Gaining access to everyday life information seeking

The discursive viewpoint adopted by many researchers who study everyday life information seeking allows for a shift in focus away from the individual as a unit of analysis toward a more general understanding of the broader cultural conditions within which individuals operate. However, the data employed by such researchers often consist of the testimony or observed actions of individuals. This paradox provides a point from which to reflect on the process of gaining access or entry to everyday life information seekers as research participants. This article presents the authors’ reflections on their experiences of conducting separate library and information science studies of three diverse populations: pregnant women, members of a self-help support group, and preschool children. The article’s premise is that theory and research practice are intertwined and that attending to issues of gaining access is essential for the development of both. Access is an emergent process dependent on the characteristics of the researcher, the participants, and the research context.     

Research News

In secondary schools, subjects dominate teaching and also the organizational structures. Typically, subject department heads perform a middle-management role in secondary schools and often this role is taken-for-granted and unquestioned. In this article, we examine the impact on secondary school culture and the resulting changes to practice when the department middle-management structure and roles are open to revision. We investigate the experiences of two schools that are part of a longitudinal study on reculturing and restructuring in all secondary schools in one school district in Ontario, Canada. Our research indicates that structural change initiated by school level participants is a prerequisite to real change and that structural changes preceded cultural changes. However, it is the process of creating the new structures that is the key consideration as mandating an alternative might not be facilitative of cultural change. The primary research question guiding this article is: what impact does involvement in restructuring a middle-management organizational model have on the culture of a school and the change process experienced by staff members?     

Recruitment of Minorities into Natural Resources Educational Programs

A look at programs aimed at making affirmative action work, at promoting some other form of equity, or at achieving equity and excellence.     

ALLEVIATING TRANSFER SHOCK: CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR MORE SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER STUDENTS

Community college students transferring to a 4-year college or university face a variety of challenges. Social and academic issues can pose potential hurdles to graduating with a bachelor's degree for these students. Community colleges and 4-year institutions must work closely together to create more efficient and effective partnerships for students transitioning through the higher education system. This article makes suggestions for community college staff and faculty members to help transfer students successfully transition into university life and complete a bachelor's degree.     

Understanding the information and resource needs of UK health and social care placement students

Background: Students on health and social care degree programmes spend 50% of their time on practice placements. Because of the diversity of settings and the need to evidence their work, it is vital to understand the information and resource needs of placement students. Objectives: The aim of this investigation was to understand the needs of placement students in terms of accessing resources whilst they are in the field in order to inform a guide to meet these needs. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with students on midwifery, social work and post‐registration health professions degree programmes on three different sites across the region. Data were analysed using Thematic Content Analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the data: inequality, user education needs and students’ solutions and strategies. Conclusions: It is essential to speak to placement students in order to understand their needs in terms of accessing and using library resources. The timing and content of information skills training is key to meeting student needs while on placement.     

A Tale of Two Outliers: Evidence-Based Management in Non-ARL Research Libraries and Pre-NARA Presidential Libraries

Administrators in libraries of all types face the challenge of managing and planning in times of static or declining funding and rapidly changing technology. What tools do they use to gather and employ data for decision-making and evidence-based management? Are the same tools and techniques useful for all types of libraries? Although there are established measurements and metrics for academic libraries, there are few, if any, for others such as hybrid presidential libraries which are not part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) system. This column identifies the metrics used by the pre-NARA presidential libraries and compares them to metrics used by a subgroup of Carnegie Research 1 and Research 2 libraries, those that do not participate in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) statistics program. It identifies similarities and differences.     

A multimodal critical discourse analysis of anti-vaccination information on Facebook

In light of recent outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, childhood vaccination has been the subject of significant attention and controversy. Much information seeking and debates about vaccines take place on social media, yet the effects of information context-specific factors on parental information seeking and sharing and information source assessment remain unknown. Through the lenses of reductionist thinking and cognitive authority, this study employed a multimodal critical discourse analysis approach to analyze the textual and graphic information within a public anti-vaccine Facebook group. Findings show that parental information seeking and sharing worked to create an isolated, sentimentalized information context favoring immediacy and emotional impact over scientific research and statistical evidence. Because participants shared fundamental beliefs and goals around vaccines, group members held cognitive authority despite the lack of expertise or evidentiary support in their postings. This controversial information-based movement poses challenges and opportunities for library outreach and information provision.