Stephen Bales

Journal‐ranking lists and the academic librarian

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the use of journal‐ranking lists for academic librarian promotion and tenure (P&T) decision.Design/methodology/approach – Using a case study, the researchers analyzed a proposed journal‐ranking list created for P&T decisions. A quantitative analysis of peer‐reviewed journal articles was performed to support this analysis.Findings – The paper shows that the use of journal‐ranking lists for P&T decisions inadequately conflates academic librarians with teaching faculty members.Research limitations/implications – The study relied primarily on a single case study, so it may not be scientifically generalized.Social implications – This study identifies journal‐ranking lists as an inadequate tool for the evaluation of academic librarians and encourages action to divorce the valuation of intellectual achievement from quantitative structures.Originality/value – The analysis of the quantitative/metric underpinnings of intellectual labor in higher education is necessar...

Professional identity: a grounded theory study of veteran academic librarians

Purpose – This qualitative study aims to analyse veteran academic librarians’ perceptions of librarianship to develop a grounded theory that models this group’s understandings of the profession. In addition, this study compares its findings to a previous grounded theory study that modelled novice academic librarians’ perceptions of the profession. Design/methodology/approach – Using the long interview technique, the analysts interviewed 15 veteran academic librarians, i.e. those with 10 or more years continuous experience as professional academic librarians, who work in Texas universities and four-year colleges. Qualitative analytical methods were used to develop a substantive grounded theory from the data. Findings – Two theoretical categories emerged that model academic librarian perceptions of the profession: orienting self (and others) to a shifting profession and driving change in the field. These categories depict academic librarianship as a profession focussed on change, and the theory valuates bot...

Critical interpretive synthesis for informing collection decisions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the use of the critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) method as a potential tool for aiding library selection decisions.Design/methodology/approach – CIS was used to model research trends in the intersection of journalism and popular culture using presentation titles collected from five years of Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference programs (2007‐2011).Findings – CIS was determined to be effective for focusing a subject selectors current awareness activities.Research limitations/implications – Considering the limited information provided in the PCA/ACA programs, the researchers were required to analyze the intent of many of the presentations from their titles and the titles of the sessions where they were given.Originality/value – CIS is a flexible means of systematically producing explanatory theories directly from the data that, while new to library and information science, is useful for modeling cutting‐edge research for...