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Buried Treasure: A Business Librarian' s Insights on Finding the Evidence
Abstract
This chapter offers my perspective as a professional librarian and former manager on accessing the
research evidence in the business and management fields. I describe the barriers faced by managers,
students, and scholars in locating and reading the peer-reviewed literature: its scattered placement,
varying formats, controlled access, and swiftly changing environment. I explore how those roadblocks
are being overcome, and I offer practical recommendations for both managers and researchers on
what they can do today to bring that evidence to light.
Studies have shown that introducing additional information without context leads to worse decision making. Informed leadership is the purposeful integration of information into decision management. This article reframes information literacy as decision management using elementals of evidence-based management. It highlights strategies such as decision awareness, process creation, and decision practice and approaches for purposeful application in the information literacy classroom.
This study examines how social scientists arrive at and utilize information in the course of their research. Results are drawn about the use of information resources and channels to address information inquiry, the strategies for information seeking, and the difficulties encoun- tered in information seeking for academic research in today's information environment. These findings refine the understanding of the dynamic relationship between information systems and services and their users within social-scientific research practice and provide implica- tions for scholarly information-system development.
London Business School I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion. If God lets me live, I shall not remain insignificant, I shall work in the world and for mankind! And now I know that first and foremost I shall require courage and cheerfulness! -Anne Frank, April 11, 1944 My first-ever academic conference, when I was a naive doctoral student from the Netherlands, com-pletely oblivious about the (American) academic system, was a meeting of the Academy of Interna-tional Business in Banff (Canada) in 1996. Betoken-ing my ignorance of this system, I found myself participating in a junior faculty consortium (not knowing exactly what "faculty" meant, or what a "consortium" was). As you can imagine, the con-versation quickly turned to tenure and how to get it. Some time later, well into the second day of the consortium, during yet another one of those discus-sions, a fellow participant (a German lecturer and one of the few other non-Americans in the room) leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "Do you know what that is? That thing they keep talking about, called 'tenure'?" I have to admit, as I did to her, that I had no idea. those days with fondness. I had al-ready chosen to be an academic, while my friends went off to have well-paid jobs in banking, consult-ing, and industry. I was going to be a poor yet noble academic, not driven by money, job status, or secu-rity, but dedicated to a quest for knowledge and understanding that would enable me to help others understand and improve the workings of their organizations. I think many management scholars start out with this feeling. Over time, however, the system and culture in which we are placed starts to turn us toward thoughts of getting a job, getting tenure, getting a chair, getting recognition from others in the field, and so on (Deci, 1971; Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). Over time, our research ideas may not be framed anymore in terms of organizational prob-lems and a question that we want to understand and answer. Instead, we have learned that the legitimate way to frame our academic identity is in terms of a theoretical tradition and a stream of research. And there is nothing wrong with that, unless these goals have completely replaced our desire and quest for true knowledge and understanding. Yet, over the years, many people within our field have lamented the fact that much of our research seems to have little relevance to reality (e.g., Rynes, Bartunek, & Daft, 2001; Staw, 1995; Vermeulen, 2005). It has been argued that our academic system needs to change, journals need to change, deans and colleagues need to change, and with all these things needing to change, we might be better off not bothering at all. Notwithstanding all of this, in this essay, I reflect on what I believe an individual, working within the system, might be able to do, to gain a little bit of relevance. Most of us, in our research and writing, have a first, closed "loop" of communication (Hambrick, 1994): we read the work of other academics, and write in academic journals to reach that same audience. I argue here that each academic researcher in the field of man-agement would do well to add a "second loop"; one that engages practitioners directly, as a source of insight to inform research at its inception, but also as a group of recipients of the research when it is completed.
A challenge facing libraries is to develop and up date col-lec tions and services to meet the needs of the multiple gen-era tions of users with dif fering approaches to information seek ing. The different characteristics and information needs of 'Ba by Boomers' and 'Mil lennials' present a dichotomy for li bra ry service and system development. Results are reported here for two research projects that investigated habits and needs of library users and non-users. Both studies sought to iden ti fy how and why individuals seek and use informa-tion. The fi rst study deals with the fi ndings of focus group inter views with se ven ty-eight randomly selected partici-pants, and fi fteen semi-structured interviews with a subset of these par tici pants. The second study reports the results of focus group in terviews with twenty-three Millennials, and an analysis of 492 virtual ref erence services (VRS) transcripts. The studies in di cate that both generations consistently iden-tify Google and hu man sources as the fi rst sources they use for quick searches. The younger Millennials mentioned con -sult ing par ents most frequently, while the older Millennials con sult friends and professors. Baby Boomers indicate that they consult their per sonal libraries and colleagues. The fi nd-ings have im pli cations for the development of next genera-tion library on line catalogs, as well as services, including VRS.
