Volume 17, Number 3, 2022

EN:

Objective – Many of us involved in the library and information sector are members of associations that represent the interests of our profession. These associations are often key to enabling us to provide evidence based practice by offering opportunities such as professional development. We invest resources in membership so we must be able to inform those in charge about our needs, expectations, and level of satisfaction. Governing bodies and committees, therefore, need a method to capture these views and plan strategy accordingly. The committee of the Health Sciences Libraries Group (HSLG) of the Library Association of Ireland wanted to enable members to give their views on the group, to understand what aspects of a library association are important to librarians in Ireland, and to learn about the reasons for and against membership.

Methods – Surveys are a useful way of obtaining evidence to inform policy and practice. Although relatively quick to produce, their design and dissemination can pose challenges. The HSLG committee developed an online survey questionnaire for members and non-members (anyone eligible to join our library association). We primarily used multiple choice, matrix, and contextual/demographic questions, with skip logic enabling choices of relevance to respondents. Our literature review provided guidance in questionnaire design and suggested four themes that we used to develop options and to analyse results.

Results – The survey was made available for two weeks and we received 49 eligible responses. Analysis of results and reflection on the process suggested aspects that we would change in terms of the language used in our questionnaire and dissemination methods. There were also aspects that show good potential, including the four themes that were used to understand what matters to members: expertise (professional development), community (connecting and engaging), profession (sustaining and strengthening), and support (financial and organizational supports). Overall, our survey provided rich data that met our objectives.

Conclusion – It is essential that those who are governing any group make evidence based decisions, and a well-planned survey can support this. Our article outlines the elements of our questionnaire and process that didn’t work, and those that show promise. We hope that lessons learned will help anyone planning a survey, particularly associations who wish to ascertain the views of their members and others who are eligible to join. With some proposed modifications, our questionnaire could provide a template for future study in this area.

EN:

Objective – This study seeks to investigate the degree of counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWB) experienced by library and information science (LIS) professionals and how these behaviors contribute to physical, mental, and chronic health outcomes. While health outcomes may be present independent of CWB, this study seeks to explore the relationship between the two to provide context to the growing incidence of burnout among academic LIS professionals.

Methods – This quantitative study analyzed 327 responses to a survey about colleague behavior and health sent to LIS professionals through library community electronic mailing lists. The survey contained demographic questions, questions about CWB, questions about health experiences, and questions about the perceived relationship between work and health. Counterproductive workplace behaviors were rated on a seven-point Likert scale. A behavior score was calculated by adding the Likert values of the 12 behavior questions. This score was used when comparisons about CWB were compared by demographics and health responses. Statistical analysis of survey results was performed using RStudio.

Results – The mean total behavior score was 39. 107 respondents’ total behavior scores fell in the low range, 202 in the moderate range, and 18 in the high range. There was no significant relationship found between demographic factors and behavior score. A negative relationship was observed between duration of employment in an academic library and presence of mental health issues (F(5, 310) = 10.114, p = 5.5e-09). A similar relationship was observed between duration of employment in the respondents’ current library and presence of mental health issues (F(5, 311) = 9.748, p = 1.15e-08). Level of CWB experienced was found to have a relationship with the perceived ability to maintain good mental (F(2, 324) = 36.34, p = 5.75e-15), physical (F(2, 324) = 23.82, p = 2.24e-10), and chronic health (F(2, 323) = 13.04, p = 3.57e-06). Generally speaking, lower levels of CWB were associated with fewer challenges maintaining health.

Conclusion – Low to moderate levels of CWB are common in academic libraries. These behavior levels are associated with an increase in health challenges. LIS professionals perceive work as being a factor that contributes to having trouble maintaining good mental and physical health and toward successfully managing chronic health conditions. Further study is needed to determine the degree to which experiencing CWB in the workplace affects health. Further study is also needed to determine if certain behaviors impact health outcomes more than others.

EN:

Objective – The primary purpose of this study was to better understand the nature of “reference” and reference transactions.

Methods – This study looked at four years’ of reference transaction (RT) data recorded at a small, state-owned university.

Results – The data clearly indicates that the overall number of RT continues to decline. It also reveals that, despite the use of student mentors, librarians are still involved with a majority of RT, regardless of whether or not they require the expertise of a librarian to resolve.

