How to survive clients that want information within 1 hour?

I attended the intermediate level educational program put on by the Competitive Intelligence Division of SLA, presented by Lynn Strand, the Principal of Outside Knowledge LCC. In this session, Lynn presents a Quick take session entitled: "What to Do When They Say "Give Me Everything You Have  on ... and Not Freak Out Because They Want it in An Hour". Below are her 9 tips in bullet form which can be helpful to both special librarians and independent information professionals.

1. Don't panic. That does not help.
2. Trust yourself. You can do this.
3. They do not want everything. Just an overview. In fact, they really don't know what they want.
4. Use "trends" in your search terms. This will retrieve information that provides an overview or that is broad in scope or focus.
5. Use resources you already know. Exhaust the familiar first.
6. Plan to search for 30 minutes and then give yourself time to put together your deliverable. Save some time to put together a final report on what you have found and don't spend all of it on searching for information.
7. Have a flexible template. For doing research reports, you need to have a template that all you need to do is put in new content and not worry about formatting.
8. Keep it to 3 pages or less. Right at the top of those pages, indicate three to four things the client must know. Hence, the most important information first.
9. Do a Google file type research. Sometimes the commercial databases may not contain the information you are looking for. Hence, if this fails, use Google search for file types like pdf, ppt. or doc. in order to retrieve the information you need.

Information consulting today: Some insights from Marcy Phelps @ SLA 2014

So I arrived at my first session of my first SLA meeting with the stress of:

1. having lost my cellular phone between Toronto and London
2. Coming straight to the conference convention centre with my luggage to discover that there was no bag or suit check available, which meant that I had to lug with suitcase and suit carrier to all the sessions,

Nonetheless, my travel stress could not take away from my gaining some insights from Marcy Phelps, the principal  or founder of Phelps Research. According to her website:

Marcy M. Phelps, founder of Phelps Research, provides professional research, analysis, and research training services that help clients make better business decisions. She founded the company in 2000 after obtaining a master’s degree in library and information services from the University of Denver. (Phelps Research, 2013)

The session that I attended from which Marcy Phelps presented was entitled “Data Visualization” (Phelps, 2014). However, the session yielded more than just insights into Data Visualization. In addition to the information on data visualization, Phelps provided insights into the modern trends and shifts from information brokerage to information consultancy (a topic already discussed in this previous blog post).

Marcy Phelps provided a very interesting context to her presentation on data visualization that highlights the shift in information work of locating sources for clients and providing value added services to the information retrieved. Drawing on her experience as an information broker and consultant for a number of clients including marketing agents, Marcy Phelps suggests that in the past information brokerage was about librarians being in business to help clients find more and better information. She however suggests that today, the clients no longer want more or better information, but actually want more value added to the information. In fact, her argument is that clients are drowning in information, and do not have the time to deal with the large quantities of information. She further opined that clients don’t have the time to sort through a while lot of information and as such want information professionals to provide them with information that is “decision ready” (meaning information that they can use immediately to make decisions). Now they want to know what does the information mean? They do not want to search for the story but want information professionals to supply the meaning of the information to them.

Phelps went on to discuss the steps and process to be undertaken in creating or adding this value to information for clients, by using and creating visual analysis and presentations for information. (This discussion itself warrants its own blog entry). However, another key insight that Phelps stressed was that librarians need to use their reference interview skills in the process to get at what clients really want from the data or information that is to be supplied. She mentions that this is key, in order for the information professional to deliver the value-added result that clients demand. She went on to suggest, that sometimes clients have a hunch or theory and wants the information professional to conduct the research  to prove their theory. Our research as information professionals in this regard is to provide the message from the data that clients need to know and use to make their decisions. 

A question was asked of Phelps as to whether or not she has to provide clients with information for which she did not agree with the decisions that they intend to make. Phelps in response stated that this is why she always includes an executive summary or a cover letter contextualising the information being supplied as well as presenting the limitations of the data.

