Literature Reviews in LIS An interdisciplinary field that examines how physical and digital information is organized, accessed, collected, managed, disseminated and used, particularly in library settings.
A literature review The process of summarizing, synthesizing and/or critiquing literature around a specific topic/idea. This work can help a researcher understand what has happened before and also how past research intersects and or diverges from other research. A literature review can be a full-length manuscript or a subsection within a larger research article. requires more than finding articles in a search engine. It is a way to engage with researchers in LIS to examine best practices, review current theories, and ultimately make recommendations for future research to better our work as library science practitioners.
Writing a literature review can feel extremely overwhelming as you learn to engage with scholarly literature. The process involves more than reading and summarizing articles on a topic; it also requires you to place others’ work within historical and disciplinary context and analyze the methodology The theoretical framework that informs how a researcher approaches their work and what methods are used to collect data. of the research and the quality of the ideas being presented. One of the best ways to begin is to remember that the articles for your literature review serve as guardrails to help you remain in scope throughout your larger research process. The main purpose is to find connections between the articles and your specific research. As you begin reading, know that you may read 100 articles, and the 99th article may change the way you view the first 98 articles. Engage with the process of reading as a learning tool meant to inform and expand your research practice.
To break this down further, the goal of a literature review is to
- Discover what research has been done in your field regarding your topic/research question
- Analyze the purpose and scope of the previous research
- Identify what research has not been done and use your research to help fill that gap
- Place your research in context and in conversation with previous research in the LIS field
Types of Literature Reviews
There are three common types of literature reviews found in LIS:
- A simple literature review
- A complex literature review
- Systematic reviews and/or meta-analysis
In a simple literature review, the researcher documents the current state of knowledge surrounding a particular topic and draws a conclusion The end of a research article that wraps up the work presented. A conclusion can also be a spot to discuss limitations of the research or future avenues for this line of research. about what is known about that topic.
In a complex literature review, the purpose of the research is to document the current state of knowledge surrounding a particular topic and then uncover a research problem for further review.
Within LIS, particularly in the Health Sciences field, you may also find systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. These types of literature reviews focus on empirical research studies, non-theoretical research based in qualitative and quantitative studies. In this format, researchers summarize the articles based on a predefined set of criteria and create a systematic synthesis of the findings The section of a research article where researchers share the results from the research. This section takes the results and directly connects them to the research questions or hypotheses posed at the start of the article. Also can be called “Findings.” of each article. These reviews are then typically used by clinicians and practitioners to execute recommendations or studies.
Outside of LIS, you may encounter other types of literature reviews in other disciplines.
LIS Literature Review Examples
Simple Literature Reviews:
Dease, Nicholas E. “User Expectations and Preferences Regarding Library Chat Widgets.” Weave: Journal of Library User Experience 7, 1(2024). doi.org/10.3998/weaveux.2743.
Grote, Lidiya, Howard, Alexandra, Reynolds, Latisha, and Renesha Chandler. “Diversifying the Publishing Academy: Increasing Access to Scholarly Publishing Education for Graduate Students.” Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 11, 1 (2023). doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.15661.
Complex Literature Reviews:
Adolpho, Keahi and Stephen G. Krueger. “Decistifying Trans and Gender Diverse Inclusion in Library Work: A Literature Review.” In the Library with a Lead Pipe. 2024. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2024/decistifying/.
Ferretti, Jennifer A. “Building a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace.” Communications in Information Literacy 14, 1 (2020): 134–152. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1256626.
System Reviews:
Ayeni, Phillips O., Blessed O. Agbaje, and Marcia Tippler. “A Systematic Review A type of scholarly work where all evidence/primary research on a certain topic or idea is identified, selected, and evaluated. Documentation is provided in order for other researchers to conduct the same search and see the same results. Often used in health science and medical disciplines and a librarian is a key contributor to this kind of scholarly collaboration. of Library Services Provision in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic.” Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 16, 3(2021): 67–104. doi.org/10.18438/eblip29902.
Kung, Janice, Fraser, K-Lee, and Dee Winn. “Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians: A Systematic Review.” College & Research Libraries 81, 1 (2020): 96-108. doi.org/10.5860/crl.81.1.96. After looking at these literature review examples, which approach do you think works best for you right now and why? What do certain types of lit reviews offer over others?
