College and Research Libraries Research Notes Attitudes and Preferences of Library Practitioners in Illinois to Channels for Dissemination of Research Results S. Nazim Ali The author interviewed library practitioners from public, academic, and special libraries in the state of Illinois, in order to determine their perceptions of the usefulness and dissemination of research results in the areas of librarianship and information science. It was found that journals were the most popular medium for the dissemination of current information, and that most practitioners used a routing system. Eighty-eight percent declared that the research reported in the literature was useful to their work. Although 96 percent of the respondents said that the number of journals in library sci- ence was more than adequate, 38 percent also said that they would like to see new journals. Fifty-six percent felt that the time lag between actual research and publication affects the im- pact of research. Opinions differed on the use and usefulness of secondary sources such as Li- brary Literature and Library and Informa- tion Science Abstracts. · This study of library practitioners in the state of Illinois was conducted to assess their behavior toward the gathering of professional information and to deter- mine how they keep abreast of current re- search and innovation in librarianship and information science. The work reported here supplements a large survey of U.S. li- brary practitioners conducted by the same author (by sending a questionnaire to five hundred libraries selected from the Ameri- can Library Directory, 1980), in attempt to examine the overall process of dissemina- tion and use of library science research. 1 THE SAMPLE For the purpose of this study, a quota sample of fifty library practitioners was in- terviewed during the summer of 1981. The sample was drawn on the basis of the total library work force available in the U.S. (82,378 librarians). 2 The population of to- tal library work force can be divided into three main categories: public, academic, and special and government libraries. The sample of fifty practitioners was divided in proportion to the relative size of three categories of library: public libraries (38,702 or47.0 percent), twenty-four prac- titioners; academic libraries (23,676 or 28.7 percent), fifteen practitioners; and special and government libraries (20,000 or 24.3 percent), eleven practitioners. The author interviewed practitioners in six public li- brary systems (Chicago, Evanston, Elk Grove Village, Highwood, Oak Park, and S. Nazim Ali is assistant professor and librarian, University College of Arts, Science and Education, P. 0 . Box 1082, Bahrain (Arabian Gulf) . . The au. thor wishe~ to extend .his .thanks .to. Mr. joel M Lee, headquarters librarian, American Library Associa- tzon, Chzcago, for hzs cooperatwn m provzdmg the necessary facilities during the data collection phase. 167 168 College & Research Libraries Park Ridge); four academic library sys- tems (Chicago University, University of Il- linois, Roosevelt University, a.nd Munde- lein College); and four special and government libraries (American Medical Association, Environmental Protection Agency, Post Library of the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Court). The researcher vis- ited the libraries and interviewed a mini- mum of one and maximum of four practi- tioners at each library. Sixteen (32.0 percent) practitioners in- terviewed were working in the reference services department; twelve (24.0 per- cent) in the technical services department; and the rest in various other departments. Most respondents (43 or 86.0 percent) stated having an M.L.S. degree while the rest possessed other professional qualifi- cations including some advanced degrees. The questions asked at the interview were designed to find out how practitioners perceived the importance of various meth- ods in the dissemination and use of librari- anship and information science research results (see appendix A). LIBRARY COLLECTIONS AND CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICES IN THE DISSEMINATION PROCESS Forty (80.0 percent) respondents stated that the specialized library-science collec- tions available in their libraries are merged with other collections and that they were satisfied with their library's role in acquir- ing such collections that supported their professional needs. This expressed satis- faction with library-science collections may have emanated from the fact that ei- ther respondents were not conducting the kind of research that would demand a more extensive collection, or that they had been utilizing interlibrary loan services through the local networking system. More than twenty (40.0 percent) respon- dents declared that their libraries collect major research monographs and research reports from sources such as NTIS (Na- tional Technical Information System) and BLRDD (British Library Research and De- velopment Department). Only a limited number indicated that their libraries col- lected the annual reports of other libraries and they were not sure of their usefulness. March 1986 Concerning current awareness services, the majority of practitioners, forty-one or 82.0 percent, declared that a routing sys- tem of current