Portal for Law Librarians

From http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Research_Portal_for_Academic_Librarians:

Research will often follow a structured, systematic and formal process which can be be replicated or designed specifically to solve complex local problems or to uncover new facts and relationships within a given context (Waltz and Bausell, 1981). As such, research is the process of seeking reliable answers to questions in an organized and objective way. (Payton, 1979). Research may be a controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions (Kerlinger, 1973); it seeks to find the truth through study, observation, comparisons and experimentation. Searching for knowledge (often called objective truth) through systematic methods is a critical part of the research process (Kothari, 2006). Many of the definitions available suggest a link between good research which is systematic and well-designed studies which are directed towards objectively investigating problems.

Academic librarians’ challenges in conducting research

“…librarianship is an “information poor” information profession. Decisions are routinely not supported by the evidence of well-designed investigations. Research in the field is poorly communicated, understood, and applied. It is imperative that academic librarians and higher education libraries develop and carry out systematic research and development programs.” — Neal, 2006

Librarians deal with a number of challenges in conducting their research:

• a lack of protected time in their regular work schedules
• a lack of academic library support and research infrastructure
• most academic libraries are really sub-par in supporting librarian-led research
• academic librarians know how to ask good research questions and perform literature reviews but have little training in critical appraisal and research methods
• academic librarians feel ill-equipped to conduct research because it is discouraged in their workplace
• academic librarians are overburdened with daily tasks, and conducting research is not considered a priority
• research is not considered significant enough to advance their career/reputation
• academic librarians are trying to anticipate new trends in research such as altmetrics, data management, big data, text-mining & social network analysis
• that said, librarians may find the files below helpful in building some understanding of library and information-related research

Resources

To see the Health Information and Libraries for Evaluation and Research (HEALER) wiki, go to http://researchflowchart.pbworks.com/w/page/6839792/Welcome-and-Acknowledgements ; to view the lifecycle of library research in academic libraries, see http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/index.aspx.

References

Kerlinger FN. Foundations of behavioral research. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.
Kothari CR. Research methodology: methods & techniques. India: New Age International Publishers, 2006.