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RAILS2
Papers are available at http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/educat/sis/CIS/epubs/RAILS2.htm
This presentation will cover the scope of RAILS research interests that the National Archives of Australia is currently focusing on: - Areas covered by our interestsand constraints on NAA involvement in research (eg., budget; whether in-house or with partners; funding models). Current research areas includearchival management; information retrieval; recordkeeping theory & practice; metadata implementation; conservation & preservation. The presentation will summarise current in-house & collaborative research projects and then discuss potential areas of research interest that NAA would like to have pursued either in collaboration or through other initatives. Middleton, Mike Information research may take many forms. When the researchers are situated within an information technology faculty, there is a natural orientation towards the technology and the systems that make possible the use of the technology.
We also describe how the research scholarship feeds back into and benefits curriculum development, teaching and industry practice. Lloyd, Brian The library community relies on the circulation of high-quality research documents in the public domain: through these we are able to share and define current practice, consider future directions, and apply consistent, workable standards. Importantly, they also become important tools in our advocacy to government. In this paper we explore what characteristics are more or less useful to libraries as they subject them to their particular needs and imperatives. Our case-study considers how the Northern Territory Library uses two important Australian documents-- the State Library of Victoria's Libraries Building Communities (http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/information/publications/policies_reports/plu_lbc.html) , and Alan Bundy's Bookstart report (http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/downloads/Public_Libraries_Unit/australianbookstartreport.doc ) -- within the context of its own research cycle. On the basis of this, and with reference to comparable international and domestic sources, we identify what from our perspective works well, what could work better, and what are avenues for further research. Berryman, Jenny This doctoral research investigates how, in an information-rich environment, workers assess they have enough information to complete the task at hand. The research also explores the influences that shape the ways in which workers make that assessment of 'enough information'. The research is situated in a theoretical perspective, which locates information behaviour in a context. The research is exploratory, taking a naturalistic orientation to investigate the phenomenon of enough information from a user perspective and uses a qualitative approach to develop an understanding of the richness and complexity of the decision to stop searching when enough information is gathered. The research is structured as a multiple case study, a method appropriate for exploratory research and which emphasises the importance of context. Semi-structured interviews are the data gathering technique. A first interview will explore the nature of the organisation and the work done there. The second interview focuses on how participants look for the information needed to do the work. Research participants are policy workers recruited from NSW public sector agencies and engaged in real information seeking activity, for example in the preparation of an issues paper (a task involving researching background information, both published and unpublished, summarising the current situation, assessing alternative options and recommending a preferred course of action). Policy workers were selected as research participants because they use information both as a resource and in the process of generating new information, thus providing an information-rich environment from which to draw data. Policy work includes the canvassing and monitoring issues, agenda setting, analysis and synthesis, consultation, dissemination of information for consultation and decision making. There is renewed interest in the role of information and research findings in policy making, with researchers continuing to call for greater effort in getting research findings into policy making. An inductive approach to analysis is being used, using constant comparison as a way of interrogating the data gathered. A phenomenographic analysis will also be carried out. Data gathering is underway and the conference paper will present preliminary findings. Labrum, Meg The National Film and Sound Archive is establishing a new Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research. This presentation will expand upon the structure for the Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research and discuss unexplored archival collections with potential for externally focussed research topics.\ The National Film and Sound Archive intends that a high level strategic and operational focus be given to scholarship, research and archival practice through the establishment of a Centre for Scholarly and Archival Research, based in Canberra. This Centre will be a focal point of access to the National Film and Sound Archive’s collections and will act as a driver of scholarship and research at both national and international levels. The Centre will encourage research into the Archive’s collection and foster an intellectual engagement with the academic community by facilitating greater research use of the collection. Fellowships will be available to a broad range of postgraduate students such as doctoral candidates, academic researchers and film and sound producers. Publications will not only involve books, periodicals and catalogues but could also include the production of DVD or CD content based on research results. The fellowships will be available on a variety of time-spans, with provisions varying according to each project. A range of options will be investigated to attract researchers to the Centre - from partnerships to travel reimbursement and accommodation. Haddow,
Gaby Strategies that might improve the communication of research and its application in practice are drawn from the author's doctoral research, experience in evidence based nursing and academic librarianship. Suggested strategies include: Involving practitioners in research projects that have relevance in their professional environment; conducting practitioner workshops demonstrating the ways in which research can be implemented in practice; including short research notes in publications that practitioners read; and collaborating with educators in research activities. The potential success of these strategies is discussed in the context of library environments, professional activities of librarians, pressures to provide quality services, and barriers to research communication. Williamson, Kirsty; Bannister, Marion; Makin, Lynne; Johanson, Graeme; Schauder, Don and Jen Sullivan Across the world, governments are aware that the retirement of the baby boomers will have a big impact on developed societies. This large group of the population is better educated, more technologically literate, and are generally wealthier than any previous generation. They are also renowned for their voracious consumption of information in all media. The pilot project reported in this paper has investigated the likely impact of the retirement of the baby boomers