Evidence-based librarianship: a toolkit for public libraries

transcript

Evidence-based librarianship:a toolkit for public libraries

Virginia WilsonCoordinator

Saskatchewan Health Information

Resources Partnership

Stephanie HallChief Librarian

Powell River Public Library

November 6, 2007

Ignoring the research

A recent review of the evidence found that “research findings are under-utilized” in librarianship

(Genonie, Haddow and Rice 57)

Does this result in high risk decision making? (49)

Could the tendency to ignore research evidence be the dirty little secret of an information-obsessed profession?

Evidence-based librarianship

"Evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is a

means to improve the profession of librarianship by asking questions as well as finding, critically appraising and incorporating research evidence from library science (and other disciplines) into daily practice..."

(Crumley and Koufogiannakis, 2002)

Evidence-based medicine

Reasons for the spread of EBM Daily need for valid information Traditional sources:

Textbooks – out of date Experts – frequently wrong Didactic continuing medical information – ineffective Medical Journals – overwhelming

Up-to-date knowledge diminishes Time pressures

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (U. Toronto) http://www.cebm.utoronto.ca/intro/interest.htm

Why use EBL?

Libraries can use the research literature to:

Inspire Inform Improve

(Pollard and Court v)

Evidence can help answer questions like:

* How have we done?

* How are we doing now?

* How can we do better?

* Where are we going?

* How do we get there?

* How are we making a difference?

* How do we get the resources?

* And sometimes, if we try very hard with assessment techniques--How has what we do changed your life?

(Davies, 130)

Barriers

1. Where to find the evidence? Lack of pertinent evidence; narrow evidence base; lack of good indexing

2. Lack of time3. Management that doesn't support this

approach 4. Lack of research skills; or, lack of

confidence in research skills 5. Access to resources

The EBL process

Step 1: Formulate a Question Step 2: Find the Evidence Step 3: Appraise the Evidence Step 4: Apply the Evidence Step 5: Evaluate the Results

1. Formulate a question

Taking the time to formulate a question that is precise, answerable, and that includes all the necessary information helps focus your thinking before proceeding to search for evidence.

Two common mnemonics for question formulation are PICO and SPICE

1. Formulate a question: PICO

Focus Concept Question Root

PopulationAmong,in (who,

what)Among teens who

search the catalogue

Intervention or exposure

Does (how)Does help from a

librarian

Comparison intervention (if necessary)

Versus Versus no help

Outcome Impact (affect)Impact the time it takes

to find material?

1. Formulate a question: SPICEFocus Concept Question Root

Setting Where the intervention will occur; context

In large urban public libraries,

Perspective Population affected by the intervention; who

do patrons

Intervention The service or planned action; what

who interact with roving reference librarians

Comparison Alternate service or action; could be no intervention

as opposed to librarians at a reference desk

Evaluation The measure of effect; what results?

perceive that they have received better service?

2. Find the evidence

One of the barriers to the practice of EBL is the lack of a strong evidence base in our field. So, when searching for evidence:

Consider both quantitative and qualitative research

Think outside the LIS box

2. Find the evidence: domains of inquiry

Koufogiannakis, Slater and Crumley suggest that every LIS practice question falls within one or more of the following domains:

collections education management professional issues information access and retrieval reference (2004)

2. Find the evidence: LIS sources

Open Access Resources LISTA: http://www.libraryresearch.com ERIC: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ Directory of Open Access Journals

http://www.doaj.org/ Evidence Based Library and Information

Practice http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP

http://ebltoolkit.pbwiki.com/

Generate the Evidence

Consider both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Or bring your research question to appropriate interest groups or other networks you may be a part of

Don't be intimidated by the idea of "research": projects can be small and practical.

The Education Institute often has sessions that deal with research methods.

3. Appraise the evidence

Critical appraisal is the process of assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its

relevance validity reliability

3. Appraise the evidencetools and checklists

Lindsay Glynn's Critical Appraisal Checklist

CriSTAL checklist

…and several more available at: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/library/gosford/ebl/toolkit/

appraise.html

3. Appraise the evidencetimesavers

EBL: levels of evidence Jonathan Eldredge originally proposed a hierarchy

of evidence very similar to that used in EBM: – Systematic reviews – RCTs – Controlled comparison studies – Cohort studies – Descriptive surveys – Case studies – Decision analysis – Qualitative research

3. continued Systematic Reviews: The Campbell Collaboration

3. continued Systematic Reviews: EPPI

3. continued Evidence Summaries:EBLIP

4. Apply the evidence

Applicability: "whether a study is generalizable or relevant to your situation" (Koufogiannakis and Crumley, "Applying Evidence to your Everyday

Practice." in Booth and Brice, 2004. 120)

The evidence will usually be one of three things:1. directly applicable2. needs to be locally validated (i.e. replicate the study at

the local level)3. improves your understanding of the situation

4. Apply the evidence

Variables to consider when determining applicability: User group Timelines Cost Politics Severity

(Koufogiannakis and Crumley, 121-123)

5. Evaluate the results:Are we done yet?

Not quite! It’s important to evaluate the success of your use of the evidence on two levels:

Practitioner - were all the steps of EBL followed successfully?

Practice implications - was the decision you made after consulting the research a good one?

Disseminating your resultsCategory Dissemination Methods

Education/Professional

Development Workshop, continuing education, conference, training, journal club, discussion group

Management/policy Organizational policy/guideline, meeting

Publication Publishing/writing, internet, electronic vs. print

Personal Communication

Word of mouth, focus group, leadership, reading, sharing articles, e-mail, list-serv, networking, mentoring

Crumley and Koufogiannakis, in Booth and Brice, Evidence-based practice for information professionals: a handbook. London: Facet Publishing, 2004. p.140.

The Value of EBL

"Looking analytically at librarianship through research fosters growth, curiosity, awareness and promotes new learning; it keeps librarians interested in the profession and encourages them to do research to find an answer if one does not already exist. It may even impel librarians to do better research and find other solutions if they are not satisfied with what they find in the literature" (Crumley and Koufogiannakis 2002, 62).

Works Cited:Booth, Andrew and Anne Brice,eds. Evidence-based practice for information professionals: a

handbook. London: Facet Publishing, 2004.Crumley, Ellen and Denise Koufogiannakis. "Developing Evidence-Based Librarianship: Practical

Steps for Implementation." Health Information and Libraries Journal 19 (2002): 61-70.Davies, Eric J. "What Gets Measured, Gets Managed: Statistics and Performance Indicators for

Evidence Based Management." Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 34.3 (2002): 129-133

Eldredge, Jonathan. "Evidence-based librarianship: the EBL process". Library Hi Tech. 24.3 (2006): 341-354.

Genoni, Paul, Gaby Haddow, and Ann Ritchie. "Why don't librarians use research?" Evidence-based Practice for Information Professionals: A Handbook. Eds. Andrew Booth and Anne Brice. London: Facet, 2004. 49-60.

Glynn, Lindsay. "A Critical Appraisal Tool for Library and Information Research." Library Hi Tech 24.3 (2006): 387-399.

Koufogiannakis, Denise, Linda Slater and Ellen Crumley. "A Content Analysis of Librarianship Research." Journal of Information Science 30.3 (2004): 227-39

Morrison, Heather. "Evidence Based Librarianship and Open Access". Evidence Based Library and Information Practice. 1.2 (2006): 46-50. http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/49/117

Pollard, Amy and Julius Court. How Civil Society Organisations Use Evidence to Influence Policy Processes: A literature review. Working paper 249. July, 2005. http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Publications/Documents/WP249.pdf