Last updated on 24 June 2020
#blogjune Day 26: Here I share how the research project with Clare Thorpe about developing an EBLIP Capability Maturity Model came about (by walking into her office one day to ask a question) and briefly, its outcomes.
Transcript
G’day and welcome to this video series chatting about EBLIP. I’m Alisa Howlett, the Coordinator of Evidence-Based Practice at the University of Southern Queensland library.
Over the past year or so, Clare Thorpe and I have presented findings from a research study that’s looked to gain a better understanding of what an evidence-based library looks like. But also, how can library leaders determine the extent to which their library is practicing in this way.
Walk into an office….out came a research project
I walked into Clare’s office one day and asked how do we know whether my role is being effective? What strategies do we put in place and when, to progress evidence-based practice capability? How do we measure the evidence-based practice capability and maturity? And what are we aiming for?
We know that much of what is known about EBLIP is from the individual perspective. Koufogiannakis has said that organisational dynamics and culture can play a huge role in the way evidence-based practice is conducted or is done within libraries. So this research sought to address this gap. We focused on university libraries because that’s our context, and so by limiting its scope, it also reduced the complexity of the project.
Data collection
I conducted 16 interviews, really interesting interviews with LIS professionals in a variety of different roles and levels in university libraries in Australia and New Zealand, including two University Librarians. Participants were asked to reflect upon their EBP experience, the level of maturity that’s demonstrated within their library and also to describe what an evidence-based library looks like.
Findings
Findings have validated a capability maturity model as a way of measuring and also determining the extent to which a library is practicing an evidence-based way. Three themes came out of data analysis which formed the dimensions of the capability maturity model. And also the maturity model itself was proposed as a result of this research.
I’ll go into the themes or the dimensions and the capability maturity model in a little bit more in depth over the next couple of videos.
Until next time take care. Cheers.
References
Koufogiannakis, D. (2013). Academic Librarians Use Evidence for Convincing: A Qualitative Study. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013490708
Thorpe, C. and Howlett, A. (2020). Understanding EBLIP at an Organisational Level: An initial maturity model. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 15(1), 90-105. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29639
You can also view Day 26 (Introducing the EBLIP CMM) video here.
Catch up on all the videos here.
