Research Proposal

32 | LJ | JULY 2018

Research and library school go hand in hand. By the time library or information school students graduate, they’re veterans at researching topics—figuring out which kinds of resources will be germane and trust- worthy, finding them in-house or out. But a different kind of research is also a part of library school: original research conducted by students and faculty. Long a mainstay of LIS professors, who advance the field with their examination of learning behaviors and library praxis, increasingly such new discoveries are part of the learning experience for students as well.

LJ took a look at work being done nationwide and spoke with some of those involved to get an overview of what’s un- der investigation, how students encounter the process, what they get out of it at the time (from course credit to prestigious publications), and how it benefits their later careers, whether they stay in academia or not.

Such research is amazingly varied, including the highly theoretical as well as more practical efforts to improve a specific area of library activity. Taking note of the hottest

trends in student research topics highlights areas of rapid change in the field, pain points in library practice, and gaps in the existing literature.

Technology is a common thread in many current studies. At a broad level, it’s even possible to say that most research now involves looking at the use of technology in one way or another. Under that umbrella, however, two themes emerge as hot: user privacy and the use of open educational resources (OER). How to improve and encourage patron ease of using the library and its resources is also being explored.

EXAMINING PRIVACY Student projects completed at New York City’s Pratt Insti- tute (bit.ly/2Bm38Ni) offer a look at a variety of privacy-

Henrietta Verma is the Customer Success Manager at Credo Reference. Her reviews can be found at mysteriesandmore.tumblr.com

LIS EDUCATION

LIS students increasingly conduct original research, moving the

field and their careers forward By Henrietta Verma

SCHOLARS

related studies at the master’s level, with recent efforts in- cluding “The Role of Libraries Within Prisons, Jails, and Juvenile Facilities” and “Mapping Lab: 2016 Stop and Frisk Data in Carto.” Geographic information system (GIS) and mapping tools such as Carto and other data analysis and dis- play tools are heavily used by today’s students, who are ex- pected to be adept at informatics. (In addition to traditional research papers, many projects are publishing their underly- ing data sets and producing data visualizations.)

“We feel strongly that a master’s program is not about skills but about deep understanding of theories and con- textualizing theory in the workplace,” says Debbie Rabina, professor and LIS program coordinator at Pratt. “While skills address the how, research provides an answer to the why. It is not possible to be a leader in the field without un- derstanding and engaging in the research process. Original research is obviously challenging within a semester frame- work but not uncommon. We see original research espe- cially from students [whose projects] combine technology and literature.”

One Pratt student project that combines technology and not literature but media is “An Educator’s Guide to Internet Privacy Using Mr. Robot” (bit.ly/2n17cxe). In this 2016 work, Pratt MSLIS candidate Allison Nellis created a guide to be used with adults who are learning about technology- related privacy in the library or classroom. It employs as a basis the first season of the cable television series Mr. Robot, whose main character is an engineer at a cybersecurity firm. The guide discusses privacy issues that appear throughout the series, pinpoints specific laws that are broken in each epi- sode, and provides talking points for classroom discussion. This guide presents an unusual method of study for students probing privacy and cybersecurity legislation.

OPENING THE BOOKS One OER research project has recently been started by Eliza- beth Dill, director of library services at Troy University, AL, who is pursuing a doctorate in public administration (DPA). (It is worth noting that not all work assessing library practice happens in library schools.) Dill is assessing academic library value using the bibliographies of Troy’s grant applications. Her work will compare the number of citations to materials in Troy’s library e-collections to the number of citations to OER and open access (OA) resources. The research will also exam- ine the amount of grant money awarded according to citation

type. Dill explains that the “findings can help academic library administrators make and justify informed decisions regarding budget allocation for their online collections. Also, as this is a three-year study, the yearly number and percentage of increase or decrease over the prior year for each type of resource will be determined.”

Related investigations have been performed in the past, and Dill says that work was the impetus for her study. “Work has been done before that looked at the ROI [return on invest- ment] on [our] library’s collections, and I wanted to expand upon that to look at OER,” says Dill. “I’ve never done original research before, so I’m learning as I go through the DPA pro- gram. I think this will be valuable research for my institution because we’re trying to get as many grants as possible.”

Dill notes that her long-term goal is to progress through the ranks of library administration and considers research work an important step toward that goal. “It is important to my career to have this experience under my belt,” says Dill. “The plan is for it to lead to a job as assistant or associate dean in the future.“

ASSESSING USER EDUCATION Like OA, helping patrons acquire or improve information literacy and ease of use of the library is hardly a novel concept, but new aspects of the problem appear as technology, libraries, and patron needs and expectations change. Fresh ways of tack- ling the issue are always welcome, making this a lively as well as perennial area of research work.

