Keeping the Research Momentum Going (That is, Once You Actually Get it Started)

For those of you having difficulty with the ‘publish or perish’ requirements of your job, I thought I’d share with you what my colleagues and I have been doing for the past 8 months to help each other stay on the ‘straight and narrow’ of the research and publication path.

We hold monthly Research Support Group meetings! Really. And, here’s how it happened…..

The idea came about as the result of a conversation I had with one of the librarians who was bemoaning her desire to have some sort of a forum for discussing all things research. Egads, not ANOTHER meeting! was both of our initial responses. We already have a Librarians Research Forum but it only meets occasionally and focuses more on sharing research that is already complete, published, etc. What about those of us who are having trouble identifying a research topic, or have run into problems with some aspect of our study, or just need a sounding board at a crucial step in the research process? Yes, there are resource folks available at the larger institutional level, but as scholarly output is relatively new to us there is a sense of not wanting to show our neophyte ignorance to others who are firmly ensconced in the research and publishing environment. We felt that we needed something that was a bit ‘safer’ and focused more specifically on our discipline (health sciences).

Last January we took the brave step and set the first Tuesday of every month from 3-4 pm as a meeting time. The membership of the Support Group is quite small and is limited to the librarians in my branch library (a whopping 7 in number). We meet on campus, but outside of the library environment, usually at a place where we can get coffee or some sort of similar liquid gratification (aka Diet Coke, in my world), and some semblance of privacy.

We book the times and days up to a year in advance to make it is easier to avoid conflicts. Does everyone always go to the monthly meetings? Not always, but generally most do as everyone appreciates the opportunity to focus for an hour. General consensus even at this early date is that the meetings are regarded as instrumental in moving research agendas forward.

We don’t have a formal agenda or a formal chair, but over time we have morphed into a bit of a routine – a roundtable where each attendee ‘fesses up’ to where his/her research endeavors are at. This keeps us all honest, and ensures a bit of monthly accountability. There is nothing like direct peer pressure to keep you focused! It also allows the opportunity to poll the group for help if it is needed. As we have a varied mix of library and research/publication experience within our little group it is not uncommon the hear things like “Did you think of …?”, or “You might want to touch base with ….”, or “Tell me a bit more about the research methodology you are using”. It is both an opportunity to share experience as well as learn from each other in a ‘safe’ environment. The remainder of the time is spent discussing articles, workshops, etc. or any other information that members have come across, experienced, or heard about that are relevant to library research and scholarly publication.

Although still very much in the fledgling stage, I think our Support Group is working well, and has given everyone more confidence in their research abilities, and a greater comfort level in sharing their trials and tribulations as well as their successes.

So, what’s in YOUR wallet? (with apologies to Capital One)