1. Involving university library staff in ongoing research Adriaan Swanepoel swanepoelaj@tut.ac.za

2. Typical research barriers We empower people Lack of: time resources research skills research support practically focused projects motivation incentives etc.

3. Success factors We empower people Absolute commitment from head of the library Relevant Beneficial to practitioners Clearly outline and communicate benefits Keep participants informed of progress Dynamic Easy Sound methodology

4. Condensed project proposal We empower people Title. A citation analysis of master’s and doctoral theses at TUT Research problem. How does the use of information sources by M&D students differ between the faculties at TUT, and to what extent does the LIS provide access to a subset (journals) of the information sources that are mostly used by M&D students?

5. Condensed project proposal We empower people Subproblem 1. Which types of information sources do M&D students in different faculties use most and least, and to what extent does the usage differ from year to year? Subproblem 2. Which journals do M&D students in different faculties use most and least, and to what extent does the usage differ from year to year? Subproblem 3. To what extent does the LIS keep or provide access to the journals that are mostly used by M&D students?

6. Condensed project proposal We empower people Research design Nature: Longitudinal Data sources: All TUT theses since 2004 Data collection: per faculty a. Number of citations per information type b. Number of citations per thesis c. Number of theses per subject discipline d. Frequency of journal titles cited e. Cited journals owned by the library Method: Citation counting Timeframe: retrospective

7. Condensed project proposal We empower people Pros and cons of the method Operational environment - During normal working hours - 20 to 30 LIS staff members (5 to 6 teams) - Research time and tasks to be set in consultation with all

8. Condensed project proposal We empower people Pros and cons of the method Operational environment - During normal working hours - 20 to 30 LIS staff members (5 to 6 teams) - Research time and tasks to be set in consultation with all

9. Condensed project proposal We empower people Tasks and responsibilities Coordinate, monitor, allocate resources (Lib Director) Train staff (Training Librarian) Research administration (Secretary) Literature study (Team A) Determine, define data categories (Team A) Collect data sources/theses (Team B) Analyze citations and codes (Team B) Verify outcomes of previous tasks (Team A) Count & capture citations per data category (Team C) Verify outcomes of previous tasks (Team D)

10. Condensed project proposal We empower people Tasks and responsibilities Tabulate & cross-tabulate frequencies (Team E) Analyze tabulation, cross-tabulation data (Team A) Verify outcomes of previous task) (Team B) Compare list of journal titles most cited (Team D) Verify outcomes of previous task) (Team B) Write research report (Teams A & C) Proofread research report (Teams B & D) Present research report (Teams B & D) Implement recommendations (All)

11. Condensed project proposal We empower people Significance of the study Develop research capabilities and research mindedness Improve practice, lead to better service Develop means of measuring use of information sources by M&D students Assist library to make informed decisions regarding collection development

12. Condensed project proposal We empower people Limitations of the study Initially, research skills of majority of practitioners will be very low, even nonexistent. Initially, huge burden on more experienced practitioners, managers and trainers.

13. Conclusions We empower people Proposal is only one example of a research project to introduce relatively large numbers of inexperienced LIS practitioners to research Technique (citation analysis) is only a means to an end – to embed libraries in research Of more importance: conditions / success factors pointed out in this paper.

14. We empower people Adriaan Swanepoel Acting Director Library and Information Services (Pretoria Campus) Tshwane University of Technology South Africa swanepoelaj@tut.ac.za