Developing evidence‐based librarianship: practical steps for implementation*

Abstract

Evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is a relatively new concept for librarians. This paper lays out a practical framework for the implementation of EBL. A new way of thinking about research in librarianship is introduced using the well-built question process and the assignment of librarian research questions to one of six domains specific to librarianship. As a profession, librarianship tends to reflect more qualitative, social sciences / humanities in its research methods and study types which tend to be less rigorous and more prone to bias. Randomised controlled trials (RCT) do not have to be placed at the top of an evidence 'hierarchy' for librarianship. Instead, a more encompassing model reflecting librarianship as a whole and the kind of research likely to be done by librarians is proposed. 'Evidence' from a number of disciplines including health sciences, business and education can be utilized by librarians and applied to their practice. However, access to and availability of librarianship literature needs to be further studied. While using other disciplines (e.g. EBHC) as a model for EBL has been explored in the literature, the authors develop models unique to librarianship. While research has always been a minor focus in the profession, moving research into practice is becoming more important and librarians need to consider the issues surrounding research in order to move EBL forward.

“Ask, Acquire, Appraise”: A Study of LIS Practitioners Participating in an EBLIP Continuing Education Course

“…the supply) end and to examine the characteristics of the literature in connection with its question-answering potential. Crumley and Koufogiannakis (2002) created a taxonomy of six domains (i.e. broad subject areas) within which library and information practitioner questions might be framed.…”

“…Recurring themes include efficiency (especially of staff time), the development of innovative services, and improving existing services. Participants were asked to categorize their question into one of the six EBLIP domains (Crumley & Koufogiannakis, 2002;Koufogiannakis et al, 2004): Management, Information Access and Retrieval, Professional, Collections, Reference and Enquiries, and Education. Examples from each are included below in Table 1.…”

How are we Measuring Up? Evaluating Research Data Services in Academic Libraries

“…In their book Being Evidence Based in Library and Information Practice, Koufogiannakis and Brettle (2016) describe a new framework for EBLIP that explicitly acknowledges the role of local evidence and professional knowledge in combination with research evidence, and offers a structured approach for decision making that has great potential for evaluating RDS. The proposed framework describes five phases of EBLIP: (Crumley & Koufogiannakis, 2002;Koufogiannakis, Slater, and Crumley, 2004). Perhaps the most widely used EBLIP tool is the critical appraisal.…”

Looking Forwards and Looking Back

“…Library and Information Practice has been about its name (e.g., Booth, 2003), its definition (e.g., Booth, 2003), the evidence (e.g., Crumley andKoufogiannakis, 2003 andEldredge, 2004), and most recently, whether it has a future or whether we should all retire (Booth, 2011). For me, EBLIP is not about the name; it is about what we do, how we behave, and how the library and information profession can have a continued future.…”