July 16, 2013 - Opening Keynote of the 7th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference - Saskatoon, SK, Canada.

1. What we talk about when we
talk about evidence
Denise Koufogiannakis
University of Alberta
7th International EBLIP Conference
July 16, 2013 | Saskatoon, SK, Canada

3. July 16, 1993

4. “the available body of facts or
information indicating whether a
belief or proposition is true or
valid”
(Oxford Dictionary, 2011)

5. Properties of evidence
• Relevance
• Credibility
• Weight
(Schrum, 2011)

6. How Academic Librarians use Evidence in
their Decision Making: Reconsidering
the Evidence Based Practice Model
Department of Information Studies
Aberystwyth University, UK
2013

8. “an approach to information science that
promotes the collection, interpretation and
integration of valid, important and applicable
user-reported, librarian observed, and
research-derived evidence. The best
available evidence, moderated by user
needs and preferences, is applied to improve
the quality of professional judgements”
(Booth, 2000)
EBLIP

9. What is evidence
in LIS?

10. “I’m clueless how to
speak evidence”
(Librarian 13)

11. Evidence sources
Hard evidence Soft evidence
Published literature Input from colleagues
Statistics Tacit knowledge
Local research and
evaluation
Feedback from users
Other documents Anecdotal evidence
Facts
Koufogiannakis, 2012

13. Evidence in LIS can come from
many sources

14. EBLIP is about using evidence and
figuring out what is the best evidence in
your environment.

15. EBLIP’s focus to date has been on
research evidence and how to
read/understand research better.
This has been a good thing;
but does not provide a
complete picture.

16. Practitioners would be better served
by a greater understanding of the
best types of evidence to use in
particular situations.
How do we weigh different
evidence sources?

17. how do librarians use evidence?

18. 5A’s of evidence based practice
(Hayward, 2007, http://www.cche.net/info.asp)

19. How academic librarians make
decisions

20. Academic librarians use
evidence
for convincing

21. Confirming

22. I tend to use that [the literature] as confirmation for interesting ideas
that I read about. (Librarian 16, interview)
I just think that way and I feel more confident about what we’re doing if I
know that we have – that we’ve tried to collect evidence, we’ve tried to
assess what we’re doing and to me it’s just more confidence in going
forward with other things. (Librarian 17, interview)
I find it interesting when the outcome matches/supports my initial gut
reaction and instincts. For me this is one of the ways I test for validity when
making decisions, a little private “ah-ha” moment – I can say, with
confidence: ‘I knew it, I knew I was right’. If the info collected informs a
decision or action different from my initial thought – I chalk it up to
experience and put it under the category of: ‘good thing I double checked
this’. (Librarian 6, diary)

23. Influencing

24. "evidence is
used as a
weapon"
Partridge, Edwards,
& Thorpe (2008 &
2010)

25. Where the group setting makes a difference, I think, is that depending upon whether
or not I’m a champion for a particular project, I may present, you know - I may frame
the evidence in a way that I think would speak to the needs of the people in the group.
(Librarian 2, interview)
I think you have to be very strategic because you have to recognise what the other
person’s concerns are in order to address them and that’s the strategic part; and also
being able to address the mandates of the library and all those other conflicts, right?
(Librarian 5, interview)
I will have to sell this to the University Librarian. (Librarian 18, diary)

26. The concept of convincing
Koufogiannakis, 2013

27. Importance of the work environment

28. Shifting the
current EBLIP
paradigm

29. So, what what are we talking about
with respect to evidence in LIS?

30. 1. we are not health care professionals
2. we have unique types of evidence
3. we rarely act alone
4. we almost always act locally
5. we care about what we do and want to
influence outcomes
6. we don't know enough about ourselves as
decision makers
7. we don't know enough about what are the
most important evidence sources to help us!

31. An amended model (based on Booth, 2009)
1. Articulate – come to an understanding of the
problem and articulate it.
2. Assemble – assemble evidence from multiple sources
that are most appropriate to the problem at hand.
3. Assess – place the evidence against all components
of the wider overarching problem. Assess the evidence
for its quantity and quality.
4. Agree – determine the best way forward and if
working with a group, try to achieve consensus based
on the evidence and organizational goals.
5. Adapt –revisit goals and needs. Reflect on the
success of the implementation.

32. Key questions an EB practitioner
should ask themselves
What do I already
know?
What local evidence
is available?
What does the
literature say?
What other
information do I
need to gather?
How does the
information I have
apply to my context?
Make a decision
What worked? What
didn’t? What did I
learn?

33. Bringing the evidence sources
together
Research
Evidence
Professional
knowledge
Local
evidence
Koufogiannakis, 2012

34. Practical research we need
1. What are the best evidence sources for
specific types of questions?
2. How do we “read” the results of different
types of evidence sources?

35. evidence helps us find answers
- we get there by questioning
- we get there by testing
- we get there by making mistakes

36. The possibilities are endless
The questions are endless.
The ideas are endless.
EBLIP is a mindset.
Discover your possibilities!

37. Thank you!
Denise Koufogiannakis
University of Alberta Libraries
dak@ualberta.ca
Twitter: @dkouf

38. For more detail (articles are open access):
Koufogiannakis, D. (2012). Academic
librarians conception and use of evidence
sources in practice. Evidence Based Library
and Information Practice, 7(4), 5-24.
Koufogiannakis, D. (2013). Academic
librarians use evidence for convincing: A
qualitative study. SAGE Open,
3: 2158244013490708.

39. References
Booth, A. (2000, July). Librarian heal thyself: Evidence based librarianship, useful, practical, desirable? 8th
International Congress on Medical Librarianship, London, UK.
Booth, A. (2009). EBLIP five-point-zero: Towards a collaborative model of evidence-based practice.
Health Information and Libraries Journal, 26(4), 341-344.
Hayward, R. S. (2007). Evidence-based information cycle. Centre for Health Evidence. Retrieved 9 Nov.
2011 from http://www.cche.net/info.asp
Koufogiannakis, D. (2011). Considering the place of practice-based evidence within evidence based
library and information practice (EBLIP). Library & Information Research, 35(111), 41-58.
Partridge, H., Edwards, S., & Thorpe, C. (2010). Evidence-based practice : Information professionals’
experience of information literacy in the workplace. In A. Lloyd, & S. Talja (Eds.). Practising
information literacy: Bringing theories of learning, practice and information literacy together.
Wagga Wagga, NSW: Charles Sturt University.
Schrum, D. (2011). Classifying forms and combinations of evidence: Necessary in a science of evidence. In
P. Dawid, W. Twining, & M. Vasilaki (Eds.). Evidence, inference and enquiry. (pp. 11-36).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thorpe, C., Partridge, H., & Edwards, S. L. (2008). Are library and information professionals ready for
evidence based practice? Paper presented at the ALIA Biennial Conference: Dreaming08,
Alice Springs, Australia. Retrieved 20 Nov 2011 from
http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2008/papers/pdfs/309.pdf

40. Image credits
Slide 1 – cc Eik Perfectanee (Flickr)
Slide 2 – cc Jared Tarbell (Flickr)
Slide 3 – c Denise Koufogiannakis
Slide 4 – cc Texas T’s (Flickr)
Slide 5 – cc superdove (Flickr)
Slide 7 – a) cc johnwilliamsphd (Flickr);
b) cc Super Furry Librarian (Flickr)
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Slide 36 – c Virginia Wilson (Flickr)
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