The changing nature of research; the concept of the research lifecycle and researchers' career development; the key role of Information Literacy in helping improve the quality of research; the Researcher Development Framework; the 'Informed Researcher' model

1. Moira Bent, Newcastle University.
Facilitating Informed Research: old
wine in new bottles
SALCTG June 2013
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2. What do researchers do?
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3. What the researchers said
Research is
• Theory-led; Data-led; Scholarship
• Grounded in disciplines; multi / inter / trans disciplinary
• Investigation; interpretation; gathering evidence
• A holistic activity; a set of transferable skills
• Collaborative / solo activity
• Related to self
• Validated by peer group
• Made meaningful by an external audience
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4. What do researchers do?
 Manage research projects
 Search for existing information
 Seek out new data
 Analyse information and data
 Evaluate information and data
 Manage information and data
 Communicate
 Network
 Write and present their findings
 Market their outcomes
“Research is a process of investigation leading to
new insights, effectively shared”
David Sweeney, HEFCE, April 2013
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5. Research lifecycle
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Formulate a
research
question
Develop a
research
strategy
Acquire the
appropriate
information/data
Reflect on the
research process
/ information
Engage with the
information/data
Turn the
information
into knowledge

6. Are all researchers the same?
 Disciplinary differences
 Age
 Experience
 Motivation
 Funding
 Workplace - HE, Industry, independent research
body....
 Stage in their research “lifecycle”
 Personal preferences – learning styles, habits,
attitudes.
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7. A Personal Information Literacy Landscape
Bent (2007) Moira’s Infolit blog www.moirabent.blogspot.com

8. The 7 ages concept – the researcher’s lifecycle
 Masters students
 Doctoral students
 Contract researchers
 Early career researchers
 Established academic staff
 Senior researchers
 Experts
Bent, M., Gannon-Leary, P. and Webb, J. (2007) 'Information Literacy in a
researcher‟s learning life: the 7 ages of research. ', New Review of Information
Networking, 13, (2), pp. 81-99.
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9. Early
 Apprenticeship - influenced by supervisors / tutors / mentors
 Skills and competences are defined
 Different levels of control
 Transition from structured learning to self-organization
 Interaction between personal life / prior experiences
 Managing different roles e.g. other jobs, developing teaching skills
 Information consumer, objective is production
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10. Mid
• Moving field / moving role / learning a different landscape
• Balancing teaching and research
• Situating themselves / making their name / establishing credentials
– locally (e.g. in department)
– wider research community
• Need to be adaptable / avoiding isolation
• Starting to supervise other researchers
• Starting role in management / administration
• Information production and consumption
• Shift from systematic to pragmatic information retrieval
„Librarians love to search. Everyone else likes to find‟
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11. Late / Senior
• Developing into/ having a significant role in research leadership and
administration
• Leading research teams / research centres / research projects / mainstream
management
• Supervising and examining theses
• Teaching research methods
• Plenary conference speaker
• Editorial board of journals etc.
• Refereeing / peer reviewer / specialist assessor
• Disseminating research practice or defining their field
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12. Information Literacy Landscape
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The SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy
SALCTG June 2013

13. Facilitating informed research at your institution
 What can you do to help develop “informed
researchers”?
 What „s the same? “old bottles”
 What‟s new/different? “new bottles”
 What do you still need to know?
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© Bridgeman Education
© Bridgeman Education
© Bridgeman Education

14. RDF produced by Vitae after
consultation with research
community
Tool for planning, promoting &
inspiring researchers to achieve
excellence
Supports personal, professional and
career development of researchers
in HE
Describes the knowledge, skills,
behaviours and personal qualities
of researchers
Researcher Development Framework
Reproduced with kind permission from Vitae
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/policy-practice/234301/Researcher-Development-Framework.html
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15.  Information seeking
 Information literacy &
management
 Synthesising
 Evaluating
 IPR/copyright
 Attribution/co-authorship
 Publication
RDF recognises importance & place of
information literacy in research process
RDF & IL
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16. Seven Pillars: Research lens
Scope
Understands:
• What types of information are
available
• The characteristics of the different
types of information source available to
them and how the format can affect it
• The publication process in terms of
why individuals publish and the
currency of information
• Issues of accessibility
•What services are available to help
and how to access them
Is able to:
• “Know what you don’t know” to
identify any information gaps
• Identify the types of information
required to meet the need
• Identify the available search tools,
such as general and subject specific
resources at different levels
• Identify different formats in which
information may be provided
• Demonstrate the ability to use new
tools as they become available
Identify
Understands:
• New knowledge & data is constantly being
produced & there is always more to learn
• Being information literate involves
developing a learning/research habit so new
information is being actively sought all the
time
• Ideas &opportunities are created by
investigating/seeking information
• Scale of the world of published &
unpublished information & data
• Different disciplines place greater
emphasis on different types of information &
data
• A researchers’ need for information will
vary depending on the task at hand, subject
discipline & stage of research
Is able to:
• Identify a lack of knowledge in a subject
area
• Identify a research topic / question and
define it using simple terminology
• Articulate current knowledge on a topic
•Recognise a need for information and data
to achieve a specific end and define limits to
the information need
• Use background information to underpin
research
•Take personal responsibility for research
project
• Manage time effectively to complete a
research project
Identify
Scope
Plan
Gather
Evaluate
Manage
Present
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17. Vitae’s Information Literacy lens on the RDF

18. The Informed Researcher
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19. Informed Researcher@ Newcastle
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20. Old and new bottles?
 Structures
 Subject staff with additional/changed roles &/or Specialist Research
Support Librarian
 Blurred roles of library and other university departments – alliances and
collaborations
 Buildings and Locations
 Retaining the “wow” factor of a scholarly research collection
 Dedicated space in the library for researchers
 Taking the research support service to the users
 Collections
 Archives and special collections as USP
 Traditional research monographs
 Access to everything they need, where they need it, when they need it
 Specific research activities
 Systematic reviews
 Institutional repository / REF
 Data curation and management
 Information Literacy
 IL Skills: Finding, using, managing, but extending into how and where to
publish, bibliometrics
 IL attributes: Understanding their role and responsibilities
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21. Thank you
 Moira Bent
moira.bent@newcastle.ac.uk
 More about RIDLs:
http://www.researchinfonet.org/infolit/ridls/
 Download the Vitae resources:
http://tinyurl.com/aqmnlhs
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© Bridgeman Education