Attribution: Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

We are pleased to share that Libby Tilley, the winner of our LIRG Research Award has completed her research and has published a paper in the journal Evidence Based Library and Information Practice:

Tilley, E., & Marshall, D. (2024). Shaping the Future: A Research Agenda for U.K. Libraries . Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 19(4), 71–107. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip30577

Libby has also shared with us her reflections on engaging in the research below:

1. Working with library colleagues across library sectors was hugely rewarding and exciting. Despite professing to know about different sectors to my own, I realised that I really didn’t! Connecting with colleagues in overarching organisations such as SLA and Libraries Connected when sourcing participants from different sectors was such a great help. Those participants in their turn have been remarkably generous with their time.
2. Being given the time and inspiration to consider what methodology to use for research. I didn’t realise just how interested I would become in the nature of the methodology. There is probably a paper to be written just about this aspect and especially the use that I made of conference programmes to kick-start the research. I would love to talk to others about how this came about and how to improve the use of such data.
3. I was excited about the outcomes of the research. Even more exciting was the reaction of workshop colleagues who agreed on the outcomes, despite their sector differences! Consensus didn’t seem possible at the outset of the workshop, and yet ultimately, agreement was feasible. (The top-level trends agreed on can be found in the paper) Even more than reaching an agreement through a research process, I could see that colleagues had been able to share their experiences and learn about other sectors, just as I had done.
4. Writing a research article can (as I understand from others) be quite painful! I certainly found this to be the case. Passive voice and waffling are all things I suffer from when writing. So, through using colleagues to read chunks, my co-author’s readings and written work, and eventually the peer review process I was able to get the paper written in a form that is more readable. Looking back on the process I am excited to think that I DID learn a lot and I hope that it will stand me in good stead in the future!

I was really pleased to be able to undertake this work and I am very grateful to LIRG for providing a grant to support this work. LIRG academic colleagues were supportive in the initial stages of the research work. I am also grateful for the help of David Marshall, an expert in User Experience Research from the University of Cambridge, who supported the face-to-face workshop, especially the card-sorting activities. The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and particularly the library were particularly supportive of CILIP research activities and provided space to run the workshop.