on the public library. The study was exploratory, in interpretivist mode, with the emphasis being placed on questions to encourage participants to think creatively about the library of the future, unfettered by present realities or even possibilities. The sample includes 16 baby boomers representing two major cohorts: leading edge boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and the trailing edge boomers (born between 1956 and 1965), who were interviewed in two focus groups – one in Newcastle, NSW, and one in Melbourne. We also interviewed four gatekeepers, defined as visionary leaders in the baby boomers age range who have a broad knowledge of the needs of their communities. There is an array of rich findings, a selection of which will be discussed. A key finding was that there were some differences in the perspectives of those who believed that they would be financially comfortable in the future and those who thought they would have minimal resources. Major issues include: the particular characteristics of the baby boomer cohort, e.g., the perception of them as a demanding generation who will want to travel when still active, who will have a range of interests, and will require services which are flexible and of high quality; needs in the transition period (when some of the baby boomers will be only semi-retired); the popularity of the notion of the public library as a social/cultural hub and a key networking and linking organisation; and the contributions that baby boomers might make to the public library. The conclusion will discuss further research, including the way in which findings can be used to assist future public library planning. Hinton, Ben In theory, public libraries serve the entire spectrum of the local community. But for the majority of potential clients whose waking life is structured by standard business hours, the library is not accessible. At best the local library (of fixed place and four walls) is open only one night a week after 5pm, or at worst is closed after hours. Even more temporal for the working majority are so called mobile libraries, whose book-shelves-on-wheels shift to different scheduled locations throughout the business hours of any given day. Boadle, Don What Maxine Rochester (1995:166) loosely described as ‘library history’ has constituted a significant portion of the research articles published in the Australian Library Journal and in Australian Academic and Research Libraries. By contrast, archival history has attracted much less interest from researchers publishing in Archives and Manuscripts. This paper examines the historical interests of Australian librarians and archivists during the past thirty years and explores the different ways in which they have used historical research and publication to advance professional agendas. It suggests that the focus in much of the professional literature on archivists’ efforts to differentiate themselves from librarians may have obscured their efforts to differentiate themselves from historians and considers whether this explains the lack of publication in archival history. Preer, Jean A historical perspective on the work of librarians and the role of libraries is essential to differentiating the library profession from other more newly minted information professions. During the period 1926 to 1956, from the celebration of ALA’s 50th anniversary to the passage of the Library Services Act, librarians faced many of the challenges we confront today: social change, technological advance, and competition from other information providers. Librarians often felt invisible, overlooked, and underestimated. In response, they campaigned for extended library service and federal aid, employed new technologies and public relations techniques, and took a stand against race discrimination. Their advocacy and activism provide powerful precedents for practitioners today Smith, Kerry Kerry will provide a brief summary of the activities of the ALIA Research Committee and its proposals for the future. Boston, Tony The National Library of Australia plays a significant role in Australian research through: the provision of services and infrastructure to support research and scholarship in Australia; its leadership role in the Australian library sector; and by undertaking research to develop content for its services. This presentation will provide a broad overview of the National Library's contribution to research, a snapshot of how this is achieved through development of innovative programs and services, and will discuss future initiatives in the context of the Library's strategic directions statement for 2006-2008. Redfern, Victoria
This paper reports on research being conducted as a part of a PhD thesis entitled the Educational Impact of Semantic Web Technology: The Implementation of an Online Contemporary Thesaurus. The aim of the research project is to investigate the educational impact of semantic web technology. This will involve an investigation of the value of a subject based prototype contemporary language thesaurus that will semantically search the internet for academic literature within an educational context. This seminar presentation will focus on the development of the contemporary core concept subject specific thesaurus that was prepared for the research project. The thesaurus was trialled for the subjects International Studies Foundations A and B in the University of Canberra curricula. The research methodology is within a quasi-experimental paradigm and will be conducted using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. As well as testing the core concept subject based thesaurus on the internet, the research approach will examine and ascertain student research information-seeking methodology, habits and preferences. The object of the research is to practically develop and test the core concept thesaurus as a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the thesaurus when students perform research tasks on the internet. In turn, the core concept thesaurus may help overcome the difficulty students experience using databases, library catalogues, on-line journals and the internet because of the lack of consistency in terminology, recognition of appropriate search terms and various methods of interrogation. The research may also provide evidence that the thesaurus does assist students with identification of core concepts for their subject area Hunter, Kerrie The first stage of this research involves the compilation of a comprehensive bibliography of Australian Baptist-related publications. Personal visits to all of the Australian Baptist theological college libraries, state archives and/or Baptist historical society collections will provide access to rarer or uncatalogued items and an opportunity to liaise with collection managers. Holdings information for items in the bibliography will indicate significant or unique items and those potentially at risk. Contact with the various librarians, archivists and historians around the country will also foster an understanding of the collection development strategies of each institution and their available facilities and services. From this base comes the opportunity to contribute to the development of co-operative ventures between the various institutions and custodians of Australian Baptist resources. I hope that the results of my research might encourage members of the various Australian Baptist organisations to consider collaborative projects that would advance the purposes of all Baptist institutions both individually and collectively. This