The Framework Five - Resource Discovery

Summary
Learning resource discovery skills encompasses an understanding of a wide range of sources and access options, then finding and evaluating information, understanding the different formats and information types, while having the flexibility to adapt according to how they and the discovery process develops.

Successful searching
I have numerous unsuccessful case studies of research from the 10 years or so working at Cambridge Judge Business School given that the students tended to focus on topics that hadn't been done before for their final projects, or there were very niche group projects for markets that weren't markets yet. Instead we gave them information on related markets or industries.

Fortunately, there are far more case studies to choose from where I was successful, aided by class projects where everyone was researching the same thing, or recurring popular areas of focus such as social media, food or drinks companies and market share data. I could tell you about toilet bowl research guy (more interesting thaan it sounds), the time I had to search for sex toys (careful), diseases in canines (heartbreaking), luxury items (eye-opening) and pet fancy dress (fun).

However there is one that stands out from my time as the designated support librarian for a distant learning course on entrepreneurship because it was a difficult one. To paraphrase a Veronica Mars quote out of context: "No one writes about the ones that come easy."

Logan (Jason Dohring) from Veronica Mars

I won a staff recognition award for my work, largely due to my dogged tenacity in trying to find information; as one of my colleagues said, I don't give up. This time, I almost give up, but I was determined not to leave the student empty handed. The details are vague as it was a long time ago, more than five years ago now! The subject was the equine industry. There was nothing on the databases we subscribe to, nor would there be as they cover broader or more commercial industries. We did eventually get a database that covered more specific industries, but I doubt even that would have had anything. There was nothing on the wider University's resources. I even contemplated contacting the veterinary school, but seeing as though the subject was about transporting horses rather than diseases or injuries, they wouldn't be able to provide any data and the student needed it broken down to numbers being transported by country and region. There were many terms to search by, phrases to use and file formats to find.

The wise Gregory House

Using some smart internet searching (filetype:pdf, site:org and date range), I found a useful website in the ether of the internet, deep in Google search results; never assume the information isn't there if it's not on the first few pages of results. I couldn't provide them with exactly what they needed, but they altered the focus of their research upon discovering the information wasn't out there and I believe their project was the better for it.

Unsuccessful searching
I'm going way back for my case study of unsuccessful searching, back to when I was writing my undergraduate dissertation. However, I didn't want to find anything. That didn't stop me looking extensively though. As I mentioned in the previous case study, sometimes people are looking for a subject that hadn't been done before. Yet I was still surprised to find nothing. Surely I couldn't really have stumbled on a unique topic? My dissertation connected prominent literary figures: Samuel Johnson and the Brontë sisters. There had to be something.

The Search After Hapiness "little book" manuscript by Charlotte Bronte

My dissertation was on the search for happiness in the books of Charlotte, Emily and Anne as I found out Charlotte wrote a piece of juvenalia called The Search after Hapiness (sic), which has surprising similarities to Samuel Johnson's Rasselas. I found out immediately that there were no books or articles on the subject, using different combinations of search terms and synonyms. But my topic has few keywords to start with, just the authors' names and their works. I then turned to book chapters. Google Scholar was in its infancy back then, so there might have been more, but I wasn't able to find any reference to them. I've just done a search on the internet and even now, there isn't much, just a few unauthoritative blog posts. Finally, I found one small chapter on the relationship between the Brontës and Samuel Johnson, with a surprisingly cursory mention of Rasselas appearing in Jane Eyre. Luckily, it was in my university library. I did check Copac and Worldcat, as well as other local library catalogues, though it did rely on detailed subject headings, contents and descriptions. I also to my shame checked Amazon when the catalogues failed me to find more information on the book. It all worked out as my dissertation ended up at the Brontë museum at Haworth.

Themes from both case studies
You may not be able to find what you want, but you can find what you need with a little change of focus. Check more than the usual places, go further, think more openly about sources. Resource discovery can be trial and error, don't give up.

"Never give up, never surrender" Enrico Colantoni, from Galaxy Quest

Personal vs. professional
When you're looking for other people, for another's research, it adds more pressure. Professionally, I'm more dogged in my support, making sure I've looked everywhere. But that's if I have the time. When you have a student in front of you, sometimes they don't want perfection, they just want the top 5 databases to look at, authoritative or peer-reviewed sources, or just plain good enough. Using Ansley Stuart's tour guide metaphor, librarians don't need to give students all the facts, just the highlights. That helps me feel confident in my work. Personally, I look for perfection in my own research, which shows I'm more insecure. It can even lead me resorting to blogs, forums and social media. It can be time-consuming and exhausting, but thorough!

