This brief review has been compiled at the request of the Research Information Network Consultative Group on Librarianship and Information Science to summarise and synthesise the findings of recent literature on academic researchers and their specific needs for, and training in, information skills. The specific brief was “to draw up a short review of recent research/survey work on training of researchers about research information methodologies and tools, as a prelude to any RIN work on good practice”.
BackgroundMost research about acquisition
of information skills relates to teaching of students and therefore
focuses on information retrieval rather than information management1.
Those working as research-active academic staff or research students
in universities are often assumed to have already acquired an adequate
standard of information literacy. This fails to recognise fundamental
differences between information literacy for learning and information
literacy for research.
Academic researchers, as “domain
experts”, tend to integrate literature searching within the totality
of their existing knowledge of their fields and of the literature2.
They do not follow the “neat stepwise progression from a state of
unknowing (“information need”) to one of knowing”3.
Instead they interact with the literature through “area scanning”,
“footnote chasing” and “known author searching”4.
Evidence suggests that they find the keyword approach to information
searching unsatisfactory5. For example 87 per cent of social
science faculty said that they occasionally, rarely, or never got the
references they used from abstracting journals6. 69 per
cent relied heavily on footnote chasing. Consequently established researchers
identify “much of what they need without recourse to the library’s
access and synthetic literature”7 They know the major contributors
to their fields and already have an extensive knowledge of the literature3.
The rapid development of Web-based
resources requires that librarians and others involved in information
skills training migrate programmes centred on library based resources
to incorporate wider Internet-located sources. Have researcher behaviours
changed with increasing availability of desktop searching and the capacity
to search multiple online databases? Some commentators have remarked
that internet searching is very different from information retrieval
as traditionally practised and researched in online databases, CD-ROMs
and online public access catalogues (OPACS). Demographically too, Web
users are thought to span a vastly broader and thus probably different
population of users8 .
Nevertheless many academics continue
to rely primarily on their knowledge of authors and sources. Cited reference
searching, now available beyond the original ISI databases, illustrates
use of existing “domain knowledge”. Researchers tend to follow “the
Principle of Least Effort”9 and this needs to be acknowledged
when attempting to modify their behaviour through information literacy
training. However one must resist stereotyping the behaviour of academic
researchers as that of “domain experts”. Often researchers operate
across fields or domains and certainly those embarking on research projects,
or even research careers, need to pursue an antecedent range of strategies
to bring them to this point: “unlike academics, commencing research
students do not have established networks for identifying information
and accessing the shared information resources of an established research
culture”10. Research students often have a poor initial
knowledge of databases key to their topic although this knowledge can
be acquired during the course of their studies11. PhD candidates
also make a transition from a more dependent pedagogically oriented
approach to learning towards a more independent andragogical orientation
over the duration of their candidature12.
With greatly increased information
access comes increasing complexity. Even minor differences such as variation
in truncation symbols can prove a barrier to all but very basic level
searching. Researchers typically employ a “minimal set of techniques”
to minimise risk of variability between information systems. As a consequence
they optimise their chance of success but often at the cost of recall
and accuracy. Two-thirds of users of Internet search engines used only
one search query when searching for information with only 14% going
beyond three queries for a topic13. 62% of users only employed
one or two different search terms13. This compares with traditional
IR searching where number of terms typically ranges between 7 (novice)
and 15 (experienced) terms. Only 5% of Web searchers used the Boolean
AND command with 50% of these using it incorrectly13. Advanced
features of information systems run a correspondingly greater risk of
being neglected or underutilised. For example, a Norwegian study found
that many research students had heard of Boolean logic but their understanding
tended to be hazy14. Electronic networking and current awareness
were not widely practised.
Researchers require a range of more advanced information skills to operate effectively in an electronic information environment15:
identification of information needs has to be more precise, more advanced browsing skills are required; for example expertise in the use of search language to accommodate different search engines and electronic databases is needed, communication technologies must be used effectively to identify and communicate with subject experts and researchers around the world, critical evaluation of information is paramount when accessing information on the internet which may not be subject to a peer review process and is unregulated, information technology skills are required in managing, storing and presenting information. MethodsRapid subject searches were conducted on LISA, LISTA, Scopus, Scirus, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, Arts and Humanities Index, Google Scholar. Terms used included researcher*, research student*, PhD student and information skills, information literacy, and train*) These were followed by citation searches (forward and backward chaining) and use of “Find Related Items” features. No date or language restrictions were applied.
InclusionsPhD Students, academic scholars involved in research and contract researchers, those on externally funded projects
ExclusionsUndergraduates, Students on Postgraduate Taught Courses
Studies specifically examining information literacy instruction for those involved in research included:
Citation (Year) Target Population Programme Description Components Additional notes Abbott & Selzer (2002)10 Griffiths University [AUS]Postgraduate research students.
Starting from an individual perspective, student is placed at centre of learning process. Second stage to involve creation of a virtual learning environment Self-assessment instrument used to raise awareness about information skills required and to help students identify strengths and weaknesses. Students rate themselves against indicators derived from seven standards identified in CAUL Information Literacy Standards.Learning Plan encourages students to set learning goals to address weaknesses identified in their self-assessment, and attention is drawn to resources and workshops to help them enhance their capabilities.
Information Activity Log to record information-seeking practices, as a record of sources consulted as well as evaluation of relative merits of practices used. Students reflect on and refine their information research practices, thereby consolidating learning
Students design personal learning plan. Able to choose format and timing of training to meet their particular needs. Research supervisors and librarians are still available to work in partnership with students to advise on training needs and to ensure that literature reviews are relevant and complete and that students keep up to date with information resources. This individualised approach is ideally suited to specialised information literacy training needs of research students and their supervisors16 Barry (1997)15 Kings College London (Information Access Project) [UK]Academic supervisors
Project focused on doctoral supervisory role and integration of information skills training for doctoral students within that role Academic supervisors given training in electronic information strategies including online catalogue and database searching, Internet, email and online discussion groups, and building personal bibliographic databases. (i) Recognition of size of problem is required; (ii) a different model of library skills training needs to be adopted; (iii) developmental nature of training needs to be recognised; (iv) research supervisors have important role to play alongside librarians; (v) explicit discussion of metacognitive aspects of these skills is necessary; (vi) national and local institutions need to formulate training policy; (vii) supervisors themselves need training and support; (viii) academics and students need to take responsibility for learningRecommendations:
_ development of complex information skills must involve ongoing developmental program for both academics and students,
_ supervisors must promote information skills training and offer training in context of specific research problems,
Responsibility for training research students should involve collaboration between librarians and supervisors and should be articulated in university guidelines for research supervision.
Dumont et al (2005) 17 Library of 0cole Polytechnique [FRA]PhD students
12 hours of laboratory instruction divided into three modules:. introduction to sources and basic searching (4 hours);
. advanced search techniques and current awareness profiles (4 hours);
. management of citations in a personal database (4 hours).
Masters/PhD students develop information skills through preparation of a portfolio on their research topic. Assignment forms part of an information literacy laboratory within a research methodology course.Objectives of laboratory are to enable students to:
. define their information needs and formulate a search strategy based on a concept plan;
. efficiently and exhaustively search databases relevant to their research topics, exploiting their advanced functions;
. select and evaluate citations extracted from these sources;
. create current awareness profiles to enable continuous updates and to become familiar with technological intelligence techniques and sources; manage their own database of citations using the personal bibliographic software ProCite†.
Each student produces laboratory reports reviewed by librarians. These reports plus a final, global report are assembled into a ’portfolio’.
Course is mandatory and assignment grading is done by librarians.The portfolio, incorporating changes and librarian feedback, reflects evolution of students’ knowledge and capabilities. It is graded by librarians and accounts for 50% of total course mark. Portfolio must contain:
. personal, detailed concept plan;
. basic search strategies;
. advanced (optimized/tailored) search strategies for two databases;
. search results;
. discussion/justification of concept plan and of choice of keywords in which student explains which advanced functions were used and why;
. current awareness profile and justification for choice of intelligence techniques utilized;
. portion of a database built with ProCite and a bibliography generated with this application.
Establish how information is disseminated in discipline and understand how to identify repositories (whether physical or virtual) which contain significant collections of relevant materials.
Be able to identify appropriate bibliographic resources, both print and electronic.
Be aware of value of library catalogues as a bibliographic resource and be able to locate catalogues of other libraries via the Web.
Understand factors which limit usefulness of bibliographic resource, such as chronological scope, types and language of resources indexed, currency, methods of indexing.
Be able to search databases effectively, particularly with regard to choice of search terms, use of controlled vocabulary (where available), use of Boolean operators and design of search strategy.
Be aware of importance of keeping up to date with new publications and be able to develop strategies for achieving this.
Be aware of importance and limitations of inter-library loan services.
Understand value of informal contacts with other researchers as an information resource.
Be able to identify electronic discussion lists and forthcoming conferences which are relevant to area of research.
Be aware of value of specialist staff in libraries and other repositories as an information resource.
Be able to use personal bibliographic software to organize references.
Specific FormatsBe aware of suitable bibliographic tools (including library catalogues) for identifying relevant books.
Understand value of browsing library shelves to locate additional references.
Be aware of value of an extensive personal collection of books, and identify sources from which to purchase new and second-hand material.
Be aware of major publishers and be able to make use of alerting services which they offer.
Be aware of suitable bibliographic tools for identifying relevant journal articles.
Understand importance of regularly scanning core journals and browsing journal shelves in libraries.