Literature Reviews in 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.
A literature reviewLiterature Review The process of summarizing, synthesizing and/or critiquing literature around a specific topic/idea. This work can help a researcher understand what has happened before and also how past research intersects and or diverges from other research. A literature review can be a full-length manuscript or a subsection within a larger research article. requires more than finding articles in a search engine. It is a way to engage with researchers in LIS to examine best practices, review current theories, and ultimately make recommendations for future research to better our work as library science practitioners.
Writing a literature review can feel extremely overwhelming as you learn to engage with scholarly literature. The process involves more than reading and summarizing articles on a topic; it also requires you to place others’ work within historical and disciplinary context and analyze the methodologyMethodology The theoretical framework that informs how a researcher approaches their work and what methods are used to collect data. of the research and the quality of the ideas being presented. One of the best ways to begin is to remember that the articles for your literature review serve as guardrails to help you remain in scope throughout your larger research process. The main purpose is to find connections between the articles and your specific research. As you begin reading, know that you may read 100 articles, and the 99th article may change the way you view the first 98 articles. Engage with the process of reading as a learning tool meant to inform and expand your research practice.
To break this down further, the goal of a literature review is to
Types of Literature Reviews
There are three common types of literature reviews found in LIS:
In a simple literature review, the researcher documents the current state of knowledge surrounding a particular topic and draws a conclusionConclusion The end of a research article that wraps up the work presented. A conclusion can also be a spot to discuss limitations of the research or future avenues for this line of research. about what is known about that topic.
In a complex literature review, the purpose of the research is to document the current state of knowledge surrounding a particular topic and then uncover a research problem for further review.
Within LIS, particularly in the Health Sciences field, you may also find systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. These types of literature reviews focus on empirical research studies, non-theoretical research based in qualitative and quantitative studies. In this format, researchers summarize the articles based on a predefined set of criteria and create a systematic synthesis of the findingsResults The section of a research article where researchers share the results from the research. This section takes the results and directly connects them to the research questions or hypotheses posed at the start of the article. Also can be called “Findings.” of each article. These reviews are then typically used by clinicians and practitioners to execute recommendations or studies.
Outside of LIS, you may encounter other types of literature reviews in other disciplines.
LIS Literature Review Examples
Simple Literature Reviews:
Dease, Nicholas E. “User Expectations and Preferences Regarding Library Chat Widgets.” Weave: Journal of Library User Experience 7, 1(2024). doi.org/10.3998/weaveux.2743.
Grote, Lidiya, Howard, Alexandra, Reynolds, Latisha, and Renesha Chandler. “Diversifying the Publishing Academy: Increasing Access to Scholarly Publishing Education for Graduate Students.” Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 11, 1 (2023). doi.org/10.31274/jlsc.15661.
Complex Literature Reviews:
Adolpho, Keahi and Stephen G. Krueger. “Decistifying Trans and Gender Diverse Inclusion in Library Work: A Literature Review.” In the Library with a Lead Pipe. 2024. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2024/decistifying/.
Ferretti, Jennifer A. “Building a Critical Culture: How Critical Librarianship Falls Short in the Workplace.” Communications in Information Literacy 14, 1 (2020): 134–152. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1256626.
System Reviews:
Ayeni, Phillips O., Blessed O. Agbaje, and Marcia Tippler. “A Systematic ReviewSystematic review A type of scholarly work where all evidence/primary research on a certain topic or idea is identified, selected, and evaluated. Documentation is provided in order for other researchers to conduct the same search and see the same results. Often used in health science and medical disciplines and a librarian is a key contributor to this kind of scholarly collaboration. of Library Services Provision in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic.” Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 16, 3(2021): 67–104. doi.org/10.18438/eblip29902.
Kung, Janice, Fraser, K-Lee, and Dee Winn. “Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians: A Systematic Review.” College & Research Libraries 81, 1 (2020): 96-108. doi.org/10.5860/crl.81.1.96. After looking at these literature review examples, which approach do you think works best for you right now and why? What do certain types of lit reviews offer over others?