issues of journals was the most commonly used method for updat- ing current information. Supplying pho- tocopies of tables of contents was less sup- ported (20.0 percent). Twenty-eight (56.0 percent) respondents reported that their libraries issue an in-house bulletin or staff newsletter for communicating both inter- nal and external library matters. Internal regular meetings and informal contacts were found to be the most extensively used means of communication among practitioners. Informal contacts were ap- parently made during lunch, coffee breaks, and on various other occasions. THE IMPORTANCE OF JOURNAL LITERATURE IN THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS The data show that journals were found to be the popular medium for gathering the research findings of other practitio- ners and researchers. The journals scanned or read regularly by practitioners of different types of libraries are reported in table 1. It appears that practitioners place a heavy reliance on popular jour- nals, such as Library Journal (LJ) , American Libraries (AL), Illinois Libraries (IL) , and Wilson Library Bulletin (WLB) for informa- tion gathering. The inclusion of IL in this list is probably a local effect, because inter- views were conducted in Illinois, and most practitioners are members of state- wide library associations. Most practition- ers (72 .0 percent) felt that popular journals were the most effective in disseminating research results . They also have a wider circulation than other types, and a major- ity of practitioners receive these popular journals gratis as a privilege of member- ship.3 Besides popular journals, most aca- demic library practitioners also scanned other journals, such as College & Research Libraries (CRL), Journal of Academic Librari- anship (JAL), and Library Resources & Tech- nical Services (LRTS). CRL and JAL are un- derstandably more important to academic library practitioners than to practitioners from other types of libraries. Similarly, special and government library practition- Research Notes 169 TABLE 1 LIST OF JOURNALS SCANNED/READ REGULARLY BY PRACTITIONERS Public Journal Title Library American Libraries Library Journal Illinois Libraries Wilson Library Bulletin RQ College & Research Libraries Library Quarterly L~brary Resources & Technical Ser- vzces Special Libraries Library Trends Journal of Academic Librarianship Journal o[ Library Automation School Lzbrary Journal JASIS ToUf the News M Bulletin Law Library Journal Library Association Record Library Research Others (17) ers also used Special Libraries (SL). The scholarly journals, such as Library Quar- terly (LQ) and Library Trends (L T) were scanned only by a limited number of prac- titioners, most of whom were affiliated with public libraries. LQ and LT are two of the most prestigious journals in the pro- fession and are the home products of illi- nois; the low rate of response found for the regular scanning of these journals is surprising. This may, in part, be explained by the finding that in some libraries a few practitioners indicated that they wished to scan LT and LQ, but neither journal was subscribed to by their libraries. In answer to the question of whether journals in library science were reporting research findings adequately, thirty-three (66.0 percent) respondents indicated that they were, and twenty-eight or 56.0 per- cent felt that the time lag between there- search and its actual publication would af- fect the impact of the research. Although most practitioners, 96.0 per- cent, indicated that the number of jour- nals in library science is more than ade- quate, 38.0 percent also declared that they would like to see new journals published in librarianship and information science. However, practitioners did not favor add- ing another annual review in addition to 23 23 13 18 11 6 8 3 2 8 0 2 6 0 4 0 0 1 0 Responses from Academic s12t/Gvt Library Library Total 13 10 46 6 9 38 4 5 22 0 2 20 5 4 20 12 2 20 5 2 15 9 1 13 2 8 12 3 0 11 9 2 11 5 0 7 0 0 6 3 3 6 1 0 5 1 3 4 0 3 2 1 0 2 2 0 2 Advances in Librarianship and Annual Re- view of Information Science and Technology. THE ACTIVITY OF PRACTITIONERS IN DISSEMINATING RESEARCH RESULTS Most respondents, forty-one or 82.0 percent, were not engaged in any research at the time of the interviews. Respondents who were engaged in research were pre- dominantly academic librarians. Only ten (20.0 percent) declared that they had pub- lished an article based on their previous research or reported their findings in con- ferences, seminars, or meetings. Most re- spondents, forty-four or 88.0 percent, said that research reported in the literature was useful in their work. However, thirty-one (62.0 percent) identified areas in which they thought more research should have been reported, such as users' motivation in the use of online catalog, user studies, security and safeguard book, national net- working system, unionization, young adult area, and division of budget in branch libraries. When asked if theses and dissertations accepted in library and infor- mation science should be published, thirty-five (70.0 percent) practitioners be- lieved that they should be published in the form of a journal article for wider dissemi- 170 College & Research Libraries TABLE2 