These few insights into the work of information consulting are indeed valuable for the troubles and expenses associated with my conference attendance. It is further insightful for me to be in such conferences to be part of the community of practice surrounding information consulting work. And hopefully, all these insights will transfer into helping me better understand my thesis research. And there's more to come. :)

References:

Phelps, M. (2014). More than pretty pictures: A guide to data visualization for info pros. Presentation at the Special Libraries Association 2014 Conference, June 8-10, Vancouver, B.C. Retrieved from http://www.phelpsresearch.com/Portals/0/DataViz-Adv-SLA2014.pdf

Phelps Research (2013). About Phelps Research and Marcy Phelps. Retrieved from http://www.phelpsresearch.com/AboutUs

Library consultants and the implications for library education

In this post, I continue discussing the need for a changing library education paradigm that will not just prepare our graduates to work within libraries, but also prepare them to work as library consultants. I have duly noted a speech delivered by one of my former professors, Fay Durrant, at a meeting of the library association of Trinidad and Tobago. As I read it, I came across some words of interest, which I quote below:

"As most of you know, the Department of Library and Information Studies has a mission to educate librarians from the CARICOM region. We have always been interested in understanding the future of libraries in the Caribbean, as this is of necessity related to the dimensions and focus of our teaching and research. With faster change in the information sector there is even more interest in determining future directions in relation to the areas of focus for our programme. We therefore seek to identify, on an ongoing basis, the current and anticipated trends and future activities in the information sector.

Today I would therefore like to discuss with you some of the changes in our environment, and some of the responses which are being developed by libraries in the Caribbean and globally.

The Department offers education in library and information studies, and produces graduates who now work mainly in government and academic institutions in the region....I expect that more opportunities will arise for\ our graduates to work as consultants, and as information brokers for organizations in the public or private sector."

Durrant's (2006) words capture so well my views and what I want to say. Library schools have traditionally prepared students and graduates to work in libraries. However, LIS curricula, with the changes in society have evolved to address broader information environments in addition to library specific operations (Rubin, 2010). Despite this evolution in curricula to prepare graduates to work outside of traditional settings of academic, public and school libraries (and even special libraries), library curricula is yet to address the issue of preparing students to become entrepreneurs and to use their LIS related skills as independent knowledge workers or professionals not employed to a specific institution. LIS curricula in this regard is geared towards providing a workforce for institutional employers.


Yet, while librarians are employed in a variety of setting, there seems to be a growing number of qualified librarians who are self-employed. This seems to be evident in the ASCLA Library Consultants Interest Group's (LCIG) latest report where membership is reported as growing from 32 to 63 members within the space of a year (Smithee, 2013). Yet, it is perhaps necessary to scrutinize this phenomenon some more with the empiricism of scientific methods. If I could only get my thoughts together into a coherent and logical research proposal.

Reference:

Durrant, F. (2006). The future of libraries and implications for the Caribbean. Address to the Library Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) Ordinary General Meeting. Held at National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), November 1, 2006. Retrieved from http://eprints.rclis.org/8861/1/DurrantFayThe_future_of_libraries_and_implications_for_the%E2%80%A6.pdf

Rubin, R. (2010). Foundations of library and information science (3rd ed.). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Smithee, J. (2013). Report from the Library Consultants Interest Group. Interface (02706717), 35(3), 1. Retrieved from http://ascla.ala.org/interface/2013/09/report-from-the-library-consultants-interest-group/

The invisibility of library consultants in the academic literature

It has been a rough 3rd year as I continue to work on my research proposal. As I put almost all of my focus and energies into solving the problems with my research proposal, I've neglected the medium of blogging. However, I break this spell of silence to discuss the issue of the invisibility of library consultants in the academic literature.

Currently, I'm considering or reconsidering the viability of studying library consultants/consulting as a topic. It has been difficult to find gaps in the literature to investigate as there are so many gaps in what is known about the topic. All I have to work with  is the tension between who can be defined as a library consultant and several forecasts about what library consulting will look like, all of these from two dissertations, two encyclopedia articles, and 7 monographs about the topic.

The result is that I've concluded that the library consultant is for the most part absent from academic discourse. This is interesting considering that some LIS academics are also library and information consultants. For example,Tague-Sutcliffe, a former dean of University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Information Media Studies, is named in the directory of Canadian library and information consultants (Rogers, 1994). Not only are academics a part of library and information consulting, but heads of library schools and other library educators are also acknowledging consulting as a legitimate path in which LIS graduates may venture.In the English-speaking Caribbean for instance, in 2006, the head of the University of the West Indies Department of Library and Information Studies forecasted growing opportunities for library school graduates to work as consultants for public/private sector organizations (Durrant, 2006). Yet, despite this interest, the academic literature studying library consultants and their work is sparse.


