How Research Relates to Career
As LIS An interdisciplinary field that examines how physical and digital information is organized, accessed, collected, managed, disseminated and used, particularly in library settings. researchers, our careers and our research are deeply connected. Being researcher-practitioners who are often responsible for maintaining a 9-5 position in addition to research responsibilities can result in often managing two parallel careers at once: our research career and our practitioner career. While this can cause challenges, it also may offer opportunities. Ideally, these can complement one another in various ways, and if you are struggling to get started with your research, considering your career goals can help you identify opportunities for research.
For example, your research on the experiences of marginalized students in the academic library could lead to meaningful changes in the way your library functions. For instance, your research on the library needs of marginalized students could enable you to create a library orientation program specifically for non-white, first-generation, or older students. If you are more interested in theoretical research, your exploration of a particular theory and how it relates to your work may potentially impact your workflows or approaches.
Reflection
Complete the following reflective activity. You will answer a series of questions, and you may write down your answers in your LPOL Workbook or elsewhere.
As a reflective exercise, write down your answers to the following questions using the 1.2.1: What Do You Want Your Research To Accomplish? worksheet in your LPOL Workbook.
Think through the following prompts:
- What do you hope your research accomplished in terms of your personal development?
- How do you hope your research might impact the field?
- What do you hope your research accomplishes for communities who might be impacted?
- How do you envision your research supporting your day-to-day work as a practitioner? In turn, how do you see your day-to-day work as a practitioner supporting your research?
If you completed Course 1, Lesson 1: Developing An Identity as a Researcher, look back at the work you did on your researcher identity statement. What are some threads you see tying together your experiences and the directions in which you want to take your research?
How Research Relates to Career
As LISLibrary and Information Science An interdisciplinary field that examines how physical and digital information is organized, accessed, collected, managed, disseminated and used, particularly in library settings. researchers, our careers and our research are deeply connected. Being researcher-practitioners who are often responsible for maintaining a 9-5 position in addition to research responsibilities can result in often managing two parallel careers at once: our research career and our practitioner career. While this can cause challenges, it also may offer opportunities. Ideally, these can complement one another in various ways, and if you are struggling to get started with your research, considering your career goals can help you identify opportunities for research.
For example, your research on the experiences of marginalized students in the academic library could lead to meaningful changes in the way your library functions. For instance, your research on the library needs of marginalized students could enable you to create a library orientation program specifically for non-white, first-generation, or older students. If you are more interested in theoretical research, your exploration of a particular theory and how it relates to your work may potentially impact your workflows or approaches.
Reflection
Complete the following reflective activity. You will answer a series of questions, and you may write down your answers in your LPOL Workbook or elsewhere.
As a reflective exercise, write down your answers to the following questions using the 1.2.1: What Do You Want Your Research To Accomplish? worksheet in your LPOL Workbook.
Think through the following prompts:
If you completed Course 1, Lesson 1: Developing An Identity as a Researcher, look back at the work you did on your researcher identity statement. What are some threads you see tying together your experiences and the directions in which you want to take your research?