Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

The majority of academic librarians in the US are employed by their insti-tutions either on tenure track, similar to teaching faculty, or they have some form of status that requires them to conduct and share the results of research to receive annual salary increases, achieve tenure or continuing employment, and/or gain promotion or enhanced ranking. Research published during the past two decades, however, confirms that most academic librarians enter the profession perceiving themselves to be unprepared for conducting research. To address deficiencies and alleviate anxieties surrounding research, the authors created a continuing educa-tion program for novice academic librarian researchers, the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL). The program was based on Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and was designed to instill participants with confidence in their ability to conduct research through mastery experience, verbal encouragement, and vicarious learning. IRDL proved to be an effective way for librarians to gain knowledge about research methods, receive timely feedback on research projects through mentoring and peer support, and become part of a research community. The majority entered the program feeling tentative about their roles as research-ers and emerged as more confident researchers. Master’s students would benefit from revisions to the LIS curriculum that would better prepare them for becoming librarian-researchers

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