Mark you, there are definitely books on the topic of library consultants. But many of these sources are dated prior to 2000. In general, there is a lack of in-depth monograph sources studying library consultants and the work of library consulting. I personally examined seven monograph length publications on library and information consultancy. Of these seven, three are directories: one focusing on US library and information consultants (Berry, 1969), another on UK based library and information consultants (Smith, 1987) and the third based on Canadian ones (Rogers, 1994). From these directories, you can usually find a dedicated introductory page defining library consultants. In Berry (1969), Blasingame’ informative overview provides a profile of library consultants. Rogers (1994) introduction on the other hand combines both library consultants and information consultants. The remaining four monograph length publications that are not directories, are written for practitioners. In other words, these sources reflect little in the way of systematic research design and data gathering. Rather than attempting to provide an academic understanding of library consultants and their work, these works discuss how practitioners can work with or as library consultants. Two works address library administrators: Rawles and Wessells (1984) discuss working with library consultants, while Garten (1992) discusses using consultants in libraries. These books are seemingly written to provide guidance to librarians for engaging with library consultants. The final two books are aimed at library consultants themselves, with a book on case studies in international library consultancy by Parker (1988) and a book on consulting for information professionals by De Stricker (2008). Yet, these works on library consulting seem primarily based on anecdotal data gathered from experience.

Despite the few outdated books on the subject, those who practice library consulting are both seemingly  increasing and sharing their knowledge on the subject. I recently read that the ASCLA Library Consultants Interest Group (LCIG) saw their membership increase as they added 31 members growing from 32 to 63 members (Smithee, 2013). In addition, the group also announced the hosting of an event with Nancy Bolt and Liz Bishoff offering a preconference entitled “Assembling a Consulting Toolkit: What You Need to Know to be a Successful Library Consultant” (Smithee, 2013). It therefore seems to me that the topic of library consultants is a viable area for future academic inquiry.Yet formulating the research problem around this gap has been extremely challenging, as the scope of the work seem more extensive than what I want to study.



References:

De Stricker, U. (2008). Is consulting for you?: A primer for information professionals. Chicago: American Library Association.

Durrant, F. (2006). The future of libraries and implications for the Caribbean. Address to the Library Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) Ordinary General Meeting. Held at National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), November 1, 2006. Retrieved from http://eprints.rclis.org/8861/1/DurrantFayThe_future_of_libraries_and_implications_for_the%E2%80%A6.pdf

Garten, E. (1992). Using consultants in libraries and information centers: A management handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Parker, J. S. (1988). Asking the right questions: Case studies in library development consultancy. London ;; New York: Mansell Pub.

Rawles, B. A., & Wessells, M. B. (1984). Working with library consultants. Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications.

Rogers, H., & Canadian Library Association. (1994). Directory of Canadian library & information science consultants. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.

Smithee, J. (2013). Report from the Library Consultants Interest Group. Interface (02706717), 35(3), 1. Retrieved from http://ascla.ala.org/interface/2013/09/report-from-the-library-consultants-interest-group/

Latest research update: The library consulting community as an Electronic Network of Practice

It has been almost two months since I've updated this blog. I've been working steadily on my proposal. Below is a draft layman's summary of my updated research direction. I've even included a biographical note on how this current direction relates to my past research and future direction. Missing though is a statement on my social media specialisation.

Abstract:

While the majority of librarians work in large institutions or government entities, there is a growing library-based community of members that are taking risks and starting their own self-employed consultancies. Until now, this community is not well studied by the academic literature. In my presentation, I introduce the library consulting community. Further, I map the existence of this global group as an electronic network of practice through Twitter and Blogs.

Electronic Network of practice (eNoP) is a term coined by Teigland and Wasko (2005) to study communities of practice that are organised through computer-mediated communication, rather than physically co-located. Communities of Practice (CoP) is a concept developed by Wenger (1999) to discuss a group that meets together to learn and reflect on their group identity and what it means to experience the world as members of their group. However, Teigland and Wasko (2005) suggest that CoP is meant for groups that are face-to-face, but needs to be adapted for groups that operate and organise themselves in electronic or computer-mediated space.

After reviewing the literature , I discovered that there are virtually no studies that use these frameworks for analysing librarians, especially seeing that librarians do use blogs and online spaces to discuss their practice. I therefore apply the eNoP framework to studying the little studied library consultant community that discuss their practice online via blogs and tweets.

Biography:

Mark-Shane Scale is a 3rd year student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies. He is pursuing a PhD in Library and Information Science. He holds a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus. Mark-Shane’s Masters research has primarily been focused on the information and knowledge universe of small business owners. His PhD research continues this focus, but this time focuses on how blogs as social information spaces connect small business owners to knowledge sharing stories created and shared on the Web by other small business owners.

References:

Teigland, R., & Wasko, M. (2005). Knowledge exchange in electronic networks of practice. Encyclopedia of information science and technology (pp. 1757-1762) IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-59140-553-5.ch309

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity (1 pbk ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

My December 2013 update on my research

So I have presumptuously began collecting and analysing data for my research. This is despite the fact that I have not yet given the revised proposal draft to my committee for approval. (Keeping my fingers crossed that it is better now and almost worthy of approval). Any way, I just want to share in this post briefly an update about some of my thinking as it relates to my current research and possibly future direction.