may include things such as the development of a collaborative collection development policy, the development of a website with links to all of the collections, the sharing of duplicate resources, the prioritisation of unique or at-risk resources for conservation or digitisation and the encouragement of those responsible for Baptist collections to add their holdings to the National Bibliographic Database. My research would investigate the benefits of bringing geographically dispersed special collections together (as in the integration of Baptist state theological college and archive collections) and also investigate some of the challenges and issues that need to be addressed before such mergers occur. The wider Australian theological community, which includes many other denominational and religious collections, may also be able to participate in some of these proposed co-operative ventures. This project will enable me to develop specific expertise in the area of managing geographically distributed special collections and to develop and trial policies, management strategies and methodologies for collection development. These initiatives will also be broadly applicable to other special libraries and collections. The published results of this research will be a resource to inform best practice for all organisations dealing with issues related to the management of their geographically distributed collections. Fafetia, Jenny An information literacy workshop organized by the Victorian TAFE Reference Librarian's Group in 2003 provided the impetus for this research. The papers and group discussions at this workshop evidenced an active community of practitioners dedicated to teaching and fostering information literacy. This paper provides empirical evidence of the actual practices that Victorian TAFE librarians use to teach and foster information literacy, and is part of a wider study of Australian TAFE librarians. Victorian TAFE librarians were invited to participate in the survey earlier this year via the TAFE Reference Interest Group email list and the Victorian Association of TAFE Libraries listserv. Fifty-two librarians filled in the web-based questionnaire. The results provide a description of the practices that TAFE librarians currently use to teach and foster information literacy, including the types of training programs provided, methods of delivery and assessment, the level of integration of information literacy in the curriculum and librarian's perceptions of whether students, teachers and institute management value information literacy. Although TAFE librarians approach the teaching and fostering of information literacy with great tenacity, the results indicate that they are silenced by a number of stakeholders in TAFE. These barriers negatively impact on the success of their teaching and information literacy programs. Kennan, Mary
Anne In two previous studies we have looked at job ads in the LIS field to help us determine the knowledge, qualifications, skills, competencies, and personal traits employers seek from LIS job applicants. The proposed paper will briefly summarise those studies and then begin to address some interesting issues that they raised. It is recognised that job ads cannot express all of the requirements an employer may have of a potential employee. Sometimes they may indeed express more general legislative and organisational requirements. None-the-less ads are the most common expression of those requirements. Findings from analyses of job ads can be useful to both library educators and job seekers, as respectively, they seek to develop programs and prepare themselves for their job search. Employers may also find the results of use, as they provide some guidance to developments in the field. However, our findings raised a number of other interesting issues that could not be addressed due to space and time constraints. For example, the qualifications required by Australian employers are varied and becoming increasingly less standard. The most frequently required criteria in job ads are inter-personal skills and behavioural characteristics, which do not generally form a part of standard LIS courses. Current job ads require many criteria for each position, so positions are becoming more generalist than specialist. There is an emphasis in job ads on dynamic and changing environments. What is the relationship of the outcome to the recruitment process? Does the employer actually get what they want? From these issues arises another question; how do the characteristics required by employers fit into the notion of a professional identity for librarians? The next stage of our research will take the form of an extensive literature review, which will aim to compare the findings from the ads to:
This literature review will set our empirical findings into a broader conceptual framework, which will help us to set the stage for further research. The Information Literacy Needs and Practices of Research Students in the Digital Age The nature of tertiary learning has changed significantly over the past decade, particularly as a result of the now widespread use of information and communication technology. Given the role of library and information professionals in assisting students through information literacy programs, there is a need for research focussing on student understandings and practices in obtaining, managing and using information. The effectiveness of information literacy programs will be enhanced by consideration of students’ information seeking and management practices, taking into account their preferences and problems. While there have been some studies of tertiary students, there is little research that has focused specifically on research students. The study reported in this paper focuses on the following key questions: In what ways are today’s research students required to be information literate in their study? What strategies do students develop in order to meet such requirements? These questions were investigated using a interpretivist/constructivist framework, with the researchers therefore interested in the different interpretations which individual research students would bring to information literacy questions. A purposive sample of postgraduate research students from one university faculty (Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University) was selected to ensure relative homogeneity for key characteristics. Interview techniques were used to elicit rich-picture, in-depth perspectives. Analysis was influenced by the contructivist grounded theory approach. Common themes identified in the students accounts concerned selection of research topics, use and appropriateness of various sources of information (print, people and electronic), online search strategies including the selection of tools such as search engines and particular online resources, the impact of the online environment on research practice, how students decide when enough information has been gathered, how reliability and authority of information are determined, the organisation and assimilation of information, and students' perceptions of the physical versus the online library. The conclusion will discuss the implications of the findings for information professionals working in the tertiary sector. It will also critique the method, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of using a constructivist approach in comparison with the outcomes that might be expected had a positivist approach been adopted for the study.
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