Making Better Decisions: Incorporating Evidence into your
Practice
Denise Koufogiannakis
University of Alberta Libraries
OLA Superconference -- February 1, 2008
What is EBL?
“Evidence-Based Librarianship (EBL) is an approach to information science that promotes the collection, interpretation and integration of valid, important and applicable user-reported, librarian observed, and research-derived evidence. The best available evidence, moderated by user needs and preferences, is applied to improve the quality of professional judgements”.
A. Booth
History1995 – M. Haines –Evidence-based Purchasing – “evidence based
information practice”1997 - Article in Hypothesis, Research Section of MLA2000- MLA/CHLA, Vancouver; ICML, London; LIANZA, New Zealand2000 – conceptual framework devised – applied to health sciences
librarianship2001- First EBL Conference, Sheffield, UK2002 - Collaborative articles begin to appear2003 - 2nd EBL Conference, Edmonton, Canada2004 - Evidence Based Practice for Information Professionals book
(March)2005 - 3rd conference, Australia2005 – EBLIG group of CLA formed2006 - Evidence Based Library and Information Practice journal
founded2007 – 4th conference, USA – now called EBLIP
“To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to
getting it answered” (John Ruskin)
The Well-Built Question
• Setting – in what context are you addressing the question– University
• Perspective – who are the users/potential users of the service– First year students
• Intervention – what is being done to them/for them– small group instruction in a computer lab
• Comparison – what are your alternatives– lecture style
• Evaluation – how will you measure whether the intervention succeeded– improved information literacy skills
Your Question
Among first year university students, does small group instruction in a computer lab, versus lecture style instruction, result in improved information literacy skills?
Acquire
What type of question are you asking?– Domains – ie: Collections, Education,
Reference, etc.
Search for an answer
Challenges
• Quality of the evidence - what is the knowledge base? • Dispersion of evidence sources (e.g. education,
management, marketing, computer science, other) • Skills in conducting research • Skills in disseminating research • Skills in interpreting research • Time
How can I make my practice more evidence-based?
• Remember – it’s not all or nothing – start small
• When you have a problem, consult the research literature
• When there is no solution found in pre-existing literature, do the research, and share it with others
How can I make my practice more evidence-based?
• Start a discussion group to talk about issues and solutions / best practices
• Ask your colleagues what they are basing their decisions on – question current practices
• Managers: encourage research as part of everyday practice
Wisdom means acting with knowledge while doubting what
you know.
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton