Professional services

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Publications produced by staff from the Northern Territory Clinical School, Flinders University.

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Browsing Professional services by Subject "Academic libraries"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Establishing a culture of research practice in an academic library: an Australian case study
    (Emerald, 1905-07-05) McBain, Ian ; Culshaw, Helen ; Walkley Hall, Elizabeth
    The purpose of this paper is to describe the establishment of a Research Working Group at Flinders University Library, a mid-sized teaching and research university located in South Australia. The group was founded to encourage staff to develop a more reflective, research-oriented and evidence-based professional practice initially for a three year term. This paper comes at about two years into the pilot and provides an interim report of the group’s experiences and achievements.
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    FindIt@Flinders: user experiences of the Primo discovery search solution
    (Australian Library and Information Association, 1905-07-04) Jarrett, Kylie Anne
    In September 2011, Flinders University Library launched FindIt@Flinders, the Primo discovery layer search to provide simultaneous results from the Library’s collections and subscription databases. This research project was an exploratory case study, which aimed to show whether students are finding relevant information for their course learning and research. The Library staff ran student usability sessions and an online survey for this search interface. These two methods uncovered data on what elements participants are finding useful or not useful, and what problems they are encountering. The results of this study showed a variety of feedback, which was mainly positive. This feedback has informed how the Library can modify Primo for a better user experience and incorporate beneficial approaches to FindIt@Flinders into its student training plan.
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    From practice to research at Flinders University Library: sustaining a research culture
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018-05-03) Walkley Hall, Elizabeth
    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the mechanisms used by Flinders University Library to sustain a culture of research. Flinders University Library has been supporting its librarians to undertake research projects using a formal support group mechanism, known as the Research Working Group (RWG), sanctioned and resourced by library executive since 2010. This established a culture of practitioner-based research in the library, with the librarians developing a greater understanding of both the theory and practice of qualitative and quantitative methods by undertaking their own research projects. However, sustaining a research this culture brings new challenges which this paper now explores. Design/methodology/approach This case study describes the methods used at Flinders University Library in sustaining a culture of practitioner-research. This arose from a review of the formal support structure, as well as a previous study that surveyed staff responses to the RWG. Findings As academic libraries face ongoing challenges and engage more broadly with research support, librarians need experiential knowledge of research. In the case of Flinders University Library, the author has found that, in seeking to sustain a research culture, the author has needed to adapt the support mechanisms, including a greater emphasis on peer support, a different model of resourcing and more inclusivity for all staff to engage with research work. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited by its scope as a single-institution case study; however, there are opportunities for other academic libraries to learn from this experience. Originality/value Establishing a culture of practice-based research is not an easy undertaking, requiring dedication from all parties whether management, practitioner-researchers or mentors. While there are many examples in the literature of case studies examining the establishment of research culture, few if any take the next steps to explore how to maintain it. This paper seeks to fill that gap.
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    Purchasing books collaboratively: the Academic and Research Libraries Acquisitions Consortium
    (ALIA, 2004-10-29) Baudinette, Kaye
    In late 2002 the Regional Collections Planning Group, a sub-committee of UniLibraries SA, considered the issue of consortium purchasing of monographs. The Group, which is comprised of representatives from the libraries of the three South Australian universities, Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia, was keen to maximise the purchasing power of their acquisitions budgets. These budgets were being eroded by continuing price inflation, and by stagnant allocations resulting from financial constraints being experienced in the Australian higher education sector. The Group was aware of two successful library consortia operating interstate, the VARLAC consortium in Victoria and the WAGUL consortium in Western Australia and it decided that one of these might provide a suitable model for a similar initiative in SA. On further inquiry it was established that the current supply contracts of the VARLAC consortium were due to expire at the end of 2003 and that VARLAC was preparing to call for new tenders. The SA Group hastily considered the merits of joining forces with VARLAC instead of forming its own consortium and in January 2003 it approached the Victorian Consortium with a proposal to expand its membership to include the three South Australian university libraries. The SA members identified several advantages
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    Using knowledge management in building a culture of research: a case study of an Australian academic library
    (De Gruyter Saur / IFLA, 2015-12) Walkley Hall, Elizabeth
    Knowledge management (KM) has been much discussed in the library and informationscience literature, from papers describing its potential for the profession (Broadbent, 1997;Butler, 2000; Nelson, 2008; Sarrafzadeh, Martin and Hazeri, 2010; Townley, 2001) to casestudies of uptake and impact (Branin, 2003; Jain, 2013; Jantz, 2001; Islam et al., 2015;Porumbeanu, 2010). Similarly, there are many representations in the literature of librariesestablishing support groups for librarians undertaking research, especially in academiclibraries (Blessinger, et al., 2010; Cirasella and Smale, 2011; Fallon, 2012; Gratch, 1989;Lee, 1995; Sapon-White, King, and Christie, 2004). However, there are few who haveexplored the intersection of knowledge management with creating a culture of research andlearning in libraries (Madge, 2012; Sheng and Sun, 2007). This paper seeks to add to thisliterature in describing a case study at an Australian academic library. Flinders University Library has, over the past four years, been actively building a culture of research among its professional staff, in order to equip them with the skills and expertise necessary in an era of continuous change for libraries. It has done so through the implementation of a support group for professional staff to undertake research projects, known as the Research Working Group (RWG). Its brief is to ‘develop a culture of research and professional reflection amongst the library’s professional staff’. While it is focused on the creation of knowledge in undertaking research, there are other important components: diffusing this knowledge throughout the organisation; and reusing this knowledge to inform decision-making. This paper focuses on how knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge reuse have manifested in RWG-related research projects. To understand this, two methods were used: an audit of KM tools available to the RWG was conducted; and a secondary analysis of interview transcripts was undertaken. Together, these approaches show how KM tools have been used by the RWG in building a culture of research.