Research into practice:The present situation

Peter CruickshankLondon

10 July 2012

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Reminder: today’s aim

Increase knowledge and understanding of the range of research resources and training materials available

to support the exploitation of the existing LIS evidence base and the execution of LIS research projects.

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Challenge:Engaging all sectors

• As with RiLIES1 we had low response rates from public librarians– Are we asking the wrong

questions?– Are we asking in the wrong

place?

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Most appreciatedResources that were appreciated by respondents: • JISC mailing lists

» Mailing lists (particularly operated by JISC) continue to be the main source of knowledge for many who are interested in research (or simply learning from colleagues)

• LIR Journal• LIRG• EBLIP Journal • Blogs and Twitter feeds• DREaM resources

• Honourable runner up

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IssuesConverting awareness into use

• A number of resources have still to get their audience to move from "heard of it" to "have tried it": – particular examples are

• DREaM resources• The EBLIP Journal • LIRG resources

– A large proportion report having found them wanting– The BAILER resource links have this problem too.

» Action: Review data and compare to stakeholders’ actual requirements

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IssuesLow visibility

• Low awareness of existing resources, e.g.

– USA/EU resources such as dLIST, eLIS, RD Info and ALA/RUSA

– Few respondents had heard of KnowledgeHub CoP platform• Even though it’s aimed at UK public sector

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What should we do?Project output

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Project output

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Project outputOther ideas

Tip-sheets/ and brief guidelines • On a broad range of topics

• Could only work if a process was in place to ensure the content is kept up to date, another area where a long-term commitment is necessary.

Discussion space • The LIS community routinely uses mailing-lists • Could set up a new JISC LIS-* list, or use existing list

Link to resources outside the UK• Clear need to make them more visible• e.g. links to dLIST and RD

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There is no shortage of

material

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Conclusion

• A real need for a directory of LIS research resources– low-cost – centrally-funded – community-maintained – held in a known location– long-term commitment to maintenance

– Caveat: Were we listening to the right people? » We think this answer applies to all sectors

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Project responses

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Printed materialFliers: impact & resources

Creative Commons

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Printed materialPlanning for impact

• advice on proposal writing

• free to use examples

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Updated the current website

Four categories

Clarity about

freshness

Support needed!

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Community resources

• Pages on site are the best we can do now• Engagement & support is needed– We know a passive approach does not work

• Can only work with engagement from– individuals– the community– organisations

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What else can be done?Creating a sustainable answer

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Supporting the community

•Coming up: some thoughtsTechnical

•…Next sessionCommunity-driven

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Review of options

• JISC LIS research-related mailing lists– Review to determine how they can improve LIS

practice – Conclusion: Many of them have lot of activities

and their discussions are up-to date • but the problem is that is still difficult to identify those

that could be helpful because – sometimes people have questions but don’t get the required

answers or – they get the answer and then don’t make a summary

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Review of options

• Library day in a Life Project» librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com

– Has been maintained for four years and people are still willing to share their stories.

– Maybe not in total but some of the approaches can be useful

» Currently waiting for detailed replay

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A day in the life...

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Review of options

• Other possibilities using the wiki approach+ easily updated + supports the community maintained approach.– no way to search with a specific keyword– difficult to find the required support

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Publications Wiki

slisapps.sjsu.edu/wikis/faculty/putnam/index.php/LIS_Publications_Wiki

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Choosing a platform

• Social bookmarking: delicious.com

– implement stacks with a specific name • Creates folders where all the projects within the

specific subject can be stored

– using a specific tag (eg lisresearch) it will be easier to search through the resources

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delicious.com

delicious.com/search?p=lis+research

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Choosing a platform

• Google Drive

– Save a file and make it visible to everybody on the web

– But: place to publish the link is required.

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Review of options

• Ideas for further work. – Search through workshops and conferences that

are discussing this subject and try to find something about new projects.

– Contact university libraries and see how can we relate to the small projects that are being done by research students and could be also useful.

» These processes could be repeated regularly to pick up new developments

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Demonstration: ALISS engine

• Please see the set of ALISS slides

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Conclusion

• This presentation has looked at issues and solutions around– sample teaching and community support

materials we have developed (leaflets)– how we have addressed problem of fragmented

infrastructures (web pages)– proposals for technical/community solutions to

issues of access.

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Next: The community responseIn the next session we move to