scholarly journals Establishing the context for your research project

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (104) ◽  
pp. 36-44
Author(s):  
Janet Clapton
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Work Role ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Field ◽  
The Social ◽  
Care Field ◽  
Social Science Field

This article will help fellow practitioner researchers establish research background for a topic by describing a process and resources. This is potentially useful not only for the LIS professional in their own research, but also when finding information at work for their customers or clients. My own work role is information specialist support for research commissioning in the social care field; from this I have drawn general tips for background scoping in a social science field such as library and information science. Variety of sources is key: the sources drawn on include bibliographic databases, research databases, portals, key organisations' websites, discussion groups, conferences and awards. It is not intended to be exhaustive, and can only give a snapshot of a changing environment, however it can act as a foundation for detailed preparation. In parallel, the LIRG website links list has been expanded and updated: please see www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/research/links

Valuing studies in higher education: Symbolic means and strategies of students negotiating their position in the library and information science field

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 306-314
Author(s):  
Valentini Moniarou-Papaconstantinou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Knowledge Content

The library and information science field attempts to legitimize its position in higher education, in a ‘culture of uncertainty’, where boundaries are fluid. The position of LIS in the hierarchical classification of academic subjects is influenced by the changes in both the field of higher education and in the information environment, creating expectations for the emergence of new fields of study, research and professional practices. The purpose of this paper is to examine how LIS students position themselves in their field of study and the resources they use in processes of meaning-making. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with students from the three LIS departments operating in Greece at the undergraduate level. The results showed that the academic knowledge content of the object, the assignment of scientific characteristics to it, the signifier of the book, the form of professional practice and, above all, technology are the most prominent resources among those that most young people utilized in their effort to negotiate the symbolic class (i.e. the dominant cultural categories which give meaning to the social world).

Rigor, Relevance and Research Paradigms

2011 ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
John C. Beachboard
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Science Field ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Research Meeting ◽  
Social Science Field ◽  
Research Frameworks ◽  
Intellectual Journey

A practitioner leaves behind the world of failed multimillion-dollar information systems projects to seek solutions in academe. In making the transition from IS practitioner to IS researcher, the author encounters two fundamental tensions regarding the conduct of social science. The first tension concerns the challenge of conducting research meeting the criteria of scientific rigor while addressing issues relevant to practitioners. The second tension centers on the debate concerning the suitability of positivist and non-positivist approaches to research in the social sciences. A review of the literature discussing these tensions led the author to the observation that the two tensions appear to be related. This insight led to the investigation of multi-paradigmatic research frameworks as a means of reconciling these related tensions. The essay provides a personalized account regarding the author’s motivation for conducting practitioner-oriented research, the intellectual journey made through the literature to acquire tools of the social science field, and his observations concerning the advantages of multi-paradigmatic research in the IS field.

scholarly journals Time and temporality in library and information science

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta Haider ◽  
Veronica Johansson ◽  
Björn Hammarfelt
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Time Regime ◽  
Information Work ◽  
Late Modern

PurposeThe article introduces selected theoretical approaches to time and temporality relevant to the field of library and information science, and it briefly introduces the papers gathered in this special issue. A number of issues that could potentially be followed in future research are presented.Design/methodology/approachThe authors review a selection of theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of time that originate in or are of particular relevance to library and information science. Four main themes are identified: (1) information as object in temporal perspectives; (2) time and information as tools of power and control; (3) time in society; and (4) experiencing and practicing time.FindingsThe paper advocates a thorough engagement with how time and temporality shape notions of information more broadly. This includes, for example, paying attention to how various dimensions of the late-modern time regime of acceleration feed into the ways in which information is operationalised, how information work is commodified, and how hierarchies of information are established; paying attention to the changing temporal dynamics that networked information systems imply for our understanding of documents or of memory institutions; or how external events such as social and natural crises quickly alter modes, speed, and forms of data production and use, in areas as diverse as information practices, policy, management, representation, and organisation, amongst others.Originality/valueBy foregrounding temporal perspectives in library and information science, the authors advocate dialogue with important perspectives on time that come from other fields. Rather than just including such perspectives in library and information science, however, the authors find that the focus on information and documents that the library and information science field contributes has great potential to advance the understanding of how notions and experiences of time shape late-modern societies and individuals.

