Comp L - Research

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

Although librarians, archivists, and other information professionals deal with research as a standard part of their jobs, the usual focus is assisting patrons and users in their own research, whether it’s a school paper, genealogy, or trying to learn how to upholster a chair.  However, these professionals also need to know how to do their own research, and then to synthesize that information into a new conclusion, or to prove/disprove a hypothesis.  Whether it’s historical research for an exhibit, quantitative research for next year’s budget analysis, or a qualitative survey to determine how satisfied patrons are with a particular service, all require research skills.

This knowledge includes the ability to understand and design, then execute primary research.  Such research usually takes the form of some kind of survey, carefully designed to achieve the desired goals and to extract the needed information.  The questions need to be impartial and non-leading, and the survey group must accurately reflect the larger user group.  For example, if the survey is to determine whether a teen reading room would be useful, the survey group should include teens who can answer for themselves.

Additionally, the different types of data collection need to be considered, choosing the best type for the specific study and community.  Surveying community leaders may be worthwhile, but surveying teachers and clergy might deliver more accurate results, or a direct survey of the population/users/non-users may be most productive.  Will the survey be conducted by phone, mail, in person, at the mall, at the library, via a website?  How will survey participants be selected?

Data collection can also be either quantitative or qualitative.  Circulation studies, use of the reference desk, which types of users use which services at which times; these are all worthwhile quantitative data collection.  Because of the statistical nature of the data gathered, quantitative surveys tend to focus on a collection rather than the patrons. Qualitative data collection, which involves studying interactions between library staff and users, can also be useful because it measures opinion and perspective which can’t be measured by quantitative data. This type of data collection could help to determine traffic patterns for different room layouts, how appropriate a children’s area is for the community, or whether reference services are of the quality expected and needed.

The data, once collected, must be analyzed.  One method is to compare a predefined set of standards or expectations, for the individual study.  Researchers can also analyze many studies relative to each other, known as meta-analysis.

When primary research involves direct contact with the general public, it must be done according to privacy protocols and regulations.  SLIS requires that each student pass the NIH (National Institutes of Health) training course, “Protecting Human Research Participants” as part of the requirements for passing LIBR 285 – Research Methods.  The rules for surveying regular people are strict, and protections to guard their privacy and anonymity while getting accurate answers need to be followed.

Secondary research, uncovering research that others have done, then re-interpreting it in different ways, is another common type of research.  Scholarly journals will contain articles using both primary and secondary research.  A team of researchers might want to investigate a usage pattern for which they could not find existing satisfactory research, or they may compare the results of other studies which produced usable data.

Another type of research is historical research, which involves uncovering and analyzing primary sources of information – documents or accounts contemporaneous to the events in question.  Historical research also uses secondary sources -- studies or articles by others who initially found the primary sources, then reanalyzed the information toward new or different conclusions. Historical research may also involve examining an archival collection for new insight, or to reflect on primary sources in light of later revealed information.

Evidence

For this competency, my evidence includes a research proposal for historical research, a research paper on student online searching studies, a searching exercise for a journal article, and an analysis of the importance of records managers.  All links in the prose will open in new windows/tabs.

 

Evidence #1 - Research Proposal

My first evidence is a research proposal I wrote for LIBR 285 – Research Methods.  This particular course section focused on historical research, and we could study any topic which would involve historical research.  We were not required to write an actual research paper; only its proposal, but needed to specify its purpose: a Master’s thesis, a PhD dissertation, an online or physical exhibit, etc.  I learned how to choose and use primary sources as well as secondary sources.  I also learned the extent and value of reference sources, including but not limited to encyclopedias, dictionaries (of many types), and bibliographies.  I also learned how to write historiographies, as analyses of what other authors had written on a particular subject.

This paper combined information from other papers we’d written during the semester, focusing on each aspect of historical research: the annotated bibliography, the historiography, and primary and secondary sources. 

For this proposal I located many sources of information.  Some were scholarly articles available online as full text, some were online finding aids or catalogues linked to physical records, and some were found by physically browsing library shelves.  I analyzed the information in each to decide what would be relevant for my specific research topic.  Since this was historical research, primary research through standard research stuides as I discussed above wouldn’t have been as useful as for other areas of research, although if I were doing the actual research project, I would include interviews with witnesses to these historical events and situations.