The general gist of my research has to do with constructing a profile of those who tweet and blog about library consultants and library consulting and analysing from these tweets and blog posts the presentation of the library consultant identity. In essence I hope to examine and analyse the identity of library consultants and library consulting as discussed and formulated in blogs and tweets. My approach is to use mixed methods, collecting both quantitative attributes and analysing qualitatively the narratives that I see emerging. In the end, I hope to tell 'a story' on library consultants and library consulting pulling the various strands of data together.


I have also been reading Simon Down's (2006) Narratives of enterprise. In my view, Down (2006) presents a good ethnography of how entrepreneurs craft their identity that may be relevant for my thesis on the crafting of the library consultant identity. However, after completing the reading, I realised that the book has had a profound impact on my own existentialism.


In some regards, Down is like me. He is an academic who has had a previous life as an entrepreneur. He also wrestles with his own self-identity as an academic who still feels the calling to an entrepreneurial identity. He also finds himself critical of entrepreneurial narratives as they tend to be anti-social. His work has got me wondering if the entrepreneurial and enterprising identity can be compatible with good moral values.


These ideas also relate to what I am findng about librarians' views on library consultants who charge for their services. A Judas or betrayal to the profession theme is emerging even though I haven't really started the 'deep' analysis. So far I have seen two particular tweets that summarise this perspective. One tweet in 2008 where a librarian remarked [not verbatim to protect anonymity] 'Am I the only person disturbed by this listing of paid library consultants?' In a more recent tweet, another librarian remarked that 'what library consultants should be doing is lobbying businesses to create more librarian positions' [again not verbatim]. From these tweets, it seems to me that there is a sinister picture being painted about library consultants who charge for their knowledge, expertise and services.


Yet this is also contrasted by other tweets and blog posts, where there is an event where library consultants offer free library consulting services (ASCLA, 2013). Or a tweet by a librarian praising another person for being a 'good library consultant' [not sure though if the person doing the consulting was paid though].

So far, the story being told about library consultants and library consulting on blogs and tweets is an intriguing one, where most times they are portrayed as villains, both by librarians or even the public who express outrage at the fees charged or money spent on them. Yet, there is seemingly praise for those who engage in no-paid library consulting services. However, I can't disclose all my ideas here, but just some of the preliminary notes and perceptions that I am forming of the data as I go through. For more, you've got to read the thesis when it is done or follow up on my future publications.


References:

Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies [ASCLA] (2013). 'Consultants give back: Free 30-minute sessions in Chicago co-sponsored by ASCLA and PLA'. [blog post]. Retrieved from
http://ascla.ala.org/blog/2013/05/news-consultants-give-back-free-30-minute-sessions-in-chicago-co-sponsored-by-ascla-and-pla/

Down, S. (2006). Narratives of enterprise: Crafting entrepreneurial self-identity in a small firm. Chelteham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

 






 

Applying my narrative information source framework to Twitter: Preliminary findings

Following from my previous blog post, I want to now demonstrate how my narrative information source framework is seemingly operational. After using Twitter to locate tweets on library consultants and library consulting, through the following queries, I began to see data that fit within the pattern of my theoretical framework:

Twitter query for library consultants: https://twitter.com/search?q=%22library%20consultant%22&src=savs

Twitter query for library consulting: https://twitter.com/search?q=%20%22library%20consulting%22&src=savs

Guide narrative information sources
Based on my preliminary results, many sources on Twitter functioned as guide or referral based information sources, pointing me to other types of narrative information sources. I would argue that Twitter can function as a type of search engine or reference tool to locating various types of narrative information sources. However, unlike Google, Twitter is updated by users or crowdsourcing, rather than a crawling spider program.

To show one example of how tweets located in Twitter function as a reference information source, pointing me to other sources is the tweet of a URL link to a blog commentary or review of http://www.librarian.net/

Blog Review: librarian.net: Librarian.net is a weblog of library consultant Jessamyn West, on library works, lib.. http://tinyurl.com/ddqlag
— GroundReport (@GroundReport) April 22, 2009

When accessed, the URL from this tweet, http://groundreport.com/blog-review-librarian-net/ functioned as a commentary on or guide to  library consultant blog - librarian.net. This librarian.net blog appears to be a narrative information source, narrating a specific library consultant's personal experience in her work of library consulting. This is just one of the many examples of  how tweets in my query lead me to other documents or types of narrative information sources.