scholarly journals The “meeting” of Information Literacy with the trans people narratives

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Goulart Righetto ◽  
Elizete Vieira Vitorino
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Trans People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethical Criteria ◽  
Access Policies

The main objective of this article is to point out the constant situation of stigma, oppression, and prejudice towards trans people, whose gender identities permeate the male/masculine and female/feminine understandings. The method used was though qualitative research and bibliographical survey, which narrative interview as the main method of collection; It includes qualitative theoretical and conceptual pointings on information literacy, that “meet” with excerpts of five narratives obtained by transgender (or simply “trans”) people from Florianópolis region, Santa Catarina, under three aspects: of information, of social vulnerability and of resilience, and from the social phenomenology standpoint. These narratives were obtained through ethical criteria and served as a cornerstone in the empirical corpus at master’s level research, completed in early 2018. Through the narratives exposed and the “bonding” with the literature, it was perceived that information is the principle – and the main issue – of the developed relations in social spaces and their components: information needs’ of trans people are given by lack of information and absence of understanding from other people and institutions, almost totally; which triggers the transgender population’s social exclusion and the restriction of quality of life, including various social vulnerability faces – either on education, health, housing, labor market, security, among others. As conclusions, it appoints the urgent need for studies, research and interdisciplinary initiatives in this scenario, mainly in the Information Science field, whose scope is considered predominantly social. So, the rise and importance of information literacy for Brazil in recent years strongly indicate the need to share experiences applicable for Brazilian reality, to the detriment of the challenges required, also implying in the social inequities reduction and regional inequalities, mainly related to the access policies and use of information for the citizenship exercise and to the lifelong learning.

scholarly journals Epistemological Proposal on the Concept of Hybridity for Libraries

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Rafaela Carolina DA SILVA ◽  
Rosângela Formentini CALDAS
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hybrid Libraries

The Information Science field has discussed different shared specifications of a conceptualization which comprises the diversity of support, processes, resources and people by which the library needs to adapt. The question here is about the conceptual identification of the terminology ‘hybrid libraries; The aim is to contribute to the literature in the Information Science field by proposing a concept of hybrid libraries which comprises the social sphere, in terms of the developments existing in the society, in libraries.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Thematic Overlap Between Library and Information Science and Other Subdisciplines of the Social Communication and Media Sciences in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2a) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Osiński
Keyword(s):  
Media Studies ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bibliographic Data ◽  
The Media

Purpose/Thesis: The recent decision to join three previously separate disciplines – library and information science, media studies, and cognition and social communication science, into a single discipline of social communication and media sciences prompted the author to investigate if joining of these disciplines according to the compulsory categorization published by the OECD, is supported by an overlap in their fields of research, or by a similarity in their methods of conducting it.Approach/Methods: An analysis of the review articles devoted to the research fields of all three disciplines, and of the information regarding the research interests of the journals affiliated with them, as published on the journals’ websites, allowed the author to establish their thematic scope. The results of this analysis were compared with bibliographic data and sets of keywords found in the affiliated journals. The comparison relied on an analysis of citations, and of coexistence of specialized terms.Results and conclusions: The analysis of the review articles suggested that the basic research fields of library and information science and of the media studies and cognition and social communication science are aligned and complement each other. This conclusion was further supported by the analysis of the guidelines for the potential contributors provided on the websites of the investigated journals. However, the analysis of the bibliographic data and of the keyword sets gave an entirely different idea of the relation between the studied disciplines, indicating that there is no significant thematic overlap between them. Nevertheless, this might be due to the quality of this particular data sample, and to the methods’ susceptibility to data disruption.Originality/Value: The article proves that there is an overlap between library and information science, and the social communication and media sciences. Furthermore, it shows the limits of the citation method and of the specialized terms coexistence method, resulting from the practices of the authors and the editorial teams of some of the journals discussed. The article shows that all quantitative studies of the state of scholarship in a given discipline in Poland must be conducted with great care, and their results should not be the only basis for conclusions.

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