LIST OF NEWSLETTERS SCANNED/READ BY PRACTITIONERS Newsletter Title LJISLJ Hotline College and Research Libraries News NSLS (North Suburban Lib. System) OCLC Newsletter LC Information Bulletin SLA Newsletter Illinois Nodes Unabashed Librarian Administrator's Digest Wise Libraries LC Cataloging Bulletin NLMNews MLA Newsletter Dialog Newsletter Adv. Tec./Libraries Library Peers News ASISNews Illinois Lib. Network Chicago Public Library News Others (12) No. of Responses 16 14 14 10 8 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 nation. Of those who favored publishing theses and dissertations as journal arti- cles, most preferred to see them in popu- lar journals because of their large circula- tion. SECONDARY SOURCES AVAILABLE IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE A difference of opinion was found among practitioners as to the importance of secondary sources, such as Library Liter- ature (LL) and Library and Information Sci- ence Abstracts (LISA), and their usefulness in disseminating research findings. Only 42.0 percent felt that secondary publica- tions were useful; 26.0 percent felt that they were somewhat useful; and 32.0 per- cent indicated that they were not useful or were unsure of their usefulness. The most common secondary publication named by respondents was Library Literature. Only two respondents out of fifty were aware of March 1986 Current Awareness Library Literature, issued by Goldstein Associates. Surprisingly, forty-four or 88.0 percent of the respondents reported that they did not use the databases relating to librarian- ship for online searches. This may, in part, have been due to the cost associated in conducting online searches. Those who did use online databases stated (four out of six) that such searches were useful. ERIC and LISA were reported to be most commonly used databases. Many practitioners appeared to be fa- miliar with newsletters in librarianship and information science. A list of newslet- ters scanned regularly by practitioners is presented in table 2. Most practitioners (78.0 percent) declared that newsletters were useful in the dissemination process, reporting most of the latest information about the profession. CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, MEETINGS AND NONDOCUMENTARY CHANNELS More than 90.0 percent of practitioners indicated that they had attended some sort of meeting or conference in the year prior to the interview, and a substantial majority of them (90.0 percent) felt that these were useful in the dissemination of research results. Practitioners were enthu- siastic about conferences or meetings and more willing to attend them because they provide a forum through which practi- tioners can interact both formally and in- formally; this informal aspect was pre- ferred by practitioners. Some respondents also expressed a view that meetings and conferences stimulated reading and re- . search in the profession. No matter how well research results in librarianship and information science pro- fession are disseminated, they will be of little value if practitioners are neither en- couraged to read them nor stimulated to apply them. REFERENCES 1. S. N. Ali, "Library Science Research: Some Results of Its Dissemination and Utilization," Libri (35):151-62 (June 1985) . 2. B. Ladd, National Inventory of Library Needs, 1975 (Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Li- l Research Notes 171 braries and Information Science, 1977); M. J. Lynch, "Information Professionals: Who and Where," American Libraries 12:91 (Feb. 1981); R. Shearer, "Public Libraries," in ALA Yearbook, ed. R. Wedgeworth. (Chicago: American Library Assn., 1981); U.S. Department of Labor ., Library Manpower: A Study of Demand and Supply. (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. De- partment of Labor, 1975). 3. S. N. Ali, "Library and Information Science Literature: Research Results," International Library Re- view 17:117-28 (Apr. 1985). 4. S. N. Ali, "Information-Seeking Behaviour of Scotland's Library Practitioners," Library Review 33:219-24 (Autumn 1984). APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE BACKGROUND INFORMATION A. Type of library----------------------------- 8. Department or section: ---------------------------- C. Age: ___________________________________________________________ _ D. Yrs . of.exp. as a library practitioner:----------------------- £ . Highest qualifications:---------------------------- 1. Library and Information Science Collection 1. In your opinion does the specialized collection in library and science available in your library sup- port the needs of a professional reader? 2. Has the specialized collection in librarianship been catalogued and shelved with other collections? 3. Does your library collect major pieces of research which have been published in monograph form? Can you name any which come to mind? 4. Does your library collect the annual reports of other libraries? In your opinion do they contain any valuable information to help you in your work situation? 