom to share the work. Recognition for their efforts is essential to improve morale. Although this research paper is not an exhaustive study, it provides several examples of recognition programs employed by university libraries that could be adapted by other libraries. The abstract of my paper reads, “The author indicates that library managers can show appreciation for their employees in ways that do not cost much money and that promote an atmosphere of appreciation. The need for recognition is based on motivational content and process theories as well as research from both the business world and academic libraries. Included are examples of recognition programs, ideas for awards, as well advice for starting a program in the library workplace.”
LIBR 282: Grant Proposal for the Waterford Branch of the Stanislaus County Library
As libraries face budget shortfalls, savvy librarians must be equipped with the research skills to write effective grant proposals in order to garner additional financial or in-kind support for projects from funders. LIBR 282 focused exclusively on teaching students how to write a grant, from the first research steps to the final cover letter. The class syllabus reads, “Students will work with a real library or other organization, assess library needs and future service development, create a marketing piece that outlines organizational mission and strengths, research current and potential funders, develop an actual grant or proposal for implementation, and determine funding and management priorities for alternative resource development” (Wong, 2010). A fellow student and I concentrated our efforts on developing a grant for the Waterford Branch of the Stanislaus County Library in the hopes of receiving $1,000 to boost the materials budget. The student I collaborated with is a school librarian and former employee of the Stanislaus County Library, and while I am a current employee of the library system, I did not work for the system at the time we completed the grant. While we did not turn in the grant to our funder (in hindsight, this was for the best because the funder we selected is already very much involved with the library system; we were unable to get much information on past or current library funders while working on the grant), the knowledge we gained by completing the grant writing process will be very useful in our careers as information professionals. Through the process, we learned how to pinpoint library needs; research grant opportunities by exploring blogs, corporate and government websites, and the Foundation Center database; and market library organizations to funders. The pieces of evidence I am including—the cover letter, library profile, goals and objectives, budget summary, and evaluation plan—are the outputs of our research process.
References
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., & Williams, J.M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago.
Neuman, W.L. (2003). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (5th ed.). Boston, MA:
Allyn and Bacon.
Peters, T. (2010). Intro to conducting and using research in LIS [PowerPoint slides].
Wong, P. (2010). Greensheet LIBR 282-02/282-11 [Lecture notes].
Files
Below are the files to my pieces of evidence.
LIBR_200__e-books_and_e-readers_research_paper.pdf | |
File Size: | 173 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_204_library_employee_reward_and_recognition_programs.pdf | |
File Size: | 127 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_282_cover_letter.pdf | |
File Size: | 59 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_282_library_profile.pdf | |
File Size: | 252 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_282_goals_and_objectives.pdf | |
File Size: | 137 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_282_budget_summary_2_pages_final.pdf | |
File Size: | 72 kb |
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LIBR_282_outcome_based_evaluation.pdf | |
File Size: | 222 kb |
File Type: |