Personal Narratives,  eulogies, biographies, memoirs (or mixed narrative/life-writing information sources)
Tweets can also lead one to the narrative information sources conveying personal reflections, reports of  personal experience or to information about the lives of library consultants. Blog postings directly retrieved from tweets included the following:

By Cindy Bajema：You Can’t Stop the Librarian in Action
04/23/2013
http://www.sambattrust.org/1/post/2013/04/by-cindy-bajemayou-cant-stop-the-librarian-in-action.html

from the tweet;

Learn more about Sambat Trust Library Consultant, Zarah Gagatiga http://t.co/pgP0BzXbpo @thecoffeegoddes #libraries #librarian #Philippines
— Anthony Mariano (@SambatTrust) April 22, 2013

death and obituary of library consultant

Library Consultant - Jay K Lucker passed away he will be missed in the library community - http://t.co/jBkM3ksa
— alex cohen (@acohen17) September 7, 2012

First Project as Library Consultant
http://uunpujiyaaa.tumblr.com/post/36746251325/first-project-as-library-consultant

First Project as Library Consultant - Library consultant, what is it? Library consultant is a kind of job wit… http://t.co/xpH5Y3Rv
— Uun Pujiyati Rohmah (@uunpujiyaaa) November 28, 2012

I have even been directed to vlog posting (or a YouTube video) where a library consultant tells her narrative or personal story of her work and what it involves from the following tweet:

What DOES an MIS grad do all day? Wendy Robbins, @UO_ESIS and @uOttawa grad talks about being a library consultant http://t.co/tMMS7CwC
— uOttawa ESIS (@UO_ESIS) February 18, 2013

Non-fiction information sources (Events & Documents)
Tweets in my Twitter queries have also led me to discovering non-fiction narrative information sources such as:

• the retirement of a library consultant (which in a sense is also a life-writing type of narrative information source)

Library consultant to retire: It was Nancy Alsop’s love of books that first led her into the library business. N.. http://tinyurl.com/rbyygu
— Fergus Falls Journal (@fergusfjournal) June 27, 2009

• and job information or job advertisement

Career Opportunity: Municipal Library Consultant: Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Brandon, MB http://t.co/Q57vdRUm
— Cdn Library Assn (@CLA_web) February 6, 2013

One tweet even led me to another guide or referral based narrative information source, specifically a directory of over 41 library consultants: http://www.libraryconsultants.org/esearch.asp from the tweet:

#libraries Need a library consultant? Check http://www.libraryconsultants.org/
— Robert Burgin (@burginre) August 16, 2009

Event information and press releases are also popular in Twitter. One event tweet was:

ASCLA members establish “new” Library Consultant Interest Group http://t.co/8AmoYPwN
— ALA News (@alanews) October 11, 2011

Tweets like the above tweet discussing an event usually point to a document such as a press release.

My Twitter search on library consulting also lead me to  documents that related to the work of library consultants such as Pelham Public Library's  25th of March 2013 posting of "The report put together by BPC Library Consulting for Performance Concepts..."from the tweet:

The report put together by BPC Library Consulting for Performance Concepts has just been posted.. http://t.co/o1ZvjQjXlt
— PelhamPublicLibrary (@Pelham_Library) March 25, 2013

Or to Springfield City Library's June 22, 2013 posting of this tweet

See an overview of the “re:think Springfield City Library” consultant study on @slideshare http://t.co/5fmxANTVtp #springfieldma
— Springfield Library (@SpfldMassLib) June 22, 2013

Tweets in my search results also pointed to information about places that used or needed consultant services. A church (Bethel Seventh-day Adventist church) is mentioned in one tweet by librarian Amy Patrick ‏@mom2sadie in 4 December, 2012:

Library consulting. (@ Bethel 7th Day Adventist Church) http://t.co/RTkSgoVz
— Amy Patrick (@mom2sadie) December 4, 2012

Or this tweet by the Telluride Planet reports on a public library making use of a library consultant to gather information from the public about their priorities for the library:

Library consultant to help shape public info gathering process: Hilary Taylor to lead project: http://t.co/Y4bajbuWwl
— Telluride Planet (@TelluridePlanet) June 27, 2013

Conclusion and viewpoint

Hence, as you can see, my preliminary conceptual framework of narrative information sources is able to from preliminary selective observation to explain the types of narrative information and information sources that one can access via Twitter.

