Prevalence of methodological transparency in the use of mixed methods research in library and information science research in South Africa and Nigeria, 2009–2015

Methodological transparency facilitates rigorous, trustworthy, and reliable mixed methods research (MMR). Because divergent views on the conceptualization of mixed methods can create confusion for researchers, methodological transparency can help researchers to replicate methods in other studies and attract them to mixed methods research. Many studies have been conducted to assess the utilization of mixed methods research in several disciplines, but few in library and information science (LIS) have studied how authors describe the methods used. This study investigated the clarity and detail provided about methodology in mixed methods research articles in LIS, focusing on South Africa and Nigeria. Content analysis was used to assess 104 doctoral theses, of which 10 used mixed methods. Results suggest that methodological transparency in MMR research is underrepresented in LIS. This study contributes to the discussion on how LIS can enhance the quality of mixed methods research studies by underscoring the importance of methodological transparency in such studies. Researchers and LIS educators can use the gaps identified by this study to use and report mixed methods appropriately in future research.     

Cartographies of research designs in library information science research in Nigeria and South Africa, 2009–2015

Research designs are key to the research process and the production of knowledge that supports performance and development. The appropriateness of the methodologies used in research has implications for the trustworthiness and validity of the outcomes of research and practice. The research designs used in library information science (LIS) research in Nigeria and South Africa between 2009 and 2015 were investigated. The objective was to map out the contours of the research designs that are utilised in LIS, particularly to keep the profession abreast of the trends in the field and the patterns in research designs used. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine 104 PhD dissertations, using six taxonomies to categorise research designs used in the two countries. Positivist epistemologies and quantitative methodologies predominated research in LIS. A handful of studies used basic mixed method research designs. Questionnaires and interviews were commonly used for data collection, but the triangulation of methods was not prevalent. The value of this study lies in that it will lead to the accumulation of knowledge of research designs and provide a baseline for studies on methodological practices.     

Research note: Research in library and information science in a developing country—Nigeria

Factors that inhibit the advancement of research in library and information science in Nigeria include, for instance, the poor dissemination of research findings, noncollaborative research with those in other fields, academic and professional ineptitude, inadequate funding, societal indifference to research, and inefficient use of the knowledge and skills gained from doing research. This article discusses the implications of these shortcomings to the profession and to information services, as well as offers recommendations.     

How important is software to library and information science research? A content analysis of full-text publications

We investigate the contributions of scientific software to library and information science (LIS) research using a sample of 572 English language articles published in 13 journals in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017. In particular, we examine the use and citation of software freely available for academic use in the LIS literature; we also explore the extent to which researchers follow software citation instructions provided by software developers. Twenty-seven percent of the LIS journal articles in our sample explicitly mention and use software. Yet although LIS researchers are becoming increasingly reliant on software that is freely available for academic use, many still fail to include formal citations of such software in their publications. We also find that a substantial proportion of researchers, when documenting software use, do not cite the software in the manner recommended by its developers.     

Evidence based library and information practice: what's in it for you?

With its roots in evidence‐based medicine, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice emerged 15 years ago and, with health librarians leading the way, has since been adopted by librarians and libraries in all sectors. EBLIP is an iterative process that may see you undertaking your own research although most likely, it will see you integrate your experience as a library and information professionals with research evidence generated both within and without the library science sector. As a library and information worker, you can use the Evidence Based Library and Information Practice process to help inform your decision‐making, streamline services and identify ways forward to fit your personal context.     

Research complexity increases with scientists’ academic age: Evidence from library and information science

With the continued aging of the scientific workforce, the impact of this trend on scientists’ research performance has attracted increasing attention. The literature has predominantly focused on the productivity, impact, and collaboration pattern of scientists of different ages. A research gap is found in investigating the differences in the research topics studied by junior and senior scientists. This study focuses on the complexity of a scientist's research portfolio (RPC). Based on the concept of economic complexity, RPC was measured to characterize the capability of scientists to study complex research topics. An economic algorithm was adopted to estimate RPC on heterogeneous author-topic bipartite networks using bibliographic data from the field of Library and Information Science between 1971 and 2020. Through comparisons among scientist groups, RPC shows promise in distinguishing outstanding scientists from peers who have similar values of other indicators (e.g., citations and H-index). The change in RPC was further probed across scientists’ careers and an increasing trend with academic age was found, even after removing the accumulated advantages of senior scientists. Moreover, top-ranked scientists distinguish themselves from their peers by a higher RPC in the first year and a greater growth rate during their careers. While many researchers have their highest RPC in the first year, most top-ranked scientists reach their peak RPC later in their careers. The results provide helpful references for studies on the aging effect in academia.     

