The first of its kind, this book provides a theoretically informed research guide and draws attention to areas of potential research in Library and Information Science. It explores the nexus of theory and practice and offers suggestions for collaborative projects. The clear text, simple style and rich content make the book an invaluable resource for students, scholars and practicing librarians, as well as the general reader who may be interested in library and information science research. Apart from providing basic research tools, it acquaints librarians with a theoretical compass for dealing with digital media It pays particular attention to the electronic media Addresses topics of current interests in the field, such as user-centered services
Twenty-eight contributed papers provide an overview of LIS research, offering recommendations and strategies for resolving issues related to this research and for improving the quality, quantity, and impact of research. Paper edition (unseen), $32.50. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, O
Gain access to the latest and most savvy research techniques for academic librarians with this robust guidebook written by industry leaders involved in setting national standards for the Institute of Research Design for Librarianship. Staying on top of professional trends in academic library research can help turn any librarian into an expert researcher. This practitioner's guide arms librarians with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively conduct research to enhance professional practice and perform successful inquiries. It discusses current practices of academic librarians; details the process of successfully planning, implementing, and publishing a study; and provides professional and personal development to improve research competency. Written by professionals at the upper echelon of their field, Enhancing Library and Information Research Skills comprises seven chapters that break down the research process and focus on individual steps in performing effective research. The book teaches academic librarians how to develop a research question based on a practical problem, determine the scope and objectives of a study, and select proper research design and methods. Readers will also understand how to identify resources to support the study, set a timeline for data collection and data analysis, write a dissertation, and identify the proper venue for publication/presentation.
Librarians have been providing support to researchers for many years, typically with a focus on responding to researchers’ needs for access to the existing literature. However, librarians’ skills and expertise make them uniquely suited to provide a wide range of assistance to researchers across the entire research process, from conception of the research question to archiving of collected data at the project’s conclusion. In response to increasingly stringent demands on researchers to share their data, and as computationally intensive and primarily data-driven scientific methods begin to take the place of traditional lab-based research, the “research informationist” has emerged as a new information profession. With a background in library and information sciences, as well as expertise in best practices for data management, grant funder policies, and informatics tools, the research informationist is capable of implementing a full suite of research support services. This book will discuss how the research informationist role has developed out of the previously established clinical informationist model and how it expands on the model of embedded librarianship. The book will also examine core competencies for the successful research informationist and the training and preparation necessary for students in library and information sciences programs, as well as currently practicing librarians. Finally, this book will consider how research informationists can form collaborative partnerships with research teams and build their services outside the walls of the library, citing practical examples of the types of support research informationists can offer.
Researchers rely on libraries to provide the information they need; equally, supporting research is a fundamental reason for libraries' existence. This book explores the crucial relationship between libraries and researchers, focusing on developing and managing effective library services to support research, and includes the authentic voices of researchers surveyed. This book will inform and advise all those who work with researchers in libraries, combining practical advice with an exploration of fundamental issues relating to the relationship between research and libraries. It is essential reading for all who work in academic and research libraries, and will be of particular value to newly qualified and practising liaison and research support librarians.
New Roles for Research Librarians: Meeting the Expectations for Research Support presents strategies librarians can use to adapt to the new conditions and growing expectations that are emerging from students and researchers. Even if they have never completed a PhD, or even been engaged in independent research themselves, this book will provide a new roadmap on how to deal with the new work environment. The book provides different approaches that include the library in the research process, an area that is often neglected by researchers during their planning and strategic work on research projects. Users will find content that offers tactics on how to create a new dialogue between the librarian and the postgraduate student, along with comprehensive discussions on different starting points, and how communication and collaboration can help reach the best of both worlds. Explores the new roles available for research librarians and how they can be integral parts of research Provides a new roadmap on how to deal with the new work environment that now exists between librarians and researchers Discusses the development and systemizing of research support services and strategies Offers insights into the collaboration between the librarian and PhD-candidates
Showcases strategies for successfully embedding librarians and library services across higher education. Chapters feature case studies and reports on projects from a wide variety of colleges and universities. --from publisher description.
Today's research librarian exists within an environment of rapid and unrelenting change. A wide and increasing variety of technological advances are transforming the communication, organization, and storage of information -- and the librarian's traditional function. This work represents the first analytical discussion of the functional role of the research librarian, as well as the relationship between the research librarian, the scholar, and the record of scholarship. Key points include an in-depth, analytical treatment of the future nature of the research library and the future role of the research librarian; fresh appraisals of research library cooperation and the application of technology to research libraries; and a new look at preservation alternatives within the context of the research library's future. Eldred Smith identifies the essential contribution that the research librarian makes to the scholarly process, as well as how and why the librarian has, throughout history, been unable to fulfill the role completely. He explores the scholar's information-seeking practices, and identifies the reasons why these are at odds with the information-organization practices of librarians. Also probed is the conflict that the librarian feels between preservation and the use of research library collections, discussing how this conflict has influenced research library policy and practice. Smith discusses the new electronic information technology as both a threat to the continuation of the research librarian's historical role and as an opportunity to fulfill that role more completely than in the past. Also discussed are the steps that the research librarian needs to take in order to use the new technologies to advantage, including a major redirection of collection preservation activities. The book concludes with a discussion of the main features of the future research library, which provide for a strengthened relationship between the librarian and the scholar, as well as a more productive and substantive contribution by the research librarian to the scholarly process. Research librarians, academic librarians, academic administrators, and scholarly publishers will find a wealth of information in the pages of this book. It will also serve as an ideal adjunct in any course dealing with the future of libraries and librarianship.
Drawing on the expertise of a diverse community of practitioners, this collection of case studies, original research, survey chapters, and theoretical explorations presents a wide-ranging look at the field of academic data librarianship.
