EXPLORING THE VALUE OF JOURNAL CLUB PARTICIPATION USING A HERMENEUTIC DIALECTIC PROCESS 7th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries May 2015—Paris, France

Andrea Miller-Nesbitt Lorie Kloda

Megan Fitzgibbons

Overview • Background •  The hermeneutic dialectic process • Our study • Our findings

Journal clubs Meetings where participants engage in discussion of research publications

•  Community of practice

•  Research trends and methodologies

•  Evidence based practice

•  Informal learning in the workplace

Prevalence of journal clubs

(Young & Vilelle, 2011, p.132)

Research question

“What do librarians perceive as the value of participating

in journal club?”

Goals

• Relevance of JCs for academic librarians

• Role of JC in facilitating a community of practice

• Impact of participation on practice • Impact of participation on research skills

Method

The Hermeneutic Dialectic Process

Principle of interpretation

Method of examining opposing ideas

Hermeneutic dialectic process

“[This process] is hermeneutic because it is interpretive in character, and dialectic because it represents a comparison and contrast of divergent views with a view to achieving a higher-level synthesis of them all” (Guba & Lincoln, 1989, p.149)

Hermeneutic dialectic process

(Guba & Lincoln, 1989, p.152)

Participants

Sampling

Recruitment • Recruitment message sent to 12 e-mail lists covering a

range of topics and regions • Received 19 responses from 6 different e-mail lists

13 Health—6 Arts—4 Engineering—1 Science—1 Other—2

Leaders—6 Members—7

4 2

7

11

Researcher 1

• Interview 1 • Construction 1

Researcher 2

• Interview 2 • Construction 2

Researcher 3

• Interview 3 • Construction 3

Researcher 1

• Interview 4 • Construction 4

Method

Etc.

“After reading the construction, please let us know whether or not you feel your experience is accurately represented. If any additional impacts or values related to your participation in journal club come to mind as you read the construction please let us know.”

Interview guide (example)

•  Why do you participate in journal club?

•  How has participating in the journal club made an impact? (ex. On your knowledge, practice, work, decisions, research, etc.)

•  Are there expectations for librarians to conduct research/scholarship at your institution?

•  Do you think your journal club has impacts beyond the direct participants?

•  Are there impacts that you hope for in the long term that haven’t happened yet?

•  What makes journal clubs successful? •  Are there any negative outcomes or experiences from journal club?

Areas of impact

Individual

Learning

Skill development

Motivation

Group

Collaboration

Culture building

Users

New initiatives

Upskilling librarians

Findings: Impacts on the individual Area of impact Theme

Impacts on the individual (librarian)  

Prioritizing time for learning Building knowledge about librarianship Improving professional skills  Promoting deeper thinking about connections between theory and practice  Building research skills, including critical appraisal  Benefits from social interaction

Findings: Impacts on the group Area of impact Theme Impacts on the group

Protecting time for learning Building a research culture Spurring collaborative actions

Findings: Impacts on the user Area of impact Theme Impacts on users New services for users

Librarians are more capable, which benefits users Potential future impacts

Limitations

Hermeneutic Dialectic Process • Constructors misrepresenting participants realities

• Subjectivity of constructions

Value/impact of librarians participation in JCs • Limited sample • Only participants’ own perspective considered

Conclusions

The hermeneutic dialectic process allowed us to: • Collect a wide variety of perspectives • Construct a picture of the impact of journal club participation

• Provide a model for continuously evaluating impact

Questions? Interested in participating?

Andrea Miller-Nesbitt McGill University andrea.miller-nesbitt@mcgill.ca Lorie Kloda McGill University lorie.klodea@mcgill.ca Megan Fitzgibbons University of Western Australia megan.fitzgibbons@uwa.edu.au

Selected references Freeman, M. (2005). Constant comparative method. In S. Mathison (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications. Guba, E.G. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1989). Construction and reconstruction of realities. In Fourth Generation Evaluation (pp. 142–155). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (2013). The constructivist credo. Walnut Creek, California : Left Coast Press, Inc. Marsick, V.J. & Watkins, K.E. (2001). Informal and incidental learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2001(89), 25-43. Willis, J., Jost, M., & Nilakanta, R. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Young, P., & Vilelle, L. (2011). The prevalence and practices of academic library journal clubs. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(2), 130-136.

Photo credits Slide 3—”Calendar” by Julynn B, “Group” by Icons8, “Clock” by Dmitry Baranovskiy Slide 10—”Library” by inconsmind Slide 13—http://priyanathan.imagineteachers.com/files/2011/05/Illustration-raised-hands.jpg