Exploring the “awakening effect” in knowledge diffusion: a case study of publications in the library and information science domain

Inspired by “sleeping beauties in science”, we proposed that the awakening effect in knowledge diffusion is ubiquitous, whereas the “prince” paper has the strongest effect. To test this hypothesis, a three-layer super-network model depicting the knowledge diffusion trajectory is designed and the diffusion path of the awakening effect (defined on the basis of influential strength) is simulated. In detail, the model is built based on the citation network and collaboration network of 63785 publications in the library and information science domain. Through meta-paths in this super-network, the influential strength of a paper and the awakening effect from neighboring papers can be quantified into 36 numerical features. By testing the effectiveness of these features in citation counts prediction, we try to prove our hypothesis. Thus an effective predictor in machine learning is trained upon these features. Using this predictor, we showed that most neighboring papers in the super-network had effects on future citation counts. The effectiveness of these features is again demonstrated through experiments on papers with different publication years. We also did a case study on papers that were significantly affected by the awakening effect, and found that the model proposed in this paper can also be used to explain some common phenomena in knowledge diffusion. All results show that the awakening effect could be not only ubiquitous but also quantifiable.     

Ethical issues and learning analytics: Are academic library practitioners prepared?

Academic libraries are participating in the collection and analysis of student data. Under the umbrella of learning analytics, these practices are directed toward developing an understanding of how libraries contribute to student learning, the educational experience, and efficient operations of academic institutions. Learning analytics, however, is loaded with ethical issues, which are made more complex by the high ethical bar library practitioners espouse as part of their professional values. This article discusses findings from a survey of academic library practitioners. The survey identifies what ethical issues practitioners associate with learning analytics and the degree to which they are prepared to address such issues. The discussion suggests pathways forward for filling knowledge and practice gaps.     

In the right vein? How adequately are departments of information and library studies educating for health care information management and library services in a changing health service?

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Discovery systems: Are they now the library?

Key points

• Library discovery systems have become successfully embedded in many academic and specialist libraries.
• Such systems require excellent metadata to ensure discoverability of content and increasingly publishers are charged with delivering that.
• Libraries’ traditional role in organizing their collections for effective discovery is being usurped by these outsourced systems.

     

Gender differences in research areas,methods and topics: Can people and thing orientations explain the results?

Although the gender gap in academia has narrowed, females are underrepresented within some fields in the USA. Prior research suggests that the imbalances between science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields may be partly due to greater male interest in things and greater female interest in people, or to off-putting masculine cultures in some disciplines. To seek more detailed insights across all subjects, this article compares practising US male and female researchers between and within 285 narrow Scopus fields inside 26 broad fields from their first-authored articles published in 2017. The comparison is based on publishing fields and the words used in article titles, abstracts, and keywords. The results cannot be fully explained by the people/thing dimensions. Exceptions include greater female interest in veterinary science and cell biology and greater male interest in abstraction, patients, and power/control fields, such as politics and law. These may be due to other factors, such as the ability of a career to provide status or social impact or the availability of alternative careers. As a possible side effect of the partial people/thing relationship, females are more likely to use exploratory and qualitative methods and males are more likely to use quantitative methods. The results suggest that the necessary steps of eliminating explicit and implicit gender bias in academia are insufficient and might be complemented by measures to make fields more attractive to minority genders.     

The Cynefin framework: A tool for analyzing qualitative data in information science?

Interpreting qualitative research data and presenting it in ways that enable potential beneficiaries of the research to use it readily and appropriately is increasingly important in the context of the research impact agenda. One way of doing uses the Cynefin framework. Cynefin, which is rooted in knowledge management and complexity science, has been used in a range of contexts to support decision-making and strategy development in dynamic and challenging situations. However, it has not been widely used as a data analysis technique or in the information science discipline. An exploratory evaluation uses it to interpret the rich, nuanced qualitative data from a three-year research project that engaged people worldwide to explore issues and practical strategies for managing electronic records, a significant information management challenge. The evaluation demonstrates that the Cynefin framework provides a strategic lens through which to view electronic records management (ERM). Cynefin prompts new questions to be asked, leading to new insights and a deeper understanding of the ERM challenge. Most significantly, it provides a new construct for re-perceiving the challenge in a holistic way and offers a strategic approach to taking action for change. This evaluation suggests that it is an appropriate and effective framework for use in qualitative research on challenging information management problems, with the potential to support the transfer of research into practice.     

“You can't eat information:” Government information and the information policy role of the national library of New Zealand

The National Library of New Zealand is committed to promoting access to information. Government information is a significant component in the Library's operational and policy work. The Library collects published government information and provides policy advice on New Zealanders' ability to access and use information. Over the last decade, the National Library has initiated or contributed to a number of projects concerned with government information. Some, like the Depository Library Scheme, are solely focused on government information, whereas others discuss government information issues in the wider context of information policy at the national level. This article looks at the environment in which these projects arose, what they achieved, and the reasons why it has not been easy to gain agreement for a unified focus on government information.     

Clear‐cut?: facilitating health librarians to use information research in practice

In 1999, staff at the universities of Sheffield and Oxford commenced an unfunded project to examine whether it is feasible to apply critical appraisal to daily library practice. This aimed to establish whether barriers experienced when appraising medical literature (such as lack of clinical knowledge, poor knowledge of research methodology and little familiarity with statistical terms) might be reduced when appraising research within a librarian's own discipline. Innovative workshops were devised to equip health librarians with skills in interpreting and applying research. Critical Skills Training in Appraisal for Librarians (CRISTAL) used purpose-specific checklists based on the Users' Guides to the Medical Literature. Delivery was via half-day workshops, based on a format used by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Two pilot workshops in Sheffield and Oxford were evaluated using a brief post-workshop form. Participants recorded objectives in attending, their general understanding of research, and whether they had read the paper before the workshop. They were asked about the length, content and presentation of the workshop, the general format, organization and learning environment, whether it had been a good use of their time and whether they had enjoyed it. Findings must be interpreted with caution. The workshops were enjoyable and a good use of time. Although the scenario selected required no clinical knowledge, barriers remain regarding statistics and research methodology. Future workshops for librarians should include sessions on research design and statistics. Further developments will take forward these findings.     

Gender and research publishing in India: Uniformly high inequality?

Women’s access to academic careers has been historically limited by discrimination and cultural constraints. Comprehensive information about gender inequality within disciplines is needed to understand the problem and target remedial action. India is the fifth largest research producer but has a low international index of gender inequality and so is an important case. This study assesses gender inequalities in Indian journal article publishing in 2017 for 186 research fields. It also seeks overall gender differences in interests across academia by comparing the terms used in 27,710 articles with an Indian male or female first author. The data show that there are at least 1.5 male first authors per female first author in each of 26 broad fields and 2.8 male first authors per female first author overall. Compared to the USA, India has a much lower share of female first authors but smaller variations in gender differences between broad fields. Dentistry, Economics and Maths are all more female in India, but Veterinary is much less female than in the USA. There is a tendency for males to research thing-oriented topics and for females to research helping people and some life science topics. More initiatives to promote gender equality in science are needed to address the overall imbalance, but care should be taken to avoid creating the larger between-field gender differences found in the USA.     

What type of leader am I?: a training needs analysis of health library and information managers

Background: Leadership is a necessary facet of professional practice for health library and information managers (HLIMs). Several training needs analyses (TNA) in the health library and information services field have been conducted in recent years, all identifying a need for professional development in leadership skills. However, these previous TNAs have not focused on specific elements of leadership skills required by health library and information managers. Objectives: The National Library for Health (NLH) commissioned the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield to conduct a TNA where HLIMs assess their current leadership skills and identify any future development needs in this area. The results would inform a programme of influencing skills workshops. Methods: HLIMs in the UK were invited to complete a self‐assessment online questionnaire. The questionnaire utilised items from Manning and Robertson’s Influencing Skills Style Profile (ISSP). This allowed the results to be characterised by influencing ‘style’. Results: HLIMs considered themselves to have strengths in the leadership areas of influencing, negotiating, managing change and delivering presentations to decision‐makers. They identified significant development needs in communicating with stakeholders, conflict resolution, using body language and being assertive. Most HLIMs demonstrated two collaborative styles identified by the ISSP, namely strategic collaborator and opportunistic collaborator. Conclusions: In difficult times, HLIMs may need to adapt to more of an ‘opportunistic‐battler’ influencing style. It is important that HLIMs not only assess their own leadership skills but also that they take opportunities to employ 360^° feedback, comprising assessment from subordinates, peers and supervisors.     

Are we “out of the box” yet? A case study and critique of managerial metaphors of change

A cultural‐critical approach is used to explore dominant and alternative ideologies of change reflected in the metaphors of a retail‐based management staff. The case study reveals the managers as change agents were well versed in the corporate call to “get out of the box, “yet reflected a less transformational vision of change in their own discourse. Traveling metaphors used by the store‐level managers indicated a process orientation to change, but one that severely limited discussion about other possible routes toward the desired end. Suppressed alternative metaphors speaking to the personal losses and frustrations associated with change are exposed and validated in this analysis. Implications for research and practice are discussed.