Finally, while I did not deliberately set out to show you that Twitter is useful for finding or locating business information, you can perhaps obviously see this from the data I present. Twitter in my view has thus proved a useful business reference tool for finding/locating current business information, particularly in the library and information industry. Industry events, competitors and market information are all available and can be easily monitored with a saved Twitter query. This is due to the fact that people and organizations are posting and referring to content/information online through tweets. Hopefully in my next blog post, I can expand upon the idea of Twitter as a business information source or resource. Or should I more accurately say that Twitter can function as/like a business information search engine?

Searching for entrepreneur blogs: Online Techniques

As comprehensive examination preparations are now on my agenda, one of the area that I contemplate is the area of methods for locating entrepreneur blogs. While using Google Blog Search or Technorati is a no brainer to me, (as these already have developed obvious tools to locate blogs), it is essential for me at the PhD level to look into the academic theories involved in justifying the use of these tools. For this task, I have contemplated looking at the theories of Bibliometrics. One such paper that influences my thoughts about the possibility of using bibliometric techniques and methods to locate blogs of interest for my study is the paper by Vaughan, Tang, & Du (2010). Alternately, there is the paper on selective blog mining by Rubin, Burkell and Quan-Haase (2011), which does not purport to use bibliometric methods, but dubs the study as a grounded theory analysis. 

However, using some techniques for searching the Google search engine from  Vaughan, Tang, & Du (2010), I ran the following experiment. I wanted to compare Google blog search with a site search using the domains of two well known blogging platforms, Wordpress and Blogspot. I did this in order to compare the results with the Google blog search. The results (collected as of the date of this post) are as follows:



Google blog search "entrepreneur" -About 26,400,000 results (0.18 seconds)

site:wordpress.com entrepreneur- About 1,590,000 results (0.19 seconds)

site:blogspot.com entrepreneur - About 2,740,000 results (0.31 seconds)

Quantitatively the results differ. Blogspot domain search has more than Wordpress. Yet combined, both produce less than 5,000, 000 results, which is not even a fifth of the blogs retrieved using the Google Blog search. This raises the question as to what are the other domain names that Google indexes as blogs. It also raises question about how do these results differ qualitatively. These are questions that I do not intend to answer just now, but do wish to explore in the future.

References:

Rubin, V.L., Burkell, J. & Quan-Haase, A. (2011). Facets of serendipity in everyday chance encounters: A grounded theory approach to blog analysis. Information Research 16(3) paper 488. [Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/16-3/paper488.html] 

Vaughan, L., Tang, J., & Du, J. (2010). Constructing business profiles based on keyword patterns on web sites. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(6), 1120-1129. doi: 10.1002/asi.21321 

My own thoughts about my future research trajectory

This is perhaps a more personal post than previous on this blog. In this post, I express my own thoughts on my own role as a scholar and academic in the landscape of social media research.

I recently reflected on my first publication of an article on Facebook, which was the first research that engaged me and made me come alive (Scale, 2008). I also reflect on my current research on blogs. Back in 2007, I consciously chose to focus on Facebook and social media as an area of specialisation in the first place because, in coming to academia, I saw myself as not being an expert on the areas that my senior colleagues were in and wanted to master an area that they themselves were not experts in. Hence, my decision to target the virgin territory of emerging and new technologies.

This has in fact become my research trajectory for the next decade or so. The research story that I want to tell over the next decade of my life (if all things remain constant) is the story of how social media makes us more human. Instead of destroying our human identity, social media is actually reconstructing how we as human beings deal with meaning, existence and life in the everyday profound and mundane events and moments.

Everything that human beings have been doing for centuries in coping with their existence, grappling with who we are and formulating our identities continue online. Whether it is playing pranks on others (online trolling), gossiping, forming friendships, attacking enemies, to the more positive of telling our stories, sharing our experiences and knowledge, we all as human beings are just doing what what those before us did, but only digitally recording our actions, stories and events in our lives.

I am reminded that posting personal information on Facebook, Twitter or on a blog makes me more human. Such acts presents me as a real person that possess experiences  thoughts, feelings and ideas that another person can relate to. Like for instance, I posted over this week a comment:

"Sometimes you work on and rewrite a paper so much that you get tired of the subject and no longer want to do it."

This attracted number of unexpected like and comments that re-affirmed to me the value of academics blogging. The fact is that scholars and academic persons can be intimidating, especially for their students. Students who see these great lecturers and professors who have many publications and come to class as a repository of knowledge, feel that these persons are sometimes not human. Caribbean students in my experience see such persons as walking encyclopedias, especially if they are able to roll of their tongues the ideas disembodied in books and other publications. However, academics, by posting personal information online can reveal the other side to their identity. That they err, make mistakes and have feelings like everyone else. That they themselves have struggles that their students can relate to.