Reference
Stuart, A. (2019) "Embedded librarianship: the future of libraries." Library Journal, November 19. Available at: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=embedded-librarianship-the-future-of-libraries (Accessed: 24 February 2020)

The Framework Five - Information Literacy regarding ebooks

From the post and the other readings, I've realised how much information literacy is a part of my life. Knowing the people behind Framework Five and who are likely to be creating the posts and tasks, where those people have come from and where they are now, I know how much authority lies behind it all. Looking at the CILIP definition of information literacy and seeing familiar names such as Emman Coonan and Jane Secker listed as authors, I know how much passion and experience has gone into it. Reading the article about firefighters has made me acknowledge how much of an information literate at heart I am, recognising myself in the author's definition. I rely on people to provide me with information rather than in print or electronically; I go to my brother for technological expertise and advice; I go to my Dad for help with fixing things; I go to my friend Chris for Doctor Who trivia. I suppose that is the simplest form of information literacy, knowing the knowledge and experience of others!

"It allows us to account for the actions and influences of others as information sources and to recognize the importance of accessing information from non-textual sources which give access to embodied or cultural sites of knowledge." p. 84, Lloyd (2005).

The most everyday form of information literacy is when other people ask you to help them, when they ask you questions about something. From what people tell me I'm the most knowledgeable about, I should write about ebooks for this task; I guess you could call me fluent in ebooks. It's not a natural language to learn and frustrating at times in its inconsistency, but it's a language I became fluent in out of necessity. I have written about ebooks before, many times: for academic purposes, for published articles and for work, and so I will again. If you're interested in reading those articles, they're on my LinkedIn page; five years old, the platforms have changed and some of the names, but the articles are unfortunately still very relevant.

The very wise Lao Tzu, my mantra for life

I think very critically about ebooks, so when I'm about to make a purchase, I take many things into consideration. I know ebooks are usually complementary to the printed book, unless a distance learner has requested the book and can't get hold of the physical book. It's about finding the balance between print and electronic books, having enough to cover the class or to serve the purpose, such as reading a chapter instead of the entire text. Several factors play a part in defining ebook fluency. My ebook information literacy is informed by years of experience, across multiple libraries, developing a rounded view of ebooks from the supplier, buyer and user perspectives.

You need to take into account the subject of the book and the publisher, as it increases efficiency in the task; I know which possible platform to go to first. I search by shortened title and author in case of changes according to edition. When I find what I'm looking for, I then have to understand the terminology of the ebook model and preferred format as they differ between suppliers, hence the inconsistency. Then I need to know who to send what to so it goes up on the catalogue for everyone to find.

Buying ebooks isn't the only part of this task. I both learned and shared my knowledge via the excellent community of librarians, imparting that knowledge to my team and other colleagues and presented it to peers: you can find the presentation, where the images in this post come from, on Slideshare. In the beginning, it was the legend Sarah Stamford who set me on the right path and then the amazing Jayne Kelly helped me continue my knowledge, encouraging and supporting me in maintaining and developing my fluency.

The ebook landscape is an inundated one

At first, at least for me, it was just one ebook supplier and then the task developed as new suppliers, platforms and models were brought in. It forced my fluency to adapt as it made the task longer and more complicated, so my information literacy had to develop, as well the need to advise others. I helped users to find, navigate and use ebooks yes, but I also wrote a series of posts to inform others about the state of the ebook industry and my experience as a librarian, along with the views of others. I ran sessions to teach others how to order ebooks and some of the FAQs and issues around them. Disappointingly, it turned into more of a checklist to follow, so I was keen to stress that this is the way I've done it, but find the way that works for you. That is true information literacy, being influenced by others, while also becoming literate enough to make it your own, not only finding, assessing and managing information, but also communicating it and becoming influential yourself.

The ebook landscape is a (hopefully) constantly developing area and the need to keep track of the changes is essential, most recently in terms of accessibility and DRM-free ebooks. It is necessary to anticipate the needs of others and where it will go in the future. My information literacy will have to evolve along with it. So once you have achieved fluency in a certain subject, skill or task, it doesn't mean it will always be that way. Complacency is the enemy to information literacy.

Reference
Lloyd, A. (2005) “Information Literacy: Different Contexts, Different Concepts, Different Truths?” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 37(2): pp. 82–88. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000605055355. (Accessed: 13 February 2020).