The gap between science and practice in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and related fields is large and, some believe, getting larger. Although not everyone views this as a matter for concern, there is growing momentum to take actions to strengthen the interface between science and practice. The present paper examines three underlying sources of the gap: lack of awareness of what the other side knows and cares about; lack of belief or confidence in the knowledge generated or held by the other side; and lack of implementation of knowledge or ideas, even in the face of awareness and belief. Based on this analysis, proposed solutions are offered for each source of the gap, as are directions for future research and practice.
This article reports results of two user studies of search engine use conducted to evaluate the United Kingdom’s national academic sector digital information services and projects. The results presented here focus on student searching behavior and show that commercial Internet search engines dominate students’ information-seeking strategy. Forty-five percent of students use Google as their first port of call when locating information, with the university library catalogue used by 10 percent of the sample. Results of students’ perceptions of ease of use, success, time taken to search, and reasons for stopping a search are also presented. published or submitted for publication
Learn why special or corporate libraries must align with their parent organizations in order to survive in these difficult economic times—and how to foster and demonstrate this critical relationship.
Special Libraries: A Survival Guide analyzes what has happened—and is still continuing to happen—to corporate libraries in order to identify the strategies that must be taken to protect their staff's survival. Through a careful examination of a series of case studies of corporate library reductions and closures, authors James M. Matarazzo and Toby Pearlstein suggest key strategies, tactics, and survival tools that all types of special library managers can use to minimize their chances of becoming a victim. The book underscores the importance of collecting data as a survival tool. Additionally, it identifies what needs to be taught to students currently enrolled in library and information science (LIS) programs to give them a leg up in careers.
This advocacy book is essential reading for staff at special/corporate libraries in the English-speaking world who wish to retain their positions, but it also contains information applicable to today's academic, public, and even school libraries. It is appropriate for students in the field of library and information science, LIS faculty, and corporate executives responsible for the management of the information function.
In this article the author comments on the article “The Very Separate Worlds of Academic and Practitioner Periodicals in Human Resource Management: Implications for Evidence-Based Management,” by Sara L. Rynes, Tamara L. Giluk and Kenneth G. Brown, which appears in this edition of the journal. That article examines the divide between academic research into personnel management and the practical application of that research in a real-world work environment. The author of this article suggests a scalable plan for reconciling organizational behavior with academic research.
An examination of the growing knowledge gap that exists between scholars who produce academic research geared towards business management and the individuals who work in the field of business management. The two main problems that exist are scholars not producing relevant research and practitioners who are not receiving the research that is relevant. The author discusses some of the proposed solutions to close this gap and examines why this gap has been able to persist.
K athryn Petersen, a 57-year-old former auto in-dustry executive, was an unlikely choice as CEO of Decision Tech, a Silicon Valley tech-nology firm that had fallen onto hard times. Even more surprising was how Kathryn, the protagonist in this fable, spent her first month at the firm. For the first two weeks she did essentially nothing other than walk around and get to know the people and their work. Then she announced that she would lead a series of two-day off-site retreats that all members of her executive team were re-quired to attend. The retreats provided the occa-sion for Kathryn to pursue what she viewed as her most important leadership objective—namely, to meld the senior officers of the firm into a high-performing executive team. The retreats also are the main vehicle that the author of this engaging book uses to show how senior leaders can build such teams in their own organizations. Well, maybe not any senior leader. By any measure, Kathryn was extraordinary. She insisted on the highest standards of behavior and perfor-mance, but always showed real caring for her subordinates even when—and especially when— they were struggling to meet the challenges she set. She had an acute business sense, but also a level of sophistication in team-building and pro-cess consultation that would be the envy of many who make their living doing such work. And, except for an occasional moment of regret about speaking up too quickly or candidly, she never made a mistake. Not in how she got the chair of her Board of Directors to back off and let her do her job, nor in how she helped a team member understand that he would happier working else-where, nor in the pace she set for the development of her team. She did everything right. This is, indeed, a fable. It was hard work, no question about that. Her senior managers initially resisted Kathryn's team-building exercises and viewed them as a waste of time that would be better spent doing the firm's actual work. Every time the fledgling team ap-peared to have made real progress at one of the retreats, backsliding was sure to follow when members returned home. And some members seemed unwilling, or even unable, to learn and use the lessons about teamwork that Kathryn was teaching them. But she persisted, guided and girded by a simple model of what it takes to make a great team—the five dysfunctions that every team must overcome and that give the book its title: (1) absence of trust; (2) fear of conflict; (3) lack of commitment; (4) avoidance of account-ability; and (5) inattention to results. Kathryn used a variety of team-building tech-niques to help her team work through the five dysfunctions, from tests and exercises to guided discussions and tutorials that addressed concrete problems members were having with their work or with each other. Her success was perhaps most evident at a staff meeting held three months after the last of her two-day retreats. A new vice president for marketing, Joseph Charles, was attending his first top team meeting. Here is what happened: For the next several hours, the group took Joseph through the five dysfunctions. Nick explained the importance of trust. Jan and Jeff together covered conflict and commit-ment. Carlos described accountability within the context of the team, and Martin finished off results. They then reviewed Joseph's Myers-Briggs results and explained the roles and responsibilities of his new peers, as well as their collective goals. Most importantly, for the rest of the day they launched into some of the most passionate debates Joseph had ever heard and ended those debates with crystal-clear agreement and no sense of lingering bitterness. They called each other on the carpet once or twice in ways that made Joseph uncomfortable, but in each case they brought the discussions around to results.