Student Ben Rearick has been working for one and a half years at the University of Michigan (UM) Libraries on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)–funded project “Making in Michigan Libraries.” The project involves teaching local public librarians about Maker spaces, the Maker movement, and how they can implement Maker activities

in their community. The researchers seek information on how libraries view the Maker movement and what their commu- nities require from it, whether the need is education, help for entrepreneurs, or, says Rearick, “just providing a place for children and adults to relax.” The team is creating a Maker space handbook for libraries; it has already held a related virtual conference (see graphic this page).

Another aspect of the grant is research- ing the implementation of Maker curricula. “In the public libraries we’re involved with, we’ve worked with after-school programs, and so we’ve been able to test out curricula and see what students are interested in, how

JULY 2018 | LJ | 33 WWW.LIBRARYJOURNAL.COM REVIEWS, NEWS, AND MORE

While skills address the how, research provides an answer to the why. It is not possible to be a leader in the field without understanding and engaging in the research process.”— D EBBIE R ABINA , PR AT T INSTITUTE

TWO KINDS OF DATA (l.–r.): The Making in Michigan Libraries Virtual Conference reported out student findings from the University of Michigan; this eye- catching graphic highlighted Pratt student research into the role of libraries in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities

“

they learn, and what works,” comments Rearick. Rearick sheds some light on what it was like to enter an

ongoing project, something many students face as they join a multiyear project for a semester. “I came into this work while it was already under way,” he explains, “so I’ve had to work out what was already done with the handbook and the direction it was going in before. I’ve had to work with my professor on what to focus on in the handbook and what sort of voice it should have.” Like Dill, he emphasizes that the completion of research in library school is career- boosting. “I’ve been able to pre sent at a couple of conferences [for ex- ample, bit.ly/2Dvf Dfu], reporting on what I’ve done,” says Rearick. “Having a publication and having presented, even at an event as small as the research symposium that’s built into the grant, is a demonstration of being able to conduct research in an academic library setting, which I hope to do in the future.”

STUDYING FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS The information literacy needs of first-year students are the subject of an upcoming research project at the University of Alberta (UA), Edmonton, and of recent work at the iSchool at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Jen Kendall is a gradu- ate research assistant at the UA SLIS and an intern for the university press. She is beginning research about first-year students’ anxiety when it comes to librar- ies, with students at her university as the subjects. “I am hoping to compare how f irst-generation stu- dents (FGS) compare to continuing generation stu- dents (CGS) when taking a modified Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) as well as in- terviewing several FGS to learn more about how they experience library anxi- ety,” Kendall says. “Much research has been done on library anxiety, and FGS are becoming more visible as their presence in aca- demia increases, but little research has been completed on how library anxiety specifically manifests in these students.”

Her choice of subject was informed by her own history. “As an FGS,” says Kendall, “I had many of the [exposures] that my first-generation peers have had. When I was seeking a topic for a preliminary research project...I discovered that not only were we generally overlooked in the literature, but our specific anxiety about navigating academic libraries was largely overlooked (an exception being Ernesto Hernandez Jr., at Weber State University, Ogden, UT, who was kind enough to share some sources with me and offer support).” Kendall decided to learn more “in order to, at minimum, compile a resource guide to help other students in my posi-

tion. University is stressful enough without thinking you’re the only person in the room who doesn’t understand what’s happening.” The results of the study will benefit academic librarians’ practice, Kendall says, by showing them ways in which FGS feel uncomfortable both in the library and in navigating libraries’ digital resources. Public libraries will benefit, too, with Kendall noting that “FGS are more likely to use the public library while in university for a variety of reasons: accessibility, comfort, free parking, ability to bring children, extended hours.”

TEACHING THE RESEARCHERS Related work at the University of Illinois (UI) was completed in fall 2017 by a team led by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, professor/ coordinator for information literacy services and instruction in the university library. “We often think of library school students as getting practical experience in being a librarian,” Hinchliffe says, “but I’ve been doing a lot of work with library school students who anticipate that they want to go into aca- demic library jobs, where they will be tenure track and will need to do research and publish.”

