DREaM event 1 – launch conference, Tuesday 19 July 2011

In his keynote presentation Professor Cronin provided a brief historical overview of LIS research before critically reviewing competence and practice in the field. He identified a number of deficiencies, including lack of cumulation, “narcissism of minor differences,” false antinomies, failure to scale, and redundancy. At the same time, he highlighted several trends that may (or may not) be seen as having potentially positive downstream effects: growth in the number of faculty from disciplines other than LIS populating LIS departments, increasing rigour and diversity of LIS research programs, quantifiable growth in the export of ideas from LIS to other disciplines, greater receptivity of LIS research to outsider literature. He considered social media both as a means of fostering research collaboration and as a subject warranting significant research attention in its own right. He concluded by considering a few domains in which LIS researchers may be able to establish a stronger presence.

This was the delegates’ chance to share their experience of stepping out of their own research comfort zone with everyone else in a plenary session. Those signed up for a slot related to the audience how they have explored the use of research methods from other disciplines, worked on research projects with others with a completely different research backgrounds, applied LIS research techniques to new research areas, discovered new ways to disseminate their work, or found a new network of relevance to their research efforts. Some took the opportunity of a slot in this session to put out a call to invite others to join them as they take their first steps out of the comfort zone. This session was chaired by Stella Wisdom, British Library.

There is further information on the session format on the One minute madness page from the 2010 LIS Research Coalition conference.

This session comprised guided discussions and an interactive exercise designed to encourage participants to consider strategies for widening the audience for their research findings. Those with ambitions to publish their work beyond their natural comfort zone, for example by submitting article manuscripts to international, peer-reviewed journals, learnt here how to develop and target their work for acceptance.

This session explored less well-used methods for conducting research in the library and information science discipline such as Delphi studies, co-operative inquiry, and community consultation. It drew upon real practical case examples of research undertaken at Northumbria University which have deployed such methods, and/or used novel combinations of more established methods. Novel approaches to disseminating research were also covered. The session included activities and discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of using particular methods for particular scenarios and research topics.

This session demonstrated how unlikely cross-disciplinary collaborations can generate exciting and unexpected outcomes, and prompt delegates to consider where they might seek similar experiences. Biomedical researcher Rankin explained how her public engagement activities have transformed her professional identity, widened her professional network and informed her scientific research. Artist Czarnecki discussed how her interactions and collaborations with a number of scientists and healthcare workers has enriched her practice. Together the breakout session leaders talked about their current collaboration (see coverage of some of this work on the BBC web site). Reflecting on Rankin and Czarnecki’s experiences, delegates considered the notion of “deep” collaboration through the two-way process of mutual influence, and the nature of “real” public engagement that runs throughout research, development and production, where public engagement can shape research and outcomes.

Drawing on the Nordic experience, where networking across geographic boundaries is a necessity and well within the comfort zone, this session explored a range of collaborative networks for the LIS field: for researchers, doctoral students, work and study exchanges, and communities of practice interested in particular topics such as information literacy. Discussion of the various models and an interactive exercise highlighted the opportunities and challenges of network initiatives. As well as providing the opportunity for individuals to consider their own networking practice, it is hoped that the outcomes of this session will inform the development of the DREaM network for the duration of the project and beyond.

Some researchers stay faithful to one discipline, but Evans argued that variety is the spice of love. He’s been seduced by a variety of subjects during his academic career, from linguistics and psychoanalysis to robotics and philosophy, but he’s never settled down with any of them. Some people think he has a commitment problem, but Evans believes that commitment is a problem in itself. Monogamy is like reading the same book over and over again. In this keynote presentation he told the story of some of his research relationships, and explained the thread that links the apparently disparate disciplines with which he has fallen in love, and why he eventually got divorced. Along the way Evans has also enjoyed relations with the media. This has brought censure from some straight-laced and – he claims – most likely jealous colleagues.