This is why I guess that I will continue to blog and post personal stuff online despite the fact that we live in a time of surveillance, and where nothing one post on the Internet is truly forgotten. For me the issue is that what we post and share online is just a fraction of ourselves in a moment and does not represent our constantly evolving identity.

When I return to the Caribbean (all things remaining constant), I believe that my task is to be the scholar and expert on how we as a Caribbean people, like  the rest of the globe, appropriate social media to demonstrate and express our humanity, while participating in global documentary practices that leave traces or digital 'foot/hand prints' of who we are, what we have done and how we are connected to and related to the rest of the world.

References:

Scale, Mark-Shane Everett. "Facebook as a Social Search Engine and the Implications for Libraries in the Twenty-first Century." Library Hi Tech 26.4 (2008): 540-56.

Organizational storytelling research part 1

I am now unto my second annotated bibliography on storytelling and the connection with businesses. This part of the research is now uncovering dozens of articles on the subject of organisational storytelling. To help me make sense of the literature, I have realised that it is useful to think visually or graphically incorporating diagrams, illustrations and tables to help make sense of scholarly works. So this is what I have done so far with more readings, note taking and writings to be undertaken.

Organisational storytelling research Part 1

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My research to focus on Student Entrepreneurs

I have decided to narrow my studies to focus on student entrepreneurs and their information needs. This focus emerged from the challenge of studying small businesses, as there are many varieties and flavours of the term. There are competing definitions of small business, as well as the fact that current entrepreneurship recognises that there are various sub categories within small businesses that have special or unique needs and problems. There are Women owned businesses, Mompreneurs and Family businesses to name a few.


The literature of information seeking studies tend to focus on large firms, corporate executives and on managers. My study on the other hand want to zoom in on university or college students and their needs for information. I assume that  university students need information for undertaking entrepreneurship that may be different from other entrepreneurs.

I feel that students are different because they:

1. usually work and study
2. might be on student loan and may be more timid to take a risk to venture into entrepreneurship if they are not sure how they can pay back their student loan
3. are expected by society's traditional norms to get jobs
4. usually have less work/working experience to capitalise on, and 
5. may not have the connections to social capital or other networks needed to establish business

I am going to also focus on how academic libraries can provide information services to help these students meet their information needs.

The first step however in my research proposal for my doctoral dissertation is to first find out what government information services exist online for these student entrepreneurs and potential student entrepreneurs. Does the government provide online information accessible to these students to assist them to launch their businesses and start-ups?

Student entrepreneurship is not new. Many high-tech companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Google were all start-ups launched by university students.

Writing a statement of intent/proposed research to get into graduate studies

A former student of mine, preparing for application to graduate studies, requested information about how to do a proposal for getting into a Thesis/Research based Masters. I know that when I was seeking to get into a PhD and MPhil programme, there was little documentation about how to produce such a document. However, I conducted my research through asking faculty and administrators for the particular programme that I was interested in and getting a basic outline of what I must put in such a document. Here I will generally share what I have done, which has been successful thus far in landing me into my current PhD programme.

You will definitely need to include the following in your document (statement of intent/research proposal/proposed research), whatever name or label it is called or referred to.

1.An interesting title: one that will appeal to the faculty that you are interested in. Usually something that is in line with what they already research but also something novel and kind of innovative/creative.


2. The problem - This is essentially your introduction/background to the topic that you are interested in studying; what it is and why is it significant and ought to be studied


3. A brief literature review to relate the issue you want to study in other literature/scholarship in the field.

4. A proposed method for discovering the data - who you are going to talk to/observe and/or what are some of the documents/sources that you will consult. Also make explicit some possible research objectives and questions.

5. References - sources you used throughout. the proposal/document.

Hope you will find this useful.

Edited: November 4, 2013

In search of a PhD

Revisiting something that I posted on Facebook some time ago, and have decided to repost and revise with my current reading.

Those seeking to get into a PhD program should read the following books:

The postgraduate research handbook :succeed with your MA, MPhil, EdD and PhD /Gina Wisker.
Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

How to get a PhD :a handbook for students and their supervisors /Estelle M. Phillips and Derek S. Pugh.
Buckingham [England] ; Philadelphia : Open University Press, 2000.

While they don't tell you how to get into a PhD Programme, they do tell you what to do when you are in. However, they have been useful in giving me hints about what potential supervisors or faculty evaluating PhD applications will look for in the applications process.

Definitely, those who review the applications will want a student who has a narrow topic, that is already refined, and also demonstrates the capability to take on independent research and are almost confident in what they are going to do. Further, that one must have a research idea that is original, an idea that will make an original contribution to the discipline, as a PhD must offer some innovative and new knowledge to the discipline.