This paper demonstrates that I understand many of the ways and sources we can use for research, and how to analyze them for relevance to a particular topic.

 

Evidence #2 - Research Paper

For my second evidence, I chose a research paper I wrote for LIBR 244 – Online Research.  We were to choose a topic related to online research, then use our course-taught skills to explore that topic.  I decided to investigate how college students used the online services we’d been exposed to.  I used fee -based subscription news databases as well as university-provided subscription journal databases to locate a wide assortment of articles.  From these I selected information to present a logical hypothesis and analysis.  My research provided not only descriptions of the problems that university students have doing online searching, but also several potential solutions to these problems.

Doing accurate and informative research requires the ability to use many different types of information sources, and to be able to find information in advanced professional databases as well as common popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo!.  I was successful in finding relevant information in the subscription databases, but the nature of my topic meant that the information was less likely to be included in the free websites where the popular search engines search.

Nevertheless, using the skills I developed in this program, I was able to find ample research and information on the topic, including some articles searched by popular search engines, then to relate the several studies to each other in a logical manner.

 

Evidence #3 - Tracing a Footnote

For my third evidence, I’ve included a short assignment from LIBR 204 – Information and Organization Management.  We were to select one of the footnote references from our textbook, and locate the original source material.  We were then to write no more than two pages on “the value of that source material for us as practicing managers (Sawyer, 2010,).”

This assignment demonstrates how I was able to use my search skills when my initial efforts to find the original article failed.  Although, as this was one of my first classes in the program, I had not yet become truly familiar with using the King-Library-provided databases, I was still able to use search and research skills to find my way to those databases, and ultimately the original article.  Part of the skill needed to do research is the ability to find the necessary information when the usual sources and paths don’t work.  This paper demonstrates that I have that ability, and can find information in creative and ultimately-successful ways.

 

Evidence #4 - Final Examination Essay Question

For my fourth evidence, I’ve included an essay written for my LIBR 257 Final Examination.  We were required to explain, in no more than five pages, why we thought records managers were more or less important now than in the days before computers, and were given several days to research our answers.  I explored our textbook as well as several other secondary and reference sources to find relevant information, then analyzed the data, compared it to the hypothesis, and concluded that records managers were absolutely more important now than before.  I was able to research and analyze the required five ways in which records managers are more important now than in the past.

Using my knowledge of how to do research, I included specific references in my essay indicating that my conclusions were sound and based on other research, thus demonstrating that I have learned how to evaluate and synthesize professional literature to draw reasonable conclusions.

 

Conclusion

The ability to use scholarly and professional literature to uncover primary and secondary research relevant to a specific topic or question is imperative in a wide range of library and information center situations.  Librarians will need to be able to determine which programs need to be added, modified, or ended, how budgetary restraints can best be extrapolated into actual services, and when purchasing specific archival collections would be of value to a specific user group.  They must also be able to determine when best practices for providing reference or other services need to be revised.  While the popular search engines will search publicly-available websites, and can find a wide range of information, those sites are generally not vetted, peer-reviewed, or otherwise warranted to be reliable; users must use caution in collating information from many of these.  Furthermore, librarians who can design a primary research study, for specific needs, and in such a form as to generate accurate results, will find themselves in demand for such information-gathering.

Through this program, I have learned how to do primary and secondary research, and the types of data collection such as qualitative and quantitative surveys, and how obtrusive and unobtrusive studies differ.  I’ve learned how to protect the rights and privacy of human subjects, and how to do historical research when needed.  All these are skills I look forward to using during the course of my career.

 

References:

Sawyer, C. (2010, Spring).  Follow That Footnote!  (Instructions for LIBR 200 assignment).

 

Evidence for Competency L

(each link will open in a new tab or window)

1. Research Proposal

2. Research Paper: Students' Online Searching

3. Footnote research - Tracing a Footnote

4. Essay Question - Importance of Records Managers