Abstract
AbstractThe research‐practice gap in Library and Information Science (LIS) is well documented, especially in respect of the difficulties of translating research into practice, and resultant lost opportunities. While many researchers attempt to explain this research‐practice gap, few suggest strategies to address it. The creation of researcher‐practitioner networks, however, is one approach that has been proved empirically to bridge the distance between the two communities. Such a network is currently operating in Scotland, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Research, Impact, Value and Library and Information Science (RIVAL) is part‐way through its implementation based around four knowledge exchange events for a network membership of 32 from a wide variety of LIS sectors. RIVAL's successful delivery depends in part on the project leads' experience of undertaking, and evaluating the impact of, a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded grant: the Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) project. Already there are indications that RIVAL is delivering value to network members. There is a strong expectation for this to be enhanced, both in the remainder of the funding period and beyond, offering theoretical contributions to the study of social networks, especially in respect of social capital development to support knowledge exchange.
Highlights
AND BACKGROUNDOften characterised as a mutual lack of understanding between practitioners and researchers, the research-practice gap in Library and Information Science (LIS) has been acknowledged for several decades
By the end of the project, it is anticipated that a number of positive outcomes will have resulted from the collaborative efforts at knowledge exchange undertaken by the RIVAL network members
Active collaborations between RIVAL network members e.g. joint project funding bids, co-authored publications, and other initiatives undertaken by network members on the basis of relationships developed over the course of the project, e.g. service on committees and event organisation
Summary
Often characterised as a mutual lack of understanding between practitioners and researchers, the research-practice gap in LIS has been acknowledged for several decades. Other broader explanations relate to the ways in which research output is disseminated and accessed in the domain They refer to problems associated with conceiving the process of translating research into practice as a one-directional linear model, where knowledge as a ‘product’ is generated and transferred by one set of actors, passively consumed and implemented by another Such views fail to take into account that practitioner ‘consumers’ (and non-consumers) of research can, and may be keen to, play a more active role – provided that the model of dissemination is considered more as a relationship between the parties involved, in which links and exchanges can be exploited in both directions This is evident in the implementation of one of the two strategies proven empirically to narrow the LIS research-practice gap: the deliberate creation of researcher-practitioner networks (Hall, Cruickshank & Ryan, 2019). Discussed in this paper is the implementation of RIVAL, its outcomes to date, and its anticipated outcomes to theory and practice
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