Hinchliffe’s fall 2017 team investigated the misconcep- tions that f irst-year stu- dents have related to in- formation literacy. They used survey data collected by LJ (bit.ly/2rycrKz; see chart) ref lecting librarians’ opinions of and encounters with f irst-year students, then coded the librarians’ responses in order to iden- tif y m isconceptions on the part of students. The team then took that mis- conception inventory and held focus groups with li- brarians who work with f irst-year students, says Hinchliffe, validating and modifying the misconcep- tion inventory with group feedback. ( See a webi- nar about this project at bit.ly/2EZVQB1.) “Some of the results are not sur- prising,” says Hinchliffe. “For example, we found

that first-year students believe that Google is sufficient for academic research and that they are already information literate.”

Hinchliffe explains that in her work, she aims to help students who want to go into academic libraries, where they will have research responsibilities, to be prepared by developing their research skills and knowledge. “Some of the biggest challenges for those who are new to carrying out research is that the processes...are very opaque,” she notes. “To people who are new to the research process, it looks like there’s this question, then a bunch of miracles occur, then an article gets published.” She’s working to demystify the pro- cess and help students see that doing research involves skills

34 | LJ | JULY 2018

How many first-year students enter your institution prepared for college-level research?

Respondents working in four-year institutions estimate that less than a third (30%) of their first-year students arrive prepared to do college-level research. The percentage drops to 23% in community colleges.

TWO-YEAR/ FOUR-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE/ TOTAL COLLEGE UNIVERSITY

TOTAL 453 122 331

Less than 10% 15% 24% 12% 10–19% 23% 27% 22% 20–29% 23% 23% 23% 30–39% 16% 13% 18% 40–49% 8% 4% 9% 50–59% 10% 7% 11% 60–69% 3% 3% 3% 70% or more 1% 0% 3%

AVERAGE % OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS PREPARED 28.1% 22.6% 30.2%

SOURCE: LJ FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2017

Under the guidance of Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, students at the University of Illinois analyzed this survey data from LJ to investigate first-year students’ misconceptions about information literacy

LIS EDUCATION

WWW.LIBRARYJOURNAL.COM REVIEWS, NEWS, AND MORE

and knowledge but also project management know-how. In Hinchliffe’s role with student researchers, which she

refers to as “coaching and mentoring,” she is careful to set expectations that work with students’ schedules. “It’s not possible to do a research project and get it published in one semester,” she says, “so it would be unreasonable to make getting published a required outcome to a good grade. And the research might not go well. Publication space is com- petitive, and you have to show why your research matters.” Typically, Hinchliffe says, she requires students to complete the project, ref lect on the process in writing along the way, and write a summative essay at the end. Then, depending on the student and the topic, she might also ask them to write a conference proposal but doesn’t require that it is actually submitted, because the student may not have the funding or other capacity to attend if accepted.

Allison Rand, a graduate assistant in the undergraduate library at UI, participated in Hinchliffe’s project on first-year students’ misconceptions and offered a student-researcher perspective. “This research has a lot of layers,” she says. “We are trying to understand how librarians understand how first-year students understand the library.” Rand illustrates how, sometimes, research findings cause a pivot in a project’s approach. “We initially threw out affective data like ‘the students don’t want to be here,’ because it wasn’t what we were studying,” says Rand. “But as we continued with the work, we discovered that the misconceptions that we were finding were the reasons behind the affective problems. So

the things we threw out at the beginning of the research came back in at the end.”

Rand’s goals were to learn about the research process and get some familiarity, she says, noting that “this is kind of a vague plan for a for-credit independent study, but I didn’t want to make my goals too specific because I didn’t know how in-depth the research would be. It turned out that I ended up with two deliverables from the work: the paper that I wrote up as part of the independent study and the one the other re- searchers and I wrote as a team.”

She explains that a less-tangible but valuable outcome of the work relates to academic job seeking. “Since [the MLS] is a terminal and a professional degree, there is some pressure that you should come out of library school able to do this kind of work,” Rand says. “Looking at job ads, I see that I can already check off several boxes. [Employers can see that] I have this drive to publish and be involved in the academic community.” ■

To people who are new to the research process, it looks like there’s this question, then a bunch of miracles occur, then an article gets published.”— LISA JANICKE HIN CHLIFFE , UNIVERSIT Y O F ILLIN OIS “

Why get a library science degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha?

Application deadlines are approaching. Get started:

online.nebraska.edu/library

888-622-0332

• 100% Online Options

• Accredited

• Affordable

• Award-Winning Faculty

• Engaged Advising

• High-Tech Learning Environments

• Field Site Experiences

• Local and Regional Professional Networks

• High Employment Placement Rates

100% ONLINE Bachelor’s Degree in Library Science THE UNIVERSIT Y OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA

Rosalie Brown, Student Library Science, BS Ed

Copyright of Library Journal is the property of Media Source, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.