Conclusion – Continuing to be involved with RT which do not require the knowledge or training of a librarian (e.g., directional) can have a diminutive effect on the perceived role, work, and value of librarians. As such, it is suggested that these sorts of questions be addressed by student mentors or staff members. In turn, this will allow librarians to focus on those questions and activities which do require their unique knowledge and skills. Along similar lines, it is also suggested that librarians explore and identify new, non-traditional ways of applying their expertise to student success initiatives and the overall academic life of the institution. With the merger of three libraries, data from this study has been and continues to be used to make informed decisions about the provision of reference services in a new, integrated library environment.

EN:

Objective – The tension between upholding privacy as a professional value and the ubiquity of collecting patrons’ data to provide online services is now common in libraries. Privacy policies that explain how the library collects and uses patron records are one way libraries can provide transparency around this issue. This study examines 78 policies collected from the public websites of U.S. Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) members and examines these policies for compliance with American Library Association (ALA) guidelines on privacy policy content. This overview can provide library policy makers with a sense of trends in the privacy policies of research-intensive academic libraries, and a sense of the gaps where current policies (and guidelines) may not adequately address current privacy concerns.

Methods – Content analysis was applied to analyze all privacy policies. A deductive codebook based on ALA privacy policy guidelines was first used to code all policies. The authors used consensus coding to arrive at agreement about where codes were present. An inductive codebook was then developed to address themes present in the text that remained uncoded after initial deductive coding.

Results – Deductive coding indicated low policy compliance with ALA guidelines. None of the 78 policies contained all 20 codes derived from the guidelines, and only 6% contained more than half. No individual policy contained more than 75% of the content recommended by ALA. Inductive coding revealed themes that expanded on the ALA guidelines or addressed emerging privacy concerns such as library-initiated data collection and sharing patron data with institutional partners. No single inductive code appeared in more than 63% of policies.

Conclusion – Academic library privacy policies appear to be evolving to address emerging concerns such as library-initiated data collection, invisible data collection via vendor platforms, and data sharing with institutional partners. However, this study indicates that most libraries do not provide patrons with a policy that comprehensively addresses how patrons’ data are obtained, used, and shared by the library.

EN:

Objectives – This study sought to determine the role social media plays in shaping library services and spaces, and how queries are received, responded to, and tracked differently by different types of libraries.

Methods – In April and May of 2021, researchers conducted a nine-question survey (Appendix A) targeted to social media managers across various types of libraries in the United States, soliciting a mix of quantitative and qualitative results on prevalence of social media interactions, perceived changes to services and spaces as a result of those interactions, and how social media messaging fits within the library’s question reporting or tracking workflow. The researchers then extracted a set of thematic codes from the qualitative data to perform further statistical analysis.

Results – The survey received 805 responses in total, with response rates varying from question to question. Of these, 362reported receiving a question or suggestion via social media at least once per month, with 247 reporting a frequency of less than once per month. Respondents expressed a wide range of changes to their library services or spaces as a result, including themes of clarification, marketing, reach, restriction, collections, access, service, policy, and collaboration. Responses were garnered from all types of libraries, with public and academic libraries representing the majority.

Conclusion – While there remains a disparity in how different types of libraries utilize social media for soliciting questions and suggestions on library services and spaces, those libraries that participate in the social media conversation are using it as a resource to learn more from their patrons and communities and ultimately are better situated to serve their population.

EN:

Objective – This narrative literature review examines how values and a values-based practice framework are positioned as significant to evidence based practice in libraries. This includes examining the partnership between values and evidence in decision making and reflective practice. The review responds to a gap in the literature on the origins and application of values-based practice in evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP).

Methods – Searches for this narrative review were conducted in library and information science databases, discovery tools, and individual journals. Forward and backward citation searches were also undertaken. Searches aimed to encompass both the EBLIP and library assessment literature. Research and professional publications were considered for inclusion based on their engagement with values and values-based practice in EBLIP processes and decisions.

Results – The findings highlight how values reflect positionality, driving action and decision making in all stages of evidence based practice in libraries. The literature emphasizes the role of values when practitioners engage with critical reflective practice or invite user voices in evidence. An explicit values-based practice approach was evident in the library assessment literature, though not explicitly addressed in the EBLIP literature or EBLIP models. This is despite a partnership between evidence based practice and values-based practice in the health sciences literature, with literature on person-centred approaches aiming to relate evidence to individuals.

Conclusions – The EBLIP literature could further examine how values reflect positionality and drive action and decision making across all stages of evidence based practice. Values-based practice offers an opportunity to critically reflect on whose voices, perspectives, and values are reflected in and contribute to the library and information science evidence base.