Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Reflecting Best Practice

1
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Reflecting Best
Practice
LIS Show, 21 April 2004, London ExCEL

• Margaret Haines
• Director of Information Services and Systems
• Kings College London
• President of CILIP

2
The changing LIS environment

• Greater emphasis on collaboration, local and
  global
• New digital initiatives including digital
  reference services, digital data curation
• New knowledge management roles
• Managing the organisations intellectual assets
• Working with HR on information competencies in
  job evaluation
• Managing knowledge networks and communities of
  interest
• Expanded information literacy programmes

3
The changing LIS environment

• Major roles in legal compliance (FOI, DPA)
• Involvement with intranets, portals, managed
  learning environments
• Provision of assistive technology and helping
  users with disabilities
• New services such as homework clubs,
  video-conferencing support, learning cafes, art
  galleries
• Managing converged services with IT, media,
  archives, records management, web services, etc

4
How do you know if you are effective?

• Focus on an area of performance
• Know what you are trying to achieve and for whom
• Take a critical look at what you are doing in
  that area and be able to measure what you are
  achieving
• Take a critical look at what others are doing and
  compare
• Three key areas of activity

5
Three Mirrors

• Reflective Practice (how we see ourselves)
• Evidence-based Practice (how we know what good
  practice looks like)
• Research Practice particularly Impact Measurement
  (how others see us)
• Reflection, Review, Research

6
1. Reflective Practice

• The capacity to reflect on action so as to
  engage in a process of continuous learning is a
  defining characteristic of professional practice
  (Donald Schon, The Reflective Practitioner)
• Reflecting in action (while you are doing
  something)
• Reflecting on action (after you have done it)
• Interaction between knowing-in-action,
  reflecting-in-action, and professional practice

7
Reflective Practice

• Involves thoughtfully considering ones own
  experience in applying knowledge to practice
  while being coached by professionals in the
  discipline
• It requires time out to reflect and involves a
  clear cycle of separate moments, of different
  types of activity
• Planning, describing and reflecting on the
  process and outcomes of actions

8
Asking the right questions is the key

• Being reflective about our work involves engaging
  in a dialogue between what we think, what we
  believe in and what we do or in other words, what
  am I doing, why am I doing it, how am I doing,
  how is my work being received by others?
• Having a conversation with a situation (Schon)
• The value you receive from reflecting will depend
  on the kinds of questions you ask yourself. The
  better the questions, the more gold you will mine
  from your thinking (John Maxwell, 11 ways highly
  successful people approach life and work)

9
Building a reflective portfolio

• Reflective portfolios can be for students,
  practitioners, or organisations
• They can focus on learning outcomes, personal
  achievements, or future plans
• They can facilitate communication with employers,
  mentors, colleagues
• They can encourage the design of professional
  development strategies and become a professional
  development tool of ongoing value

10
3. Evidence-based information practice

• an approach to information practice that
  promotes the collection, interpretation, and
  integration of valid, important and applicable
  user-reported, practitioner-observed and
  research-derived evidence. The best available
  evidence moderated by user needs and preferences,
  is applied to improve the quality of professional
  judgements (Booth, 2000)

11
Why EBIP?

• As a profession which has the ability to manage
  the literature of research, librarianship is
  uniquely placed to model the principles of
  evidence-based practice, not only as they apply
  to other disciplines which we serve, but also as
  they apply to our own professional practice
  (Ritchie, 1999)
• Combined with reflective practice, is a powerful
  tool to improve the quality and effectiveness of
  our services

12
EBIP a recent phenomenon!

• First used in librarianship in 1995
• 1995 - Haines M. Librarians and Evidence-based
  purchasing. Evidence-Based Purchasing.
• 1997 - Article in Hypothesis, Research Section of
  MLA
• 1998-1999 Mini-series in Library Association
  Record
• 2000 - MLA/CHLA, Vancouver ICML, London LIANZA,
  New Zealand
• 2001- First EBL Conference, Sheffield
• 2002 Collaborative articles
• 2003 2nd EBL Conference, Edmonton, Canada

13
How does it work?

• 5 stage information management process
• asking the question
• finding the evidence
• appraising the evidence
• applying the results locally
• evaluating the change/outcome
• redefine problem
• Asking the right question is key (SPICE)
• Setting
• Perspective
• Intervention
• Comparison
• Evaluation