5. Does you library collect research reports such as BLRDD reports or NTIS reports, etc.? How often do you see/scan them? II. Current Awareness Services 6. What current awareness services are available for staff in your library? Routing journals _____ _ CABLIS/CALL _______ _ T.O.C. ---------- 7. Does your library issue an in-house bulletin or staff newsletter? If so, what kind of material does it cover? III. Journal Literature 8. What periodicals do you wish to receive which are not currently available in your library? 9. There are a number of journals which have been added recently to the profession, do you know any of them? 10. Are journals in librarianship reporting the research findings adequately or not? Do you see the time lag between the research and its publication in journals affecting the results of research? 11. Is the size of journal literature in librarianship adequate or not? Would you like to see new journals added to the profession? If so in what areas? 172 College & Research Libraries March 1986 12. Please indicate what type of journals which pass through your hands disseminated research find- ings more effectively. 13. What is your opinion with regard to adding another annual review in addition to ARIST and Ad- vances in Librarianship? 14. Do you s~e/scan Radials Bulletin? IV. Activity of Practitioners in Dissemination 15. Are you presently engaged in any research? Has previous research completed by you been for- mally presented in any meetings or conferences? 16. Have you ever used research findings to improve your library system? If so, in what areas? 17. Are there any fields of librarianship in which research should have been done? 18. Do you want theses accepted for higher studies in librarianship including FLA theses to be pub- lished? If so, please specify the form of publication that you think suitable for publishing the results? V. Secondary Services 19. How useful to you are indexes and abstracts in librarianship in disseminating research findings? Please name indexes and abstracts that your library is receiving? 20. How useful to you are online data bases in librarianship such as LISA, etc. in disseminating re- search findings? Please indicate the number of searches you have conducted? VI. Nondocumentary Channels 21 . How many meetings, seminars, conferences, and workshops have you attended during the past year? Are they helpful to you in disseminating research findings? 22. In your opinion is there a need for a new-idea salesman who would visit various libraries and. information centers and help decision makers to acquire the knowledge and guidance that they need? 23. In your opinion is there a need for a gatekeeper in your organization who receives and maintains information from external sources and from internal sources? 24. Do newsletters in librarianship contain any useful information to help in disseminating research results? Use ALA's authoritative guidance and achieve professional results New books for librarians and informatioTJ, scientists. B asic Budgeting Practices for Librarians, by Margo C. Trumpeter and Richard S. Rounds. Program and line-item budgeting explained for both beginning and experienced admin- . istrators and students. Clarifies the nature of the budget as manage- ment document and planning tool. $25.00 cl. viii, 166 p. 0-8389-0399-1 84-20503 Feb. 1985 C omputer-Readable Databases: A Directory and Data Sourcebook, Martha E. Williams, editor in chief. Postponed from 1984 publication to per- mit additional new data gathering and checking: " ... the most comprehen- sive and detailed classification of and index to world databases ... " William F. Marovitz, President, BRS. $157.50 pbk. 2 vols. 0-8389-0415-7 84-18577 March 1985 (Available outside the U.S. and Canada from .Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam.) T he Library Preservation Program: Models, Priorities, Possibilities, Jan Merrill- Oldham and Merrily Smith, eds. Expert perspectives on administrative, financial, and technical aspects of pro- tecting, restoring, and copying library materials. Results of a joint conference of ALA's Resources and Technical Services Division and LC's National Conservation Program. $8. 95 pbk. 121 p. 0-8389-3315-7 84-28270 April1985 N ational Planning for Library Service, 1935-1975, by R. Kathleen Molz. Government response to the role and needs of library and information. services concerns persons at all levels in the field. This disclosure of the history of repeated attempts at national library planning serves as an object lesson for today's library and information service planners and policymakers. $15.00 pbk. xii, 146 p. 0-8389-0422-X 84-18407 ]an. 1985 merican Library Association Publishing Services 50 East Huron Street Chicago, Illinois 60611 Since that dawn of October 12, 1492, when Captain Columbus' crew sighted San Salvador from the bow of the "Pinta," contact with far-off realms has moved from the fantastic to the everyday. But as the world has shrunk, the quantity of available information has ex- ploded, creating a whole new breed of explorer. When you explore new worlds of information every day, you need a crew of professionals you can count on. EBSCO has 17 offices worldwide, to help keep you in everyday contact with professional serials management services. For reliable guidance in any realm of the serials world, set your headings on EBSCO. ii:t-ri•J SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES P.O. Box 1943 Binningharn, Alabama 35201 205-991-1182