Be aware of relevant collections of e-journals, understand how to search such collections, how to browse new issues and use email alerting services.
Be aware of value of book reviews as an information resource and understand how to locate reviews of relevant books.
Be aware of importance of “book article” as an information resource and of relevant bibliographic tools listing such works.
Be aware of value of theses as an information resource and understand how to identify relevant theses.
Be aware of problems involved in obtaining copies of theses.
Be aware of value of unpublished material as an information resource and understand challenges involved in identifying and accessing relevant documents.
Understand how to locate specialist gateways and search engines that may help to identify relevant Web resources.
Be aware of other formats in which relevant information may appear, understand how to identify and access such materials.
Not an actual course but a proposed set of learning objectives to be used in planning information literacy training programmes. Partridge & Genoni, (1996)19; Genoni & Partridge (2000)1 Incoming PhD students, Curtin University of Technology, [AUS] Workshop to enable researchers to manage research data and information effectively. Workshops to consist of 14 hours tuition and practical experience, Organising and maintaining a research log,structuring information,
indexing manual and automated records,
managing filing systems,
text storage,
creating and managing a bibliography.
No evidence that programme was actually delivered [Follow up of 2000 chapter required]
Preparations
Strategy
Information sources
Evaluation and selection (of information)
Reflection
Information management
Presentation
Students select subject and then search for related information. Assignment presented through written log that describes different stages of task (see column to left) Smith (2003)21 North Carolina State University [US} Checklist of information skills for “Professional Scientist: Postdoctoral and Independent Researcher” Updates on new features of known resources and introduction to new resources.Keeping up with literature: environmental scanning/browsing, table of contents services, alerts/SDIs.
How to identify core journals in a discipline.
Citation indexing and Journal Citation Reports. "Publish or Perish." Uses and limitations of citation counting and impact factors. Searching ISI databases.
Advanced searching of key, discipline-specific resources. Bibliographic and data sources.
Science on the web: portals, resources, directories, news, organization and publisher information, searching, databases.
Locating meeting and grant news and announcements.
Issues in scholarly publishing and communication. Copyright.
The E-journal revolution, electronic publishing, and accessing full-text journals online. Relevant preprint collections or services. Managing a personal resource collection. Different organizational ideas and systems. Bibliographic management software tools.
Crossing boundaries, entering new territory. Inter-/cross-disciplinary searching. Locating key information tools/ideas in new subject areas.
Information skills and instruction in undergraduate/graduate courses, and in graduate/postdoctoral training and mentoring.
Also includes a checklist for Bibliographic Instruction Curriculum for Graduate students Citation (Year) Target Population Programme Description Components Additional notes White, Gendall, and Naidoo, (2004)3 Massey University [AUS]“Staff new to research at Massey”
Half-day module entitled “Knowledge Management in the Emerging Electronic Environment”. Title emphasised intention to go beyond a traditional library or information skills approach and to offer integrated set of skills for exploiting new environment. Consists of modules “designed to provide opportunity for participants to obtain policy and practice information and to engage and interact on various topics and issues. Participants gain insights from experienced senior researchers presenting at workshops and seminars.”Presentation covered:
Overview of electronic information environment, and the distinction between deep and surface webs
Use of Google, including advanced searching and limiting by country and domain
Relationship between web and standard academic publishing formats and importance of access tools
Standard database searching, including Boolean logic, truncation and proximity operators. Links between database records and electronic documents
Cited reference searching
Journal contents page alerts and subject-based alerts
Importance of learned society web pages and other internet communities
Use of bibliographic management software to capture, store and output records
Journal citation reports and selecting journals in which to publish.
Participants encouraged to reflect on implications of what they learn for getting their own research published and read and on their own role in encouraging lifelong learning for their students.
Overview session introducing participants to a wide range of functionalities rather than trying to teach specific skills in detail. Aim to become aware of scope of electronic information functionality and of areas to later explore in depth. Multidisciplinary so had to have broad appeal and relevance. Presentation was to be lively, interactive and varied without being patronising. Broadly based around PowerPoint slideshow using mixture of explanatory slides and screen shots with four or five hands-on exercises. Light and humorous tone maintained throughout and detailed complexity of field was acknowledged. Unique characteristics of academic information were emphasised throughout and continuity between print and electronic environments was highlighted wherever possible.
Programme Content:
Components identified by individual
programmes include: searching and scanning skills, current
awareness tools, bibliographic management software, use
of tables of contents services and automated alerts, e-journal
publishing and related ownership and copyright issues, identification
of core journals, an understanding of Journal
Citation Reports and journal ranking systems and the
ability to locate quality information
and websites of high domain relevance on the internet19Ideally
an information literacy programme for researchers should be of high
domain relevance to participants. However there is a tension when a
cross-disciplinary programme is to be delivered3 Furthermore
participants often bring varying levels of pre-existent knowledge and
skill to such a course10
Much of the added value, provided
by electronic information systems has a greater relevance for research
students and academic staff than for undergraduate students3
Libraries should build on existing strategies used by academic researchers,
integrating paper and electronic techniques, rather than slavishly insisting
on training on electronic sources22.