It is also best that you test out your methods of research before grad school. You can undertake this either in your Masters research or just in your own attempt to get a publication in a journal. I got from the books that I need to acquaint myself with what PhD work looks like in order to know what is expected of me when I do my PhD.

Today I learned more about what it is - a 'book-length manuscript' often 200 pages in lenght, with a 'statement of a well-defined problem within an area', 'a review of how the problem' has been dealt with in the literature and a 'statement of a new approach to the problem' (Goldsmith,  Gold and Komlos 2001).


Reference:

Goldsmith, J. A., Gold, P. S., & Komlos, J. (2001). The Chicago guide to your academic career: A portable mentor for scholars from graduate school through tenure. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

The state of LIS as a discipline and its "research"

One of my course readings for the research methods course was on an article by Budd and Hill entitled "The Cognitive and Social Lives of Paradigms in Information Science". I must say that the reading by Budd and Hill makes me motivated to read Kuhn's work on the nature of scientific paradigms and revolutions for myself to form my own opinions about its relevance and application in Library and Information Science. The following reading was posted or submitted as part of my weekly reading reaction report

In this blog entry I want to discuss 3 main points:

1. How disciplines/theories/paradigms are formed?
2. Trends in LIS research
3. How can changes be made to LIS as well as how changes are stifled?

Most importantly for me, the reading caused me to reflect on how school of thoughts, theories disciplines and sub-disciplines are formed or emerge.These are all socio-economic products and constructs. In the previous class we concluded that research problems must be rooted in the social and situated in society, as well as in a discipline. This reading, was however not as normative, but more descriptive about the process.

Irwin Sperber is cited in Budd and Hill as indicating that funding impacts the development of science, as does politics in the case of political appointments to important, well-funded  and powerful agencies. Sperber is also cited as indicating that the audience to which a scientist must communicate and be accountable also impacts on science. This brings me to a critical look at LIS research trends in its publications and literature in general.

In the case of librarianship, I see where the audience, the practitioners and pragmatic professionals impact on the research of the field. The issues of practitioners or professionals do not necesarily overlap with the issues that academics want to study. Practitioners want research situated in practice, and in my view, academics question and criticize the nature of the practice in the first place. Practitioners are looking for ways to do their jobs better and improve their practice, while academics may question, what is it that is practiced and why?

With regards to funding, I see where vendors are sponsoring, partnering or encouraging librarians to present papers and to research their products and its use by library users. I have been to conferences where vendors and practitioners are co-presenters, and have seen in the LIS literature numerous publications that focus on technology products and how these were either implemented in libraries or are being received by library users. Can these be legitimately termed “research” and “scientific research” at that. Aren't these what we call “market research”?

Another issue to discuss is how can LIS change. From my reading and understanding of Kuhn through Budd and Hill's writing, because science is social (Sperber expands it to political and economics), if  young scholars and academics such as myself and my peers in the PhD programme want to change LIS and its direction as a discipline, then it begins with us making a strategic alliance and agreeing to principles, research methods and what constitutes the problems of LIS today. That is if we accept, as I do, the definition of a paradigm as a 'state of collaboration, agreement, attention to a specific set of problems, and co-citation...' (p.4).

At the same time, we are scientists bred after our own kind, by faculty. Our beliefs, principles and methods will be inherited from our socialisation with faculty members at FIMS UWO. FIMS will shape us and our scientific approaches to researching and thinking about LIS. We will see the problems of LIS through their eyes.

The reading has definitely caused me to reflect that LIS is an immature science, in danger of being subverted by politics, economics and pragmatism. Pragmatism according to Budd and Hill are the major forces that shapes science through funding sources and departmental faculties, an issue which I see aptly applicable to LIS. LIS is shaped by funding sources- whether government, corporate or private bodies in my view, and I am yet to see the extent of the influence of departmental faculties.

For LIS, with the evidence based practice movement, I see where more and more, LIS research and theories will be chosen based on social and economic pragmatic reasons, rather than by LIS community identifying the gaps in our current research and theories, and intellectually, rationally and objectively filling those gaps.

Reference:

Budd, John M. & Heather Hill. (2007). "The Cognitive and Social Lives of Paradigms in Information Science." Paper published in the proceedings presented at the Conference of the Canadian Association of Information Science. Information Sharing in a Fragmented World: Crossing Boundaries. McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 10 - 12, 2007. http://www.cais-acsi.ca/proceedings/2007/budd_2007.pdf