This study investigated which journals and periodicals are preferred for various uses by lodging managers. Readership level and usefulness of 17 journals/periodicals (academic and non-academic) by senior managers were explored. The research found that a significant number of lodging professionals tend to use hospitality industry and general business publications over academic research journals. However, several academic journals were rated higher by managers regarding usefulness as a source for information on research, employee management, marketing, hospitality industry, general business, as well as professional and personal development. Implications of study findings can assist authors in effective dissemination of hospitality research and in turn aid managers with their environmental scanning endeavors.
A story told at a recent executive seminar: There were three men on death row-a Frenchman, a Japanese, and an American. The night before their execution, the prison warden came to them and said, "I will grant you each one last wish before tomorrow." The Frenchman said, "If you will play the national anthem for me one last time, I can die in peace." The Japanese said, "I would like one last chance to talk about Japanese management." The American said, "Why don't you execute me right now? If I have to listen to one more talk on Japanese management philosophy, I'm going to die anyway."
Evidence-based management (EBM) means managerial decisions and organizational practices informed by the best available scientific evidence. In this essay we describe the core features of educational processes promoting EBM. These include mastering behavioral principles where the science is clear and developing procedural knowledge based on practice, feedback, and reflection. We also identify key factors in organizational research, education, and management practice that inhibit EBM's use and ways these can be overcome.
The human resource (HR) directors of 201 large U.S. organizations responded to a survey concerning the relative use of different sources of new HR information. Academic research-related information sources were used much less frequently than practitioner-related sources. However, analyses suggested that only academic sources were significantly related to organizational profitability. The strength of the relationship between the use of academic information and profitability also varied across industry types.
States the top reason why managers should take notice of scholarly research is because actions based on sound evidence beat those based on suspect intuition every time. Posits that even academic research at its best is perhaps not that much of a better alternative to guru’s fads and fantasies.
This study examines undergraduate students' research habits in a strictly electronic library environment at a large public university. Unlike most information commons, the campus' electronic library is not housed within a traditional library space and provides access to electronic research materials exclusively. This study finds that undergraduate students in this electronic library rely primarily on Internet sites and online instruction modules (for example Blackboard or WebCT) for their research needs rather than university-funded research sources. Additionally, academic class status has no significant impact on whether students use either the library's OPAC or the university-funded electronic databases for their research needs. The authors discuss possible reasons for these findings, new pedagogical practices as indicated by the results, and define areas for further research.
The 2004 and 2005–06 workshops sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and the National Institute for Technology & Liberal Education have generated much data that can be used to describe aspects of the campus cultures at some 130 institutions that foster information literacy. These data are particularly informative regarding collaboration among faculty and academic support staff, curricular reform, the role of chief academic officers, library space design, and the deployment of campus networks and electronic information resources.
The move to an increasingly digital research environment has substantially disintermediated both academic and corporate libraries from the research process. The full impact of this disruptive change has been more clearly expressed in the corporate environment, in which libraries are less insulated by institutional tradition and historical prestige. Consideration of the changes felt and the strategies adopted by corporate libraries to maintain institutional relevance in a disintermediated research environment offers insight for academic libraries into how to weather changes to come and maintain their active roles in the intellectual life of the campus.
