My research explores professional work and practitioner thinking in library and information science – particularly in the area of reference and information service. I am interested in how practitioners’ thoughts, beliefs and values shape their practice. I am also interested in the diffusion of formal theories into practice and the development of practitioners' informal theories. Below are the research questions that are currently capturing my interest.
In this video from several years ago, I talk about some of my research: How do practitioners conceptualize their work? Building on my studies of the experience of reference and information service (RIS) for practioners, my current work articulates the varying conceptualizations of RIS across library environments and different cultures.
How can we ensure that the profession values and supports BIPOC librarians? Since my days as a reference librarian, I've been concerned about diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in the profession. Ensuring that librarianship values and supports its BIPOC members is important to me. I am currently working with some colleagues on a project to study retention issues in the profession sponsored by IMLS. You can read more about this project here: https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/retention/ Previously, I worked with Kawanna Bright on research sponsored by an ALA Diversity Research Grant.
How do instructors' beliefs about student privacy affect their instructional practices? I am working with Kyle M. L. Jones to study instructors' thoughts and beliefs about student privacy and how they affect their instructional practices. Our IMLS-funded project, Student Privacy in the Datafied Classroom, is ongoing. Read more about our project here:
How can we encourage the application of formal theories to practice? LIS practice tends to be driven by best practices, but formal theories and models can provide useful structure for practice. Some of my recent projects explore how theories are being or might be applied. I am currently working with Tanja Merčun of the University of Ljubjana, as well as my UB colleague Africa Hands and Maja Kuhar and Katarina Švab, both from the University of Ljubljana, on a project supported by the Slovenian Research Agency called "Perception and Use of Information Science Concepts and Theories by Librarians". You can read about work in this area here:
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Amy VanScoy, MLIS, PhD
Associate Professor Department of Information Science Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo vanscoy @ buffalo.edu |