RAILS9

On June 18th I headed down to the 9th Research Applications in Information and Library Studies event held at RMIT in Melbourne. The day was ok. Very hit and miss with presentations. Much of it wasn't the in depth research I was expecting but lots of student type stuff (not necessarily the student papers) which many of us partake in daily without knowing. My notes are below:

Research consultations revisited: Resource-intensive for libraries but highly effective for researchers (student paper)

Jennifer Warburton, University of Melbourne Library/RMIT
UoM - almost 5,000 Phd's
Only 65% complete - 5% within 5 years
Personalised support based on their needs
Students draw on previous research experience (which isn't always that good)
Contribute - better lit reviews - research rigour - not duplicating
Help to refine lit searching and showing specialist databases
Librarian role/supervisor turf - unsure
go to events/faculties etc. - Get known
Save researchers time - ROI?
Read - Research - Write

Exploring the use of evidence by Australian special librarians in daily library and information practice

Alisa Howlett (student paper) Queensland University of Technology
Often libraries use a combination of all three:
- local evidence
- research evidence
- professional knowledge and experience
Evidence "simmers" before it is used (ie. folders of info)
EBP is messy in practice - not clear cut

The future of knowledge sharing strategies: how elements that influence an individual’s knowledge sharing differ by demographic variables

Alexander Schauer (student paper) The University of Sheffield, UK
Baby boomers retiring - knowledge gap
Interviews in UK, Netherlands, China, US.
6 contradictions:
Too many knowledge management tools/not enough...
Not enough time/time is fine...
Staff not co-located/staff are fine...
Recognition for sharing info/recognition not required...
Familiarity with colleagues/not knowing is fine...
Social opportunities outside work/not an issue...

Differences due to: department allocation; ethnicity; country; language - these were then further explored.

Riding the wave of open access: Providing library research support on scholarly publishing literacy

Deakin University Library Linlin Zhao
Publish or perish! Academia!
Publication pressure - employment; promotion; grant applications; ERA rankings; HERDC; GFC; Research funding cuts.
2002 - 38 OA journals
2013 - 9587 OA journals
Huge growth!

Assessment and Evaluation of Public Library Websites in Australia

Diane Velasquez University of South Australia
Lots of literature out there on Academic libraries - little on public (surely none on health then!)
Website = MARKETING!!!

Curation of "big data" in the public sector: opportunities and challenges

Bob Pymm, Sigrid McCausland and Mary Anne Kennan School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University
150,000 hours of YouTube per day
200 million FB status per day
500 million tweets per day
All of this is BIG DATA. Then other data (like research data in digital repositories)

High volume; High velocity; High variety!

Buried in all this data is new information. Just have to piece it all together and analyze.

GovHack2013 - government release data and let public analyze it and come up with something cool from it.

Shortage of skilled professionals to handle Big Data - potential for LIS Schools to build on existing strengths and move into this area.

Analysis of trends in demand for the skills & qualifications for a future library project manager

Zhixian (George) Yi School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University
Skills required by Project Managers in libraries:

Personal; General Management; Project Management; Professional ILS; ICT

UB Technology Park Breakfast : Ballarat Cancer Research Centre

Back in August I headed out (early) to UB Technology Park to hear George Kannourakis speak about the current research happenings at the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre.

It was great to go for a few reasons. Firstly I got to meet George face-to-face. This was nice because I am on our HREC at work and we review all of the Ballarat Cancer Centre documents. So putting a face to a name was great. Secondly I got to hear about this magnificent resource in the heart of Ballarat. So inspiring. The history of the Centre is amazing and the current work is potentially life changing.  Just a fabulous talk :)

Research Involvement for Librarians

Question: How are you involved in research within your organisation? Should you be more involved? Less? What are the benefits and drawbacks of being involved?

Here at my place of work and I have recently begun to get more involved with the formal side of research. This includes me being an "expert" on the Human Research and Ethics Committee (HREC) which bridges both hospitals in the region, and I'm also now sitting on the Research Advisory Committee. I feel that the library is now working much more collaboratively with the research department and that we are marketing the library in a much more positive light. But I can't help but wonder if there is more I could be doing... I know that academic libraries are very different but in special libraries we are more thinly staffed and we can't do it all... Thoughts? What committees do you sit on that you think form an essential part of your job?

INF513 - First assignment down!!

Well - what a relief. The first assignment is down for the semester. Only 4 more to go!! I mean I can't really complain or anything because it was only 500 words, (of which mine was considerably less), but never the less it is finished. I am studying two subjects this semester. ETL525 Knowledge Management and INF513 Research Methods in Information Studies.

ETL525 has two assignments where you have to define KM and tacit knowledge and then discuss KM in your own workplace. Should be interesting. I have got through one reading so far so am trying to get my head around all the new jargon.

INF513 has three assignments. The first one (today's) in which I had to pick a area to research in LIM using "qualitative" methodologies. The second assignment then extends on these. So I picked the use of PDA's in medical libraries and hypothetically used mine as an example. We don't actually have to carry out the research or anything yet so that's ok. Not sure what the third assignment in on. Case studies or Action research or something.

Anyway, I really enjoy studying at CSU as it gives me the flexibility I need living in the country. However I can't wait for the semester to be over and it hasn't even really begun yet!!