Librarians as Researchers: Developing our Scholarly Identities

by Paul C. Campbell (Editor), Sarah Nagle (Editor)

Overview

This book is designed to empower librarians to develop their research skills and embrace their identities as scholars.

Many librarians, particularly those in academic libraries, are expected to engage in research and scholarly output. However, unlike disciplinary faculty, most librarians have not completed a PhD program, and many have never designed or participated in original research upon embarking on their career. This edited volume provides inspiration and support for academic librarians looking to develop or refresh their research skills and develop their scholarly identities. The focus of this book is toward empowering librarians as researchers, rather than librarians supporting student or faculty research. This book provides a venue for librarians to share their knowledge on different aspects of research as well as build community for other librarians to actualize their own identities as researchers.

The existing literature and research in the realm of librarian identity development often touches on librarian identities in the face of emerging technologies and new library types, or how librarians can support research at their institutions. However, there is a gap in the literature around librarians developing their own identities as researchers. Librarians have a unique role in the scholarly community; we often sacrifice our own research interests so that we can provide support and instruction to others, whether it be faculty, students, or the public. But the library world holds immense opportunity for developing and executing original research. Additionally, conducting research is beneficial to librarians' individual practice as well as the library community as a whole. This edited volume will provide guidance as well as actionable methods for librarians to develop foundational research philosophies, create communities of practice, and hone practical skills in a wide range of research areas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538187951
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/24/2025
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Paul C. Campbell is an assistant professor and the Social Science & Assessment Librarian at Kent State University Libraries. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of New Mexico, an MLIS from Kent State University, and an M.Ed. in educational technology from Ohio University. By integrating his two graduate degrees, Paul has developed a strong researcher identity connecting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) with librarianship. He has published and presented on using instructional technology to incorporate active learning to teach Information Literacy in the library classroom.

Sarah Nagle is the Creation and Innovation Services Librarian at Miami University in Ohio. Sarah began her career in public libraries in 2015, making the move to academic libraries in 2018. Sarah runs a busy academic library makerspace, and her daily work includes supporting maker-centered learning and innovation topics through events, instruction, and outreach. Sarah's broad research interests include maker-centered learning, both in informal environments and as part of formalized curricula. She also is strongly interested in equity and inclusion in maker and instruction environments, in particular how to assess inclusivity.She is the co-editor of Innovation and Experiential Learning in Academic Libraries: Meeting the Needs of Today's Students (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).

Table of Contents

Editors' Introduction
Section 1: Starting From Scratch — “Wait, Research is Expected?”
Chapter 1: Let the Garden Run Wild: Organizational Structures and Organic Growth of Research Identities - Alan Witt
Chapter 2: Where Do I Begin? Developing a Research Identity as a Librarian - Zachary Lewis
Chapter 3: LIS Scholarship: Roadmap to Researcher Identity Development - Olivia Hobbs, Erin Smith, Daniela Solomon
Chapter 4: Developing a Research Agenda: Connecting Practice with Research - Jane Hammons
Chapter 5: Weaving Together Your Identity As A Librarian Researcher And Establishing Or Discovering Common Threads: Friendly Advice From One Librarian To Another - Kristen Adams
Chapter 6: Leveraging Librarian Skills to Develop Research Identities - Sarah Morris
Section 2: Creating a Culture of Research
Chapter 7: Emotional Labour and Research Identity Development: The Early-Career Academic Librarian Experience - Victoria James, Fiona Kovacaj
Chapter 8: Squad Goals: Best Practices for Research & Writing Communities - Chloe Dufour, Renee Kiner, Kelly Safin
Chapter 9: Implementing a SoTL Framework: Librarians in a Community of Practice - Melissa Johnson, Thomas Weeks
Chapter 10: Manuscript by May: Fostering a Scholarly Writing Community of Practice - Evie Cordell, Stephanie Luke
Chapter 11: Building Support Structures for Non-Tenure-Track Librarian-Researchers: A Case Study at Seattle University - Yen Tran
Chapter 12: LibParlor Online Learning: Developing Librarian-Researcher Identities Through A Free Online Curriculum - Nimisha Bhat, Hailley Fargo, Chelsea Heinbach, Charissa Powell
Section 3: The “How To” of Librarian Research
Chapter 13: Navigating Inter-institutional Research - Stephanie Wiegand, Jason Cohen, Nicole Webber, John Reynolds
Chapter 14: Designing Research Studies that Sail through the IRB Process - Crystal Goldman
Chapter 15: Publish Or Perish And Playing Nice: And Other Things That Library School Did Not Teach Us About The Publication Process - Chris Robinson-Nkongola
Chapter 16: Identifying Your Epistemic Point of View and Designing Research
Jessica Hagman
Chapter 17: Positionality as a Pathway to Understanding Self and Practicing Culturally Responsive Teaching, Leadership and Scholarship - Erin Wahl, Kristen Kew, Chadrhyn Pedraza
Index
About the Editors
About the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

This volume holds some hopeful and uplifting reflections on how you might come to think of yourself as a librarian who is also a researcher. The authors offer practical guidance and things to consider in creating a sustainable research practice for yourself. Highly recommend!” —Marie R. Kennedy, co-director, Institute for Research Design in Librarianship and the Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, and writer, orgmonkey.net

“Both introspective and practical, this book empowers researchers, builds community, and celebrates the scholarly work that is critical to reflective practice. This resource is an essential companion for librarians at any stage in their research journey.” —Katy B. Mathuews, PhD, Executive Director & CEO, OhioNet, researcher & author, co-author of Creating A Staff-Led Strategic Plan: A Practical Guide for Libraries

“The authors who contributed to this outstanding edited volume describe and analyze the myriad ways that academic librarians become researchers, providing links between theory and practice and practical advice to novices for research success. Academic librarians are the only academic professionals whose graduate programs likely did not prepare them for the reality that most of us work in institutions that either require or strongly encourage us to become researchers. Across 17 chapters, the authors center the importance of identity as a researcher and other personal attributes.They explore the importance of continuing education, mentorship, creating community with librarians and other researchers; and finding or creating an organization that values and supports librarian researchers. This book is highly recommended for academic librarians anywhere along their professional journey as researchers and for the academic library administrators who support them.” —Kristine R. Brancolini, co-director of the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL), and dean of the library, Loyola Marymount University

“This comprehensive guide is a must-read for librarians seeking to develop themselves as researchers or responsible for fostering a culture of scholarly inquiry. With insightful contributions from practitioner-scholars, this book offers pragmatic strategies for building a research agenda, navigating publication processes, and creating supportive communities of practice. Whether you are starting from scratch or looking to refine your approach, the book provides valuable tools and advice for every stage of the librarian-as-researcher journey.” —Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Professor/Coordinator for Research Professional Development, University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

From the Publisher