Library Research Service

Ready to polish up your people skills? This month we are taking a step back from analysis and turning to data collection again. In previous posts we touched on different data collection methods, and in May we discussed the process of coding qualitative data. Understanding the basics of qualitative analysis opens up a world of possibilities for evaluation, and it definitely helps to know what you are taking on before beginning qualitative research since coding is an extensive process. With this background on coding qualitative data hopefully you feel more equipped to begin collecting it. Today we will focus our...

Welcome back! I am excited to dive back into content analysis with you. It is no secret that content analysis can be far from a walk in the park and is possibly more comparable to following a treasure map across a remote island. Therefore, I will fill this post with a review of what we have already discussed, the final steps for analysis, obstacles to be aware of along the way, and a few helpful hints.  Returning to Coding We left off last week on coding, where short labels are applied to qualitative data which represent meaning within this data. Returning...

Hello data enthusiasts! Let’s return to our exploration of qualitative analysis. Last time we uncovered a few ways qualitative analysis can expand research findings by looking beyond number data for better insight on human experiences. Now I want to explore strategies for putting qualitative analysis into practice. Concentrating on Content Analysis As we discussed last time, qualitative analysis is flexible and adaptive to different types of data. As you may have already guessed, this means there are multiple methods for qualitative analysis depending on the kind of research you are conducting, the form of your data and the questions you are asking....

Happy Earth Day! The theme for this Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet,” and so it is a fantastic time to reflect on our library’s role within the community, how it supports American Library Association’s (ALA) core value of sustainability, and the importance of investing our resources, time and energy towards sustainable practices. As the climate crisis develops, I have been thinking a lot about what I can do to have the most far-reaching impact on this global issue (with very real local effects already plain to see here in Colorado). The answer is quite simple: talk about it!...

Hello Everyone! I am honored to have the opportunity of continuing the LRS series staple Between a Graph and a Hard Place. Our last post began with “happy fall,” and now we are well on our way to Colorado’s mud season. Along with the change in seasons, a shift in topics feels like a great way to begin the series anew. We left off discussing the use of observation as an important method for data collection and how to observe as unobtrusively as possible. To begin this new chapter, let’s take a step back to explore a type of research where...

Intro Can I trust this information? We use information constantly to learn, make decisions, and form opinions. Every day library staff in every setting strive to teach people how to find the information they need and how to identify trustworthy sources. But what is trustworthy? How can you tell? What about when sources contradict each other? What characteristics distinguish sources from each other? Who As a former information literacy librarian at a university, these questions haunted me when I was teaching. I was lucky to meet two librarians at the University of Denver (DU) who shared a passion for this topic: Carrie Forbes,...