IFLA Satellite 2022: Global and Comparative Research Design in Library and Information Sciences, July 30-31, Dublin

Description: This interactive workshop builds on workshops and professional development activities of LTR, SSL, and IFLA Journal over the past several years, including the 2019 pre-conference in Greece and webinars conducted by each section on research methods during 2020 and 2021. The workshop will share the Library Theory and Research and Social Science Libraries Sections’ extensive experience in social science research methods to introduce participants to methods for conducting international and comparative research.

This workshop introduces participants to methods and tools to equip them to design, conduct, and critique qualitative and mixed methods research in international and comparative settings. Participants will explore the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of data collection methods and evaluate strategies for research design.

Participants should come to the workshop with a specific project or set of research questions in mind. Participants will have opportunities to apply topics of discussion to their own idea during the workshop and work directly with the expert panelists and discussion leaders.

Speakers:

Dr. Kawanna Bright, Assistant Professor of Library Science at East Carolina University. Dr. Bright earned her PhD in Research Methods and Statistics from the University of Denver in 2018. Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Bright worked as an academic librarian for twelve years, with a focus on reference, instructional services, and information literacy. She earned her MLIS from the University of Washington iSchool in 2003. Dr. Bright’s current research focuses on assessment in libraries, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in libraries, the application of research methodology to the study of library and information science, and the importance of the liaison librarianship role in academic libraries. Her work with Dr. Amy VanScoy (University at Buffalo) to investigate the reference and information services experience of librarians of color received a 2014 ALA Diversity Research Grant and was awarded the 2017 Beta Phi Mu-Library Research Round Table Research Paper Award. Dr. Bright is also a co-PI on a recently funded IMLS grant project that will utilize survival analysis to determine when and why BIPOC librarians are likely to leave the profession. Dr. Bright is a 2021 recipient of an ECU College of Education Profiles in Diversity Award and a recipient of a 2021 NCLA Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns’ LIS Instructor Roadbuilder Award.

Dr. Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Director of Library Trends and User Research at OCLC Research. She is Past President of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Past Chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries Value of Academic Libraries Committee, the recipient of the ASIS&T 2019 Watson Davis Award, and the 2020 Distinguished Alumna at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Information School. She held the Chair of Excellence, Departmento de Biblioteconomía y Documentación, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, was a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, and Visiting Scholar at the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Denmark. Connaway has received research funding from the IMLS, Jisc, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She has numerous journal publications, is an international speaker, and is co-author of the 4th and 5th editions of Basic Research Methods for Librarians and the 6th and 7th editions, Research Methods in Library and Information Science.

Dr. Anne Goulding, Professor of Library and Information Management in the School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her main research interest lies in the management of library and information services, with a specific focus on public libraries, and on how GLAMR organisations demonstrate their impact and value. She also has a research focus on community-based approaches to digital inclusion. She is Editor of the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science and reviews and is on the Editorial Board of other journals in the LIS discipline. She has taught research methods at undergraduate, Masters and PhD levels and has supervised both Masters and PhD dissertations. Primarily a qualitative researcher, she has used a range of approaches and methodologies to explore research problems within LIS contexts and has over a hundred published works including books, book chapters, journal articles and conference papers.

Dr. Peter Lor, holds a D.Phil. degree (1991) as well as an honorary doctorate (2008) from the University of Pretoria. He was South Africa’s first National Librarian (2000-2003), and served as Secretary General of IFLA during 2005-2008 and as a visiting professor in the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2009-2011). In retirement he continues to pursue scholarly interests as a research associate in the Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria. His current research focuses on international and comparative librarianship, with an emphasis on research method and on the ethical and political economic aspects of international information relations. His book, International and Comparative Librarianship, concepts and methods for global studies, was published by De Gruyter in 2019. He is an honorary member of the Library and Information Association of South Africa and of the Italian Library Association and the recipient of the IFLA Medal (2014) and of the International Relations Committee’s John Ames Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Award (2020).

Dr. Krystyna K. Matusiak, Associate Professor in the Library & Information Science Program at the University of Denver in the United States. She received Master’s of Arts from the Jagiellonian University in Poland and Master’s in Library and Information Science and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to accepting her position at the University of Denver, she worked as a digital collections librarian and served as a digitization consultant. Her research interests include digital libraries, digitization of cultural heritage, visual information, information-seeking behavior, and research methods. Her book, Digital Libraries: Research and Practice, co-authored with Dr. Iris Xie was published in 2016. She has been an active member of the IFLA Library Theory and Research (LTR) Standing Committee for ten years. She served as an LTR Secretary, newsletter editor, and Chair of the LTR section.

Dr. Debbie Schachter, academic library leader, higher education teacher and researcher who represents academic and Canadian libraries in local and international consortia, cooperatives and associations. Debbie is the Interim Associate Vice President, Student Services as well as the Director of Library Services at Langara College in Vancouver, Canada, and is a member of two higher education research ethics boards in the Vancouver region. Debbie is the Secretary of the IFLA Library Theory and Research Section, and is currently participating as a member of an international research team investigating the teaching of research methods in LIS education globally. Debbie has a Bachelor of Arts (in English and History) and a Master of Library Science from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Steve Witt, holds a Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the Director of the Center for Global Studies (CGS) and head of the International and Area Studies Library. In the library, he is the subject specialist librarian for Global Studies and Japanese Studies. Witt is also editor of IFLA Journal, the flagship journal of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. His research focuses on the trajectory and impacts of international developments in library and information science, placing global trends in librarianship and knowledge production in the context of wider social and technological developments. He is currently working on a long term project that aims to complete a global history on the public information campaigns of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) to “internationalize” the minds of the world population through library collections, book distribution, and academic networking.