CILIPS Research Fund Recipients 2024-25 Announced
CILIPS were delighted to receive so many high quality applications for the CILIPS Research Fund 2024-2025. This year we have awarded funding to two projects which will seek to further advocacy in different areas of the sector, enriching the profession with new research and practical outputs.
In 2025 the National Library of Scotland will celebrate 100 years with a centenary campaign influenced by the users of the library and the books that shaped them. The NLS has received funding from this year’s CILIPS Research Fund to review and assess the impact of a new library advocacy model related to the campaign. Their plan is to create a long-term, sustainable collaboration among the leading Scottish Library organisations, designed to strengthen collective advocacy for the library sector in Scotland, starting with a national centenary campaign to celebrate the value of libraries.
The funding will support research, monitor and evaluate partner engagement, interactions and project outcomes to inform and develop future collaborations within the sector. The research team will work in partnership with the Audience Agency – a mission-led charity whose purpose is to provide knowledge, data and insight to enable cultural organisations to increase their relevance, reach and resilience. The Agency would spend time with participating organisations after the campaign and gather the qualitative insights the team would need to both measure the effectiveness of the campaign but also put a legacy in place for this partnership.
The second project that we are thrilled to announce as part of the Research Fund 2024-2025, comes from Dr Bruce Ryan, a senior research fellow in the Applied Informatics Subject Group, within the School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. The project seeks to expand on CILIPS’ current work on the spread of mis and disinformation. Delivering a foundation for advocacy on this topic, and how Scotland’s school librarians can work to support pupils to better understand the implications of mis and disinformation. The project’s research will endeavour to answer the following questions:
- How involved are school librarians in enabling pupils’ handling of mis/disinformation?
- What would they like to do to help pupils better prepare to handle mis/disinformation?
- What training/support do they have and wish for?
- How can they collaborate with teachers?
- How can this be used to advocate for school librarians/libraries?
The project will compile and utilise both qualitative and quantitative data about the perspectives of school librarians through focus groups and interviews. The outputs of this research will include content hosted on the CILIPS blog, shareable infographics, a research paper and CILIPS conference session.
CILIPS are delighted to be able to fund these projects which will enrich the sector with more advocacy, research and development. Stay tuned across our social media and blog for the chance to be involved in these projects and learn more as they take shape!