Librarians are well-known for assisting others with their research, but did you know that many librarians conduct their own original research as well? Library science research often aims to explore how and why people use information so that librarians can provide more effective service to their customers. The Institute of Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) was established to complement and enhance the basic research methods training most librarians receive in the course of earning graduate degrees. Lisa Federer, a research data informationist at the NIH Library, participated in IRDL’s second cohort in July 2015.

The two-week IRDL program, held at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA, provided training and hands-on practice for the 24 librarians selected to participate. As in many social sciences disciplines, library science research often employs a “mixed methods” approach, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to explore a research question. Qualitative methods like focus groups and in-depth interviews help researchers learn more about the “why” and “how” of human behavior and explore perceptions, thoughts and feelings. On the other hand, quantitative methods like surveys seek to measure and quantify experiences.

After IRDL, participants are expected to use the skills they have learned to conduct their own research project. Federer’s project will investigate biomedical researchers’ experiences with and attitudes toward reusing shared research data. Many studies have looked at researchers’ sharing practices and attitudes, but few studies have investigated what happens with that shared data. Federer’s exploration of how researchers reuse shared data (or why they do not reuse shared data) will help her provide better training and services through the NIH Library.

In addition to being useful for conducting research, the quantitative and qualitative methods Federer learned at IRDL also help her in her work at the Library and within ORS. As a member of the ORS Data Management Strategic Initiative committee, Federer conducted focus groups with representatives of several ORS divisions to learn how divisions are managing data. The findings from these focus groups, and an upcoming survey, will help the Strategic Initiative committee develop plans for helping ORS divisions work more effectively with data. Federer has also begun providing training and one-on-one consultations on using several quantitative and qualitative research data management and analysis software packages. For upcoming classes on these and other topics, please visit the NIH Library’s Training Calendar at: http://nihlibrary.beta.libcal.com/calendar/nihltraining.