Books reviewed in this article:
Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Managers: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Sam Deep and Lyle Sussman, Act on It! Solving 101 of the Toughest Management Challenges
Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in YourLife
Joel Brandon and Daniel Morris, Just Don't Do It! Challenging Assumptions in Business
Harold Geneen with Brent Bowers, Synergy and Other Lies: DownsizingBureaucracy and Corporate Culture Debunked
Five thousand human resource (HR) professionals were surveyed regarding the extent to which they agreed with various HR research findings. Responses from 959 participants suggest that there are large discrepancies between research findings and practitioners' beliefs in some content areas, especially selection. In particular, practitioners place far less faith in intelligence and personality tests as predictors of employee performance than HR research would recommend. Practitioners are somewhat more likely to agree with research findings when they are at higher organizational levels, have SPHR certification, and read the academic literature. Suggestions are made for more effective dissemination of HR research findings. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Academics and practitioners differ on so many dimensions that researchers have described them as living in different “thought worlds.” That gap persists, and there are important explanations for it, but a confluence of economic and organizational forces is driving academics and practitioners toward each other. To date, much of the effort by academics to reach out to practitioners has focused on the diffusion of scientific knowledge, not its creation. This paper explores several promising strategies for improving both the bidirectional diffusion of knowledge as well as its creation. It argues that for genuine change to occur, it is necessary to modify academic reward systems and to promote much closer collaboration between academics and practitioners. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present how, in May 2008, the Ad Hoc Committee on Federated Search was formed to prepare a preliminary report on federated searching for a special meeting of Librarians Academic Council at Memorial University Libraries. The primary purpose is to discuss current implementation of federated searching at this institution, explore what other institutions have done, examine federated search technologies, and offer recommendations for the future of this resource.
Design/methodology/approach
– Information was drawn from a recent usability study, an informal survey was created, and a literature/technology review was conducted.
Findings
– These four recommendations were proposed and unanimously accepted: actively develop the current federated search implementation by developing a web presence supporting “federated search in context”, re‐evaluating the need for consortial purchase of a federated search tool, continuing to assess the current federated search marketplace with an eye to choosing a next‐generation federated search tool that includes effective de‐duping, sorting, relevancy, clustering and faceting, and that the selection, testing, and implementation of such a tool should involve broad participation from the Memorial University Libraries system.
Originality/value
– Provided is an inside look at one institution's experience with implementing a federated search tool. The paper should be of interest to anyone working in academic libraries, particularly the areas of administration, public services, and systems.
This paper provides a broad and general international overview of ebooks in academic libraries. The inconsistent terminology relating to ebooks is noted in the first section and a brief history of ebooks and some current definitions are given. The stakeholders within the ebook industry are described with details of some of the services offered. For users and staff in library and information services ebooks can provide a variety of advantages as well as challenges and these are outlined for those in academic libraries. Findings from various studies on ebooks are given and some of the issues involved in managing ebooks in academic libraries are described. Finally an overview is presented of the eBooks Working Group in the UK. The paper is illustrated with a number of screenshots related to ebooks in academic libraries in various parts of the world.
Management fads are increasingly a hot topic within Organization Theory. Recent articles have described the production process of fads, the role of �ideological� waves in explaining their emergence, and the development of management rhetoric supporting the fads. Despite this growing interest, management fads are seen as an outcome of the actions of Universities, business schools, and consulting firms in producing formal management knowledge; the role of the popular press, meanwhile, remains largely unexplored. Our paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the role of the popular press in producing and legitimating management fads. We argue that the popular press is a primary factor in diffusing and legitimating management fads. The popular press also represents a new laboratory for the construction of management practices. Being deeply rooted in the social context, magazines and newspapers link management practices with social acceptance, coupling management and society at large. We use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to analyze the data. The data set consists of a collection of articles on Human Resource Management published during the last decade in leading newspapers and magazines in Italy. We suggest that the dynamics of the diffusion and popularization of management practices in Italy over the last decade represents a fair example of the processes that have taken place throughout the Western world.
Traditional journals, even those available electronically, are changing slowly. However, there is rapid evolution in scholarly communication. Usage is moving to electronic formats. In some areas, it appears that electronic versions of papers are being read about as often as the printed journal versions. Although there are serious difficulties in comparing figures from different media, the growth rates in usage of electronic scholarly information are sufficiently high that if they continue for a few years, there will be no doubt that print versions will be eclipsed. Further, much of the electronic information that is accessed is outside the formal scholarly publication process. There is also vigorous growth in forms of electronic communication that take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Web, and which simply do not fit into the traditional journal publishing format.
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