The Impact of Scholarly Communication on LIS Education Carol Tenopir University of Tennessee web.utk.edu/~tenopir/

What is the role of scholarly communication in LIS Education? 1. An extension of our academic home and discipline 2. A methodological framework 3. A specific area of research

LIS programs in North America 56 programs accredited by the American Library Association in the U.S. and Canada ALA accredits only masters degree program 30 years ago most were separate programs or part of humanities or education

University Of Tennessee College of Communication And Information School of Information Sciences School of Communication Studies School of Journalism and Electronic Media School of Advertising And Public Relations

College of Communication And Information School of Information Sciences School of Communication Studies School of Journalism and Electronic Media School of Advertising And Public Relations Conveying Meaning Science Communication Risk Communication

Scientists Working Photos Data Sets Direct Observations Sounds Conversations Meetings Publications Specimens Lab/Field notebook Proceedings Preprints Journal Articles Books

Photos Data Sets Direct Observations Sounds Conversations Meetings Publications Specimens Lab/Field notebook Scientists Working

The Information Life Cycle

Shared Theories Diffusion of innovations Sense Making Grounded Theory Shannon-Weaver Communication Model

LIS Course Titles Influenced by Scholarly Communication Scientific and Technical Communications Computer Mediated Communication Computer supported collaborative work Human Information Interactions Biodiversity Informatics Information Policy

Switching to methods…

Main Methods for Studying Scholarly Communication and Users Usage transaction logs Surveys (questionnaires or interviews) Observations and other experiments Focus groups Bibliometrics (citing and authoring patterns)

What Conclusions Can You Draw? Usage logs What people do on specific online systems Interviews/surveys Opinion, what individuals say they do, and why, and outcomes Experiments What individuals do in a controlled or natural setting, and why Focus groups What individuals say they prefer and might do in the future

Usage logs give much useful data, but… Logs don’t show why or outcomes Requests or downloads may not equal use or satisfaction Log sessions may be difficult to differentiate or compare across systems For privacy or other reasons, logs do not show behavior by demographic groups Logs show only a fraction of total use

Surveys use different types of questions Demographic Recollection of behaviors (how often something is done) Opinions (reactions to statements on a scale, valuing services on a scale) Critical Incident (specific event and outcomes)

Average Articles Read per year per faculty academic discipline Year of Studies

Recollection and demographic and opinion questions only go so far… …add longitudinal to get a picture of trends …add critical incident and you get a more detailed picture

Average Articles Read per year per University Faculty Member *280 with outliers

Average Minutes per Article by University Faculty Member Average Minutes Per Article Year of Studies

Average Minutes per reading per University Faculty Member Average number of articles read per scientist Year of Studies

Demographic (faculty or student) plus critical incident (source of article) Faculty Doctoral Students Faculty Doctoral Students

Keeping Up22% Consult/treating Other 4% 9% Teaching 17% Research 48% #4 #1 #5 #3 #2 Purpose and Ranking of Importance: Medical Faculty

1stYear 1st Year 2-5 Years Over 5Years Over 5 Years Older articles are judged more valuable & are more likely to come from libraries

Surveys provide much useful data, but… All surveys rely on truthfulness Surveys rely on memory Response rates are falling

Scholarly Communication and LIS