Discusses the extent of networking and collaboration amongst library and information science researchers and practitioners who took part in the AHRC-funded Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) project in 2011/12, and the extent to which learning from this grant has influenced the delivery of the Royal Society of Edinburgh funded Research Impact and Value and Library and Information Science project in 2019/20.

2. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
#UofGISTalks

3. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

4. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
https://hazelhall.org/centre-for-social-informatics/

5. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

6. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
£45,000
2011-2012
£20,000
2019-2020

7. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
To develop a UK-wide network of Library and
Information Science (LIS) researchers
• Build research capacity and capability
• Raise quality and standards: research
training, practice, output, value, impact, and
influence
• Secure foundation for long-term research
collaborations – in LIS and beyond
To create a collaborative network of Scotland-
based Library and Information Science (LIS)
researchers and library and information
professionals interested in maximising the
value and impact of LIS research

8. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
To develop a UK-wide network of Library and
Information Science (LIS) researchers
• Build research capacity and capability
• Raise quality and standards: research
training, practice, output, value, impact, and
influence
• Secure foundation for long-term research
collaborations – in LIS and beyond
To create a collaborative network of Scotland-
based Library and Information Science (LIS)
researchers and library and information
professionals interested in maximising the
value and impact of LIS research

9. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
https://lisresearch.org/dream-project/

10. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Conf 2: 93
Conf 1: 87
3 workshops: 35

11. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

12. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

13. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Photographs
Vimeos
Plus textual
session previews
and summaries
SlideShares

14. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Similar practice for conference sessions

15. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

16. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

17. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

18. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

19. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

20. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Participation and reach in numbers
• 5 events
• 33 ‘official’ contributors
• 213 onsite delegate participants
• From 12 countries (and 4 continents)
Plus remote audience of
• ~80 blog posts
• 1000+ tweets
• Multiple web pages, SlideShares, Vimeos,
and SoundClouds

21. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

22. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
How did the network
develop in 2011/12?

23. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
October 2011 April 2012
Interactions between DREaM cadre members (work and social)

24. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Awareness of research expertise amongst DREaM cadre members
October 2011 April 2012

25. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

26. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
1. Have the DREaM workshop participants innovated in the workplace since
2012?
2. Has their post-DREaM research determined services provision or
influenced the LIS research agenda?
3. To what extent can they point to any impact of their post-DREaM research
on end-user communities?
4. Has the DREaM network opened up new opportunities for their research?
5. Do they continue to operate as a network?

27. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Study participants
• Survey: 32
• Focus groups:
• 6 London participants
• 4 Edinburgh participants
Publication of findings
• On networking:
• Focus of Hall et al (2018)
• On collaboration:
• Included in Hall et al (2019)

28. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Did the network
endure in 2015?

29. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
April 2012July 2015
Interactions between DREaM cadre members (work and social)

30. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Detailed analysis (see Hall et al, 2018)
• Social ties endured best
• Diversity of central actors greatest in social
tie network
• PhD students
• public library staff
• University employees at the centre of work
tie network
• LIS academics, researchers, academic
librarians

31. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Detailed analysis (see Hall et al, 2018)
• Social ties endured best
• Diversity of central actors greatest in social
tie network
• PhD students
• public library staff
• University employees at the centre of work
network
• LIS academics, researchers, academic
librarians
• Networks need resources
• Resources are more important for the
maintenance of work ties
• Physical proximity helps (focus group
data)
• Social media can provide physical
presence proxy to an extent
• Network grants should provide provision
for ‘lightweight’ continuity

32. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

33. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
What evidence is there of
collaboration amongst
DREaM cadre members
after the project end?

34. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Between 2012 and 2015 DREaM cadre members collaborated on:
• Research projects
• Publications
• Event organisation
DREaM started off my first
collaborative research project
and enabled me to become
more research-focussed.

35. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

36. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

37. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
They offered research-related opportunities to one another, for example to:
• Peer review of papers
• Present at events
• Chaired by a member of the cadre : Marshall Dozier
• Two keynote speakers from the DREaM project: Hazel Hall and Alison
Brettle

38. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Collaborating at DREaM events also had an impact on their career development
I have been promoted. [Two
cadre members] provided
references.
Meeting the PhD students at
DREaM events contributed to
my decision to do a PhD.

39. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

40. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

41. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
https://lisrival.com/
https://twitter.com/lisrival/

42. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Elements of DREaM delivery maintained (but
on a budget)
• Network member commitment to 3 of
4 events
• Capture of event content
• Social activities
• But no official event amplification, 3rd
party community site, Ben Goldacre!

43. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

44. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

45. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh

46. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
July 2015
Detailed analysis (see Hall et al, 2018)
• Social ties endured best
• Diversity of central actors greatest in social
tie network
• PhD students
• public library staff
• University employees at the centre of work
tie network
• LIS academics, researchers, academic
librarians
• Networks need resources
• Resources are more important for the
maintenance of work ties
• Physical proximity helps (focus group
data)
• Social media can provide physical
presence proxy to an extent
• Network grants should provide provision
for ‘lightweight’ continuity

47. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Detailed analysis (see Hall et al, 2018)
• Social ties endured best
• Diversity of central actors greatest in social
tie network
• PhD students
• public library staff
• University employees at the centre of work
tie network
• LIS academics, researchers, academic
librarians
• Networks need resources
• Resources are more important for the
maintenance of work ties
• Physical proximity helps (focus group
data)
• Social media can provide physical
presence proxy to an extent
• Network grants should provide provision
for ‘lightweight’ continuity

48. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
Detailed analysis (see Hall et al, 2018)
• Social ties endured best
• Diversity of central actors greatest in social
tie network
• PhD students
• public library staff
• University employees at the centre of work
tie network
• LIS academics, researchers, academic
librarians
• Networks need resources
• Resources are more important for the
maintenance of work ties
• Physical proximity helps (focus group
data)
• Social media can provide physical
presence proxy to an extent
• Network grants should provide provision
for ‘lightweight’ continuity

49. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
#lisrival

50. http://hazelhall.orgProfessor Hazel Hall @hazelh
References
Brettle, A., Hall, H., & Oppenheim, C. (2012). We have a DREaM: the Developing Research
Excellence and Methods Network. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, Limerick, Republic of Ireland, 22-25 May 2012.
(Slides available at https://www.slideshare.net/LISResearch/we-have-a-dream-the-developing-
research-excellence-methods-network)
Cooke, L. & Hall, H. (2013). Facets of DREaM: a Social Network Analysis exploring network
development in the UK LIS research community. Journal of Documentation, 69(6), 786-806. (DOI:
10.1108/JD-09-2012-0124.)
Hall, H., Cruickshank, P. & Ryan, B. (2018). Long-term community development within a researcher
network: a social network analysis of the DREaM project cadre. Journal of Documentation, 74(4),
844-861. (DOI 10.1108/JD-05-2017-0069.)
Hall, H., Cruickshank, P. & Ryan, B. (2019). Closing the researcher-practitioner gap: an exploration
of the impact of an AHRC networking grant. Journal of Documentation 75(5), 1056-1081 (DOI:
10.1108/JD-12-2018-0212).