Hernon, Peter

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Editorial LIS Extends to the Research Frontier Advancements in research procedures (research designs and methodologies) and in the development of reliability and validity indicators occur on a cross-dis-ciplinary and interdisciplinary basis. Re-searchers obviously should monitor these developments and, when appropriate, adapt them to their investigations. How-ever, as Jeffrey N. Gatten indicates in a recent C&RL article, "a researcher inves-tigating an interdisciplinary phenome-non ... [may approach] the topic from a specific research paradigm rooted in a traditional structure of knowledge. The paradigm may force a particular perspec-tive or approach to conducting research."1 Gatten further observes "that low sub-ject dispersion within the professional literature of library science indicates lit-tle effort by librarians at looking towards another discipline ... for theory or meth-odology."2 A number of library science researchers "adopt unsophisticated ana-lytical techniques and utilize limited the-oretical frameworks."3 They may depend exclusively on a mailed or hand-distributed questionnaire and either use descriptive statistics, rather than infer-ential statistics, or forego any statistical analysis.4 Gatten labels library science as an "ap-plied discipline," one that often fails to reference in its literature "relevant re-search from other disciplines."5 The fail-ure of "paradigmatic structures" to "cross the traditional boundaries of estab-lished disciplines ... [inhibits] interdiscipli-nary [and cross-disciplinary] research."6 This editorial does not dispute Gatten's findings, the citation patterns of a num-ber of library and information science (LIS) researchers, or the conclusion that LIS as an "applied discipline appears to be more self-contained" than a "research discipline," such as sociology.7 Nonetheless, LIS can draw (and has done so) on procedures and indicators of reliability and validity developed in dis-ciplines such as anthropology, educa-tion, management, psychology, public administration, public policy, and soci-ology. Periodicals, such as Public Opinion Quarterly, and treatises produced by Sage and other publishers present proce-dural discussions, assessments, and in-vestigations. In fact, guides, such as the Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement, 8 offer excellent synopses of procedural alternatives and make it more convenient for neophyte research-ers to improve the quality and format of their data collection instruments. Textbooks, monographs, periodicals, and treatises produced outside LIS ap-parently infrequently (if at all) reference the procedural, reliability, and validity advancements emanating from LIS. In fact, some readers of this editorial may be surprised to learn that there are such advancements. LIS has made a positive contribution to cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research relating to bibliometrics, unobtrusive testing, focus group interviewing, and in-person inter-viewing of ethnic-linguistic gatekeep-ers/ to name a few areas. For example, Terence Crowley and Thomas Childers nudged unobtrusive testing in a new di-rection, 10 while Charles R. McClure and I combined unobtrusive testing with an experimental design and applied twenty-five indicators of reliability and validity to our work.11 McClure et al. combined focus group interviewing with a quantitative data collection tech-nique, and included measures of reliabil-3 4 College & Research Libraries ity and validityY Based on the premise that information is culture specific, Cheryl Metoyer-Duran adapted traditional inter-viewer training techniques to reveal any non-English language patterns or cul-tural behaviors that might affect a study's reliability and validity.13 With some universities questioning the continuation of LIS schools, 14 there is need for the conduct and reporting of more procedural studies and their inclu-sion in the published literature. LIS re-search-oriented journals, as well as funding organizations, ought to be sup-portive of such research. What else can be done? We might: • review research-based books produced in other professions and disciplines, noting the omission of important LIS procedural studies and coverage of the types of evaluations encountered in complex organizations, such as libraries and information centers; • conduct procedural and other types of research with investigators from other professions and disciplines, thereby altering the self-contained paradigm noted by Gatten; • expect more LIS faculty directing doc-toral students, and the students them-selves, to be well versed and experienced in the conduct of different types of re-search and the use of various theoret-ical frameworks; • offer special awards and prizes for such research; and • attend sessions of professional associ-ations in which researchers present procedural studies. January 1992 However, implementation of sugges-tions such as these will have minimal impact as long as many librarians and library school educators · demean or ig-nore the value of the LIS research litera-ture and prize the literatures of other professions and disciplines more than they do their own.15 Clearly, it is impera-tive to attack the prevailing mispercep-tions about LIS literature if LIS is to mature as a profession and discipline and if we expect others to use and value our literature. Mary Jo Lynch issued a challenge: change "the connection between re-search and librarianship . . . from one that is uneasy to one that is firm." 16 To meet the challenge, she stressed that leaders in the field need to pay care-ful attention to several factors: to the numerous meanings of the word re-search and the different ways each kind of research affects librarianship; to educational programs that develop an ability to understand and conduct scientific research; to publications and programming that discuss work in progress and disseminate final results; to increasing the availability of fund-ing; and, finally, to the incorporation of a research perspective into the way librarians think about what they do.17 An added challenge is to focus on the type of research that makes a procedural contribution or gains recognition for LIS in the research methods literatures of other professions and disciplines. PETER HERNON Simmons College REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. Jeffrey N. Gatten, "Paradigm Restrictions on Interdisciplinary Research into Librari-anship," College & Research Libraries 52:575 (Nov. 1991). 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. See Kathy B. Enger, Georgia Quirk, and J. Andrew Stewart, "Statistical Methods Used by Authors of Library and Information Science Journal Articles," Library & Information Science Research 11:37-46 (Jan.-Mar. 1989); Danny P. Wallace, "The Use of Statistical Methods in Library and Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Infor-mation Science 36:402-10 (Nov. 1985); and Peter Hernon, Statistics: A Component of the Research Process (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1991), p.72. 5. Gatten, ''Paradigm Restrictions on Interdisciplinary Research into Librarianship," p.579,583. 6. Ibid., p.583 Editorial 5 7. Ibid. 8. Delbert C. Miller, Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement, 5th ed. (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 1991). 9. Gatekeepers help individuals gain access to the resources needed to solve problems; they link people with solutions by serving as information providers and by moving between cultures. 10. Terence Crowley and Thomas Childers, Information Service in Public Libraries: Two Studies (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Pr., 1971). 11. See Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure, Unobtrusive Testing and Library Reference Services (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1987), chapter 4 and appendix A; and Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure, "Quality of Data Issues in Unobtrusive Testing of Library Refer-ence Service: Recommendations and Strategies," Library & Information Science Research 9:77-93 (Apr.-June 1987). 12. Charles R. McClure, Ann P. Bishop, Philip Doty, and Howard Rosenbaum, The National Research and Education Network (NREN): Research and Policy Perspectives (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1991). 13. Cheryl Metoyer-Duran, Information Gatekeepers in California's Ethnic Communities (Sac-ramento, Calif.: California State Library, 1991). 14. See, for instance, Report of the Provost on the School of Library Service at Columbia (New York: Columbia Univ., 1990): "research .. . , in all library schools, is not on a level with university expectations. Even the best library schools, we are told, do not produce much research of real distinction. The lack of a national research capability in the field is widely deplored" (p.20). 15. See Peter Hernon, "Academic Librarians and the Library and Information Science Monograph: An Exploratory Study," College & Research Libraries 52:507-19 (Sept. 1991 ). 16. Mary Jo Lynch, "Research and Librarianship: An Uneasy Connection," Library Trends 32:381 (Spring 1984). 17. Ibid. OCLC/AMIGOS Collection Analysis Systems Make a wise investment. 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LIS Extends to the Research Frontier

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LIS Extends to the Research Frontier

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