Last updated on 19 June 2020
#blogjune Day 18: I tackle a second challenge with implementing the evidence-based library and information practice process – putting evidence into action. I highlight a few hurdles and some tips to help overcome them.
Transcript
G’day and welcome to this video series chatting about all things evidence-based library and information practice. In this video I’m going to tackle another challenge that I see in professional practice with implementing the EBLIP process, and that is putting evidence into action.
Have you ever been in the scenario when an evaluation was done or feedback surveys were completed and the data didn’t go anywhere? Or perhaps evidence that was available didn’t answer the question?
Sometimes evidence is straightforward and it points us in the right direction straight away. With some evidence we have to take the time to make sense of it, analyse it, interpret it, maybe even combine it with another piece of evidence or pieces of evidence, and then present this in a way that enables decision making to happen.
Hurdles to overcome in putting evidence into action
An example of this type of evidence is large or multiple data sets. You know data or evidence from different sources or even different formats will need more time and capability to get this evidence to a point of it being useful. This is one of the hurdles of putting evidence into action.
Another hurdle that we come across is when the evidence-based practice process, when it is more deliberate that the purpose for the evidence was undefined in the first place.
And then of course the other hurdle that we need to recognise as team dynamics and organisational culture. You know we can’t discount those as having an impact on evidence use and putting evidence into action.
Some tips to overcome these hurdles – one is to practice analysing and interpreting evidence or multiple evidence together. Think about what stands out here and this can apply to both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Combine evidence together to get a broader or clearer picture of what’s going on. Chat to a colleague or your team about the evidence that you’ve come across or have gathered. You know, two heads are sometimes better than one in interpreting and analysing and making decisions. Then possibly identify smaller steps or actions.
Not all decisions have to be massive. Starting small, making incremental steps towards that improvement throughout the evidence-based practice process, through iterative means can you know can make the difference.
Putting evidence into action can be tricky but it is imperative to the EBLIP process.
Until next time, take care.
References
Koufogiannakis, D. (2013). Academic Librarians Use Evidence for Convincing: A Qualitative Study. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013490708
Questions?
If you have any questions at all about EBLIP, do get in touch. I’ll try to address them in this video series (or a future blog post).
You can also view Day 18 (Evidence into action) video here.
Catch up on all the videos here.
