Written by guest blogger Debbie Schachter.
In the most recent issue of CJILS, I have published an article describing my mixed methods research on critical information literacy teaching in B.C. higher education. While I’ve been a librarian for thirty years, I have come somewhat late to academic scholarship and primary research, through my recent completion of a Doctor of Education. Through my EdD program, I was very fortunate to have two extremely supportive and experienced supervisors who were able to help me in my writing processes, and for shepherding me through my successful defence.
During that process, one of my supervisors talked about the importance of publishing the research that I was conducting, and seeing in my thesis the potential for publishing several articles, which she described as “fileting the thesis”. While writing the thesis was simultaneously engaging and challenging, trying to determine appropriate aspects of this paper that would be easily communicated into unique articles was a very different process for me. Identifying appropriate peer review journals was the first step, and CJILS was one which was very obvious, due to the nature of my research and the fact that as I conducted my literature review, articles of significance originated in this publication. I am fortunate to have a second publication forthcoming in the IFLA journal, on a different aspect of my research.
Through these articles, it is my hope that the research that I conducted will contribute to the development of the library profession in Canada, particularly as there has been limited research conducted on the work of academic librarians in British Columbia. I feel that it’s important to highlight the significant work that our academic librarians are undertaking, across our many higher education institutions, and to encourage further research and exploration on this critical topic. The publication of my article is really a testament to the work that is taking place in higher education libraries in Canada, and to the support that has been provided to me by my colleagues and supervisors on two continents!
Debbie Schachter is the University Librarian at Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Debbie is also adjunct faculty with the UBC Information School and with the Langara College Library and Information Technology Program. Debbie has recently completed her Doctor of Education through the University of Edinburgh.
Her latest article in the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science entitled “Information Literacy Teaching in BC Academic Libraries: Research into Critical Approaches to Library Practices” is free to read for a limited time here.
The UTP Journals blog features guest posts from our authors. The opinions expressed in these posts may not necessarily represent those of UTP Journals and their clients.
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