COURSE DESCRIPTION: Introduction to research
methods for user studies, information needs assessment, and evaluation of
library and information services; critique of published research. Includes
substantial paper involving significant independent study.
OBJECTIVES: This course should meet one Graduate
School requirement for a URI master's program without a thesis option: you will
write a substantial paper involving significant independent study. It is key to
two of the GSLIS Educational Outcomes: 13 ("Understand the process of
research and be able to apply published research and in-house evaluations to the
improvement of library and information services") and 14 ("Demonstrate
problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills").
Critical thinking can't be done in a vacuum; you have to think about
something. This course will focus on user studies. Studies of information
seeking and information use behaviors, needs assessments, and even old-fashioned
community analysis all have one thing in common: good research in these areas
will help us get past our own preconceptions and begin to see through our
clients' eyes.
Specific course objectives should also contribute to
students' achievement of other outcomes, noted in parentheses after the course
objectives. For the full list of GSLIS Educational Outcomes, see http://www.uri.edu/artsci/lsc/outcomes.html.
Students in this class will:
- Survey methods used in LIS research, both quantitative
and qualitative; evaluate the generalizability or transferability of
published research (4, "evaluation of recorded information and ideas of
society"; 13, 14)
- Explore the application of published studies and
in-house action research to a range of services and resources in different
types of libraries and information agencies (1)
- Understand research ethics, especially the ethical
treatment of human subjects in research (3)
- Apply research and evaluation strategies to the design
of a community analysis or information needs assessment (10, 11)
- Practice effective written, oral, and graphic
communication strategies in the presentation of assignments (8)
Research and evaluation strategies should give you tools
to deal flexibly and strategically with change (15), continue your professional
growth through lifelong learning (17), and become a leader in service to the
profession and society (18).
TEXTBOOK: Wallace, Danny P., and Connie Van
Fleet. 2001. Library evaluation: A casebook and can-do guide.
Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-56308-862-2
The URI Bookstore has ordered this book for you. They
want you to know they can ship it to you. Even if you prefer to get it through
Amazon, check out the URI Bookstore's site: http://www.uri.edu/bookstore/.
Go to http://www.uri.edu/bookstore/textbookstu.htm
and click on "Textbook Inquiry" to find what texts have been ordered
for your various courses -- but first, jot down the section numbers from
e-campus.
I do not teach out of the textbook. My emphasis will be
more on specific research methods and how to use them; the textbook's emphasis
is more on specific evaluation needs and what to do when you have them. What I
hope is that my lectures and the book will be complementary. Please ask if you
have questions about the book that I do not cover in class.
A text we've used in the past is:
Katzer, Jeffrey, Kenneth H. Cook, and Wayne W. Crouch.
1998. Evaluating information: A guide for users of social science research.
4th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill.
This one is more about research methods (not too heavy
on the statistics), and most students say they like it and find it easy to
understand. (And why don't I stick closer to it in class?) A few dislike it
because it's not specifically about library research. I didn't want to
require you to buy two whole textbooks (after all, I don't teach out of them),
but it's a useful resource. Another useful resource for research methods and
statistics, however, is available online: William Trochim's Center for Social
Research, http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/,
has loads of applicable material, and he writes very clearly.
Please think about what you most like and dislike about
any of these resources, and if you have ideas about what might work better for
future classes, please let me know.
READINGS: The long reading list for this course is
intended to give you ideas and jumping off points -- you won't be required to
read all that. Other ideas and jumping off points are worked into the assignment
descriptions. You should do as much reading as possible for your group and
individual assignments. Reading research is like reading a foreign language --
if you haven't done it before, it's daunting at first but it gets easier with
practice.
EVALUATION: Assignments