14
3. LIS research

• First UK LIS Research Strategy
• Prospects A Strategy for Action
• (Library and Information Commission, 1998)
• 5 programme areas including Value and Impact
• Carried on by MLA Council
• LIS research funding has increased but is still
  primarily aimed at academic research

15
Some thoughts on LIS research

• Need for research into impact and effectiveness
  as well as efficiency
• Need for better research designs in LIS research
• Need for better communication between researchers
  and practitioners
• Need for better indexing of LIS research
• Need for systematic reviews of LIS research and
  better dissemination of the findings
• Need for better training in research methods

16
Research Skills

• LIS Schools provide basic research methods
  training
• Training in impact research is provided by SCONUL
  and LIRG as well as others (UNN, CILIP)
• New research assessment training provided by CASP
  (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) and CriSTAL
  (Critical Skills Training in Appraisal for
  Librarians)

17
Measuring Service Quality

• Various approaches
• Quality Assurance
• Audits and Organisational Audits
• Performance measures and indicators
• Benchmarking
• SERVQUAL and LIBQUAL projects are designed to
  measure service effectiveness and allow
  benchmarking both nationally and internationally

18
Reflect, Review, Research

• Why are we not doing these things?
• Commonly used excuses
• No time to do it
• poor quality of LIS research, lack of research in
  specific operational areas, need to consult wide
  range of disciplines for relevant evidence
• lack of skills in research methods including
  research design and critical appraisal
• How can we do better in reflecting good practice?

19
Who Should Hold the Mirrors?
LIS Associations
LIS Educators
LIS Employers
LIS Practitioners
Linda Watson, MLA President
20
LIS employers can

• Recruit individuals with problem solving and
  reflective approaches
• Create an environment supportive of research and
  reflective practice
• Encourage presentations, in-house research and
  publications as well as participation in related
  professional activities
• Provide resources (including time) for learning
  and practicing research skills
• Encourage LIS staff to seek out opportunities
  within the institution for research partnerships
• Set a good example!

21
Library practitioners can

• Make the time to reflect on their personal,
  professional and service effectiveness
• Use their networks, personal, professional, and
  find mentors to help them reflect and evaluate
• Get involved with research and quality
  initiatives in and outside the library
• Share what they learn from their reflective
  practice and research
• Keep up their core skills and knowledge through
  continuing professional development including
  learning more about impact assessment and EBIP

22
LIS educators can

• Provide training in research methods, critical
  appraisal, question formulation
• Work with library practitioners and employers in
  conducting research and in getting research into
  practice
• Encourage students to do systematic reviews and
  research projects
• Work with CILIP in promoting the results of
  research and raising the profile of research in
  our profession

23
Professional bodies can

• Health groups
• e.g. Medical Library Association, Canadian Health
  Libraries Association
• Establish Research Sections and newsletters e.g.
  Hypothesis (MLA)
• Run Evidence-based Librarianship conferences and
  courses
• Other UK Professional bodies
• e.g. MLA (Resource), BAILER
• Encourage reflective practice and value and
  impact research

24
Cilip can

• Develop a research strategy for Cilip in line
  with other LIS research strategies
• Support the work of HLG, LIRG and other groups to
  promote research and EBIP
• Influence national policy-makers, research
  funders and employers with evidence-based
  guidelines
• Disseminate evidence of what works via the web
• Provide the tools/training for measurement and
  evaluation, evidence-based practice e.g. CriSTAL
• Facilitate networking, collaboration, mentoring
• Embed reflective practice in the New
  Qualifications Framework

25
I can

• Continue work of previous Presidents in promoting
  continuing professional development
• Promote and practice the 3 Rs (reflect, review,
  research) myself as my themes
• Work with others on developing CILIP as a
  learning organisation
• Apply my portfolio career knowledge to the
  issues facing the profession and CILIP
• Reflect on my year as President and to pass on
  this learning to others

26
For more information

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information
  Professionals
• 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE
• Telephone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Textphone 020 7255 0505
• Email info_at_cilip.org.uk
• Website www.cilip.org.uk