what happens next? strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects

What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects

Closing keynote presentation

8th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries

27th May 2016

Dr Hazel HallProfessor of Social Informatics

@hazelh

www.napier.ac.uk/iidi

http://hazelhall.org/about

http://hazelhall.org/about


@hazelh

#QQML2016

https://twitter.com/hazelh

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23qqml2016


Impact


http://jis.sagepub.com/content/42/3/369.abstract




Public engagement and impact


Public engagement is not impact


To what extent do our services meet these

particular (information) needs?

How does the use of our services have a wider impact

on our users?

What is the value of our services (in general)?

In LIS: impact understood in terms of service value


How should we evaluate academic impact in general

(bibliometrics)?

To what extent does LIS research influence LIS

practice?

How should we evaluate library and information

services?

In LIS impact as a theme of study


What can we do to ensure that our research has an

impact on practice?

Today’s agenda: impact as integral part of research activity

How can you design a study to measure impact? Show us the evidence!


To facilitate a co-ordinated and strategic approach to LIS research across the UK (2009-2012)


To facilitate a co-ordinated and strategic approach to LIS research across the UK (2009-2012)

To explore the extent to which LIS research projects influence practice (2011)

To create outputs to support the use and execution of research by librarians and information scientists (2012)

To develop a UK-wide network of LIS researchers (2011-2012)



impact on practice?




To explore the extent to which LIS research projects influence practice (2011)

To create outputs to support the use and execution of research by librarians and information scientists (2012)


Recommendations derived from:

Literature reviewPractitioner poll (200)‘Impactful’ project case studies (5)Sector-specific focus groups (3)

Public Academic Healthcare

Validation survey (213)


Recommendations for researchers:

Seek high-profile sponsorship and on-going support of projectsConduct sector-specific studies of direct relevance to particular groupsEngage practitioners in project design and implementationDeploy dissemination strategies that align with how and where practitioners consume new information

Create teaching and community support materials

Publish in non-academic titles using clear language


http://lisresearch.org/rilies-project

http://lisresearch.org/rilies-project



impact on practice?




To develop a UK-wide network of LIS researchers (2011-2012)


DREaM events and reach

Five events

2 conferences3 linked workshops – for the ‘cadre’ of DREaMers213 participants, 33 presenters

Remote audience

~80 blog posts~800 tweetsMultiple web pages, SlideShares, SoundClouds, Vimeos etc.

http://lisresearch.org/dream-project/


Expert-led research methods training:

• 3 workshops• 12 sessions


Dissemination of research:

• Unconference half hours at workshops

• One minute madness at conferences


DREaM impact in 2012

Growth in knowledge and expertise in research skills

Substantial growth in theoretical knowledge Modest increase in application of new skills Greater confidence as researchersWidened networks

Brettle, A., Hall, H., & Oppenheim, C. (2012). We have a DREaM: the Developing Research Excellence and Methods network. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, Limerick, Ireland, 22-25 May 2012.


http://www.slideshare.net/LISResearch/we-have-a-dream-the-developing-research-excellence-methods-network




DREaM impact to 2015: anecdotal evidence

Development of new resources

Research, evaluation and audit, Facet, 2013First editor was a DREaMerA third of the book’s authors had some involvement with the LIS Research Coalition

Events

Organised by DREaMersParticipation from others who were associated with the project

But what else?Particular interest in less visible impact


http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=047418&category_code=%23.Ve6VnXs3tFV


Have the DREaM workshop participants innovated in the

workplace since 2012?

Has their post-DREaM research determined services provision, or

influenced the LIS research agenda?

To what extent can they point to any impact of their post-DREaM research on end-

user communities?

Has DREaM network participation opened up new

opportunities for their research?

Do they continue to operate as a network?


Survey distributed to workshop participants:

• Population of 35• Completion by 32

Work undertaken in 2015: survey


Work undertaken in 2015: focus groups

10 participants

4 in Edinburgh6 in London


https://hazelhall.org/2015/06/22/dream-again-project-launch/









user communities?





YES!

‘[I have used this session] to inform consultancy work with

clients. It highlighted a number of issues and

prompted me to research further.’

‘Although I have not used this in my own research...this

has been really helpful in allowing me to understand

and participate in discussions about research methods.’







user communities?





YES!

50% actively involved in research

Themes: information literacy, policy, health, cultural heritage, data mining, data protection,

economics, education, employability, knowledge

management, law, politics, psychiatry, social justice

Claims of 12 participants that 40 of 87 outputs have informed

policy (20), determined services provision (23), developed LIS research agenda (15), all 3 (5)


Majority:

• Internal presentations• Blogs and social media• Journal publications• Peer review service







user communities?





We have examples

Understanding of student use of learning spaces changes to physical environment within

academic library

Articulation of information literacy priorities public library

participation in the discourse







user communities?





DREaM contributed to the development of my research capability and profile and has

influenced my decision to seek a stronger academic role.

Involvement in the project helped me develop confidence as an LIS researcher to go on to write successful bids and be

an active part of the LIS research community.

YES!


17 job changes - and participation in the DREaM project was a factor in 11

(NB correlation between number of research outputs and

likelihood of changing role)

I have been promoted… This required a considerable

research portfolio and DREaM has contributed to this. Furthermore [two cadre

members] provided references.

DREaM gave me the confidence to go for more

senior roles, and gave me a thorough background

knowledge in research.







user communities?





YES!

Majority (22) maintain social and work ties

All but one of the rest maintain either social

or work ties

12 active collaborators on 37 initiatives

Collaborators most productive: 70% research outputs

The higher the number of work-related ties,

the greater the quantity of research

outputs


Other forms of impact from DREaM

Delivery of events

Format, e.g. lecture-workshop switchDelegate participation, e.g. One Minute MadnessSpeaker participation, e.g. widened pool

Reporting of events

Deployment of social media



impact on practice?

Mission accomplished?

How can you design a study to measure impact?

Find advice in 11 recommendations of the RiLIES

project

DREaM Again as a worked case study


Over to you!


Contact Hazel Hall

@hazelhhttp://hazelhall.orghttp://about.me/hazelh

[email protected]+44 (0)131 455 2760

Slides on SlideShare at:http://slideshare.net/hazelhall

http://twitter.com/hazelh

http://hazelhall.org/

http://about.me/hazelh

mailto:[email protected]

http://slideshare.net/hazelhall

What happens next? Strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects

Closing keynote presentation

8th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries

27th May 2016

Dr Hazel HallProfessor of Social Informatics

@hazelh

what happens next? strategies for building and assessing the long-term impact of research projects

Education