Programme Delivery:
Duration of programmes varied
from one half-day included within a larger course to a three week accredited
course.
Programme Philosophy:
Authors generally agree on the
need to place skills firmly within the broader context of academic practice.
Rather than delivering a training programme based on what librarians
and supervisors assume students need to know, strategies should be designed
to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their own skills
development9.
Programme Outcomes
Two programmes required production
of a log, described variously as an “Information Activity Log”10
or a “Research log”20. Another required preparation of
a portfolio on the participant’s research topic17.
Programme Participants:
Most programmes target research students, because “research students have a natural point in time at which to begin to acquire information skills and a distinct awareness of the need to do so”3. “This is much less the case for academic staff”, thus posing particular difficulties “in locating an appropriate context for academic staff when so much of their professional learning is delivered by colleagues and research networks” 3. Academic staff seek a minimal toolkit of techniques and the task of information skills trainers is to help them develop the most effective toolkit consistent with that principle. One possibility is to target academic staff as they become supervisors of research students in order to require shared responsibility with librarians for the student’s acquisition of information literacy skills15. One course involved senior researchers in the programme as a whole, with knowledge management integrated within an overall research skills programme3.
Implications It is inappropriate to attempt to meet information literacy needs of researchers using instruction methods based on undergraduate student behaviours; Researchers do not follow the neat stepwise progression from a state of unknowing (“information need”) to one of knowing that underpins most information literacy instruction. Information management, rather than information retrieval, should be the focus of information literacy instruction for researchers. Where information retrieval is covered it should focus on techniques such as “area scanning”, footnote chasing and known author searching rather than keyword searching of abstracts and indexes. Information literacy training should be “socialised” through formal collaboration with supervisors and integration with existing research programmes or research groups. Training should focus on achievement of practically based outcomes such as the production of a log book or a portfolio. Training should optimally be tailored to the individual and delivered at the time of need. Further ReadingBackler C (1998) The information-seeking behaviour of academic researchers: a comparative study. University of Bristol. Graduate School of Education. [Dissertation]
Borgman, CL, Smart LJ, Millwood KA, Finley JR, Champeny L, Gilliland AJ and Leazer GH (2005). Comparing Faculty Information Seeking in Teaching and Research: Implications for the Design of Digital Libraries. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 56, 6 636-657.
Borwick C (2004) Academic researchers? experiences of a library portal system. University of Bristol. Graduate School of Education. [Dissertation]
Bruce C (1994) Research students’ early experiences of the dissertation literature review Studies in Higher Education 19 (2): 217-229.
Covi, LM (2000) Debunking the Myth of the Nintendo Generation: How Doctoral Students Introduce New Electronic Communication Practices into University Research. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51 (14): 1284-1294
Education for Change Ltd., SIRU (University of Brighton), and The Research Partnership, Researchers' Use of Libraries and Other Information Sources: Current Patterns and Future Trends: Final Report (Bristol: Research Support Libraries Group, 2002), http://www.rslg.ac.uk/research/libuse/
Ehikhamenor, FA (2003). Internet Resources and Productivity in Scientific Research in Nigerian Universities. Journal of Information Science 29 (2): 107-115.
Ellis D, Oldman H. (2005) The English literature researcher in the age of the Internet. Journal of Information Science 31 (1): 29-36
Francis H (2005) The information-seeking behavior of social science faculty at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Journal of Academic Librarianship 31 (1): 67-72.
Gonzales, R (2001). Opinions and Experiences of University Faculty Regarding Library Research Instruction: Results of a Web-Based Survey at the University of Colorado. Research Strategies 18 (4): 191-201
Haigh S (2003) Information resources used by researchers in academic libraries. University of Bristol. Graduate School of Education. [Dissertation]
Hunn R (2003) The information literacy of research students and academic supervisors, University of Bristol. Graduate School of Education. [Dissertation]
Herman E (2001) End-users in academia: meeting the information needs of university researchers in an electronic age: part 1 Aslib Proceedings; 53 (9):387-401.
Herman E (2001) End-users in academia: meeting the information needs of university researchers in an electronic age Part 2 Innovative information-accessing opportunities and the researcher: user acceptance of IT-based information resources in academia. Aslib Proceedings 53 (10): 431-457
Meho LI, Tibbo HR (2003) Modeling the information-seeking behavior of social scientists: Ellis's study revisited. JASIST 54 (6): 570-587.
Wise, A (2003) Are Digital Library Resources Useful for Learners and Researchers? Serials 16 (1): 23-26.
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