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2001 Public Libraries ConferenceThe role of research in public libraries
Dr Kirsty Williamson, director, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research, School of Information Management and Systems, Monash University and School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University The paper includes a number of themes focusing on issues related to research in public libraries. First, it discusses the traditional ways in which library research has been undertaken - the predominantly quantitative approach of the library survey. Second, the recent trends of using qualitative or interpretivist approaches to research, or of using mixed methods, are explored together with examples of some recent research projects in public libraries in Australia. In the third part of the paper, an attempt will be made to paint a mind-stretching, but realistic scenario of the possibilities of public library research. IntroductionThis paper has a number of themes and purposes. First, it discusses the traditional ways in which library research has been undertaken. Second, it aims to show how some recent research in public libraries in Australia has differed from this traditional approach and how it has contributed to public library service. Third, it aims to paint a mind-stretching, but realistic scenario of the possibilities of public library research, especially through collaborations between academics, or other skilled researchers, and reflective practitioners. The traditional approach to library researchUntil recent times, research in libraries, as in other organisations, has tended to be predominantly quantitative in its approach. For example, in attempting to understand needs of library users, and levels of satisfaction with library services, researchers have mostly depended on the survey method, using self-administered questionnaires. While many people who have undertaken surveys may have been unfamiliar with the theoretical basis of their research there is well developed philosophy, termed 'positivist', which underpins the typical library survey. Another research method, which comes under the 'positivist' umbrella is 'experimental design'. Positivist researchers believe that the social sciences should be investigated in the same way as the natural sciences (Dick 1991, p 232). They consider that knowledge can only be based on what can be objectively observed and measured. The reasoning style they use is deductive. As part of the research process, variables are defined, hypotheses are developed and tested, and the data collected are mainly quantitative. There are innumerable examples, in the library literature, of quantitative research, not always in truly positivist style because of the lack of rigour that a purist would require. (See, eg., Goombridge 1964; Handfield and Hamilton-Smith 1975; Goldhor 1975; Williamson 1978; Grosser and Bagnell 1989; Report on a Survey 1990; Tanner 1993; Flowers 1995, Navigating the Economy of Knowledge (1995). Non-library users are included in most of these surveys, as well as users. One survey (Flowers 1995) focused on non-users only. A very important relationship, which emerged from the earlier studies, was between education and library use (eg., Goombridge1975). Occupation was also found to be significant in library use (Goldhor 1975). Handfield and Hamilton-Smith's (1975) Libraries and People of Melbourne confirmed the overseas findings on the importance of education and occupation. Recent research trendsRecent research trends have seen qualitative approaches gain a lot more popularity. The umbrella term, which is used for qualitative research methods, is 'interpretivist' although, as with quantitative research, not all qualitative researchers are aware of the philosophical underpinnings of their work. Researchers, who are interpretivists, favour naturalistic inquiry (where field work usually takes place in the 'natural setting') and are concerned with 'meaning'. They believe that the social world is interpreted or constructed by people and is therefore different from the world of nature. The central tenet of interpretivism is that people are constantly involved in interpreting their ever-changing world. They develop meanings for their activities together, ie., they socially construct reality, as analysed in the famous book, The Social Construction of Reality (Berger and Luckman 1967). They also make sense of their world on an individual basis, i.e, they develop their own meanings, which often differ from one person to another and may conflict. In other words, they personally construct reality, as postulated by Kelly (1955). This latter process is encapsulated in Dervin's 'sense making' theory, which has had a major impact in the information management field. (See, eg., Dervin 1992; Dervin and Nilan 1986.) According to Dervin, people are constantly involved in making sense of, or interpreting, their world. The use of interpretivist approaches to research also encourages an emphasis on users and their needs, as opposed to the tendency of earlier quantitative research to focus on systems and what they can offer (Dervin and Nilan 1986, p 17). There is also theory which supports a combination of approaches. According to Giddens (1984), culture comprises both objective and subjective perspectives and the kinds of knowledge implied by both. Giddens states: If interpretative sociologies are founded, as it were, upon the imperialism of the subject, functionalism and structuralism propose an imperialism of the social object. One of my principal ambitions in the formulation of structuration theory is to put an end to each of these empire-building endeavours (Cassell 1993, p 89). In the process of transmission and transformation of culture, the subjective consists in the meanings that are held and communicated by individuals and groups. The objective consists in 'social practices ordered across time and space'. In practical terms, a combination of research approaches, focussing on the subjective and the objective, can result in optimal results. The starting point is to match research questions to method. Straight-forward factual information (eg., 'what', 'who' 'how many', 'how much', 'where', 'when' information) can be measured at a particular point in time and are suited to quantitative research. One must caution, however, with the old adage, 'Lies, damned lies and statistics'. For example, the number of people registered as members of a particular public library service can be reliably ascertained (assuming a clear definition of 'registration' ) on a particular day of a specific year. On the other hand, complex questions which involve 'why' and 'how' lend themselves to qualitative exploration. An example would be the question of how members of certain community groups, who are frequently non-users of the public library, can be attracted to become users. Any situation which requires understanding in depth is well suited to a qualitative approach. A research project will often involve questions of both types and will therefore benefit from combined quantitative/qualitative approaches. Examples of recent public library researchThe research group, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research (ITNR), has been involved in two recent public library projects, which have been basically interpretivist in their approach, but have used mixed research methods. These projects, and another which is just starting, are briefly described below.
Online services for people with disabilities in Australian public libraries[1]
State Library of Victoria (SLV)/VICNET were collaborators with ITNR for this project and nine public libraries were involved. Eight were from Victoria; the ninth, the Wagga Wagga Library, is the headquarters of the Riverina Regional Library. The latter library service was included because of the involvement of Charles Sturt University in ITNR which is now a joint venture of CSU and Monash Universities. The selection of Victorian libraries was based on the requirement to include a range of different public library types and a mix of socio-economic, rural and urban areas. Participants were found mainly through community organisations, particularly those which work with people with disabilities. There were two major stages to the data collections. The first stage involved the evaluation of a range of different equipment considered suitable for public settings; the second stage saw the development of training focusing on the equipment we had decided to recommend as a result of the evaluation stage. The first 50 participants, with a range of disabilities, were all involved in the 'evaluation' of equipment and software phase of the project; the remaining 35 participants with disabilities trialled various training activities so that we could see how well they worked. In addition, we involved 17 librarians in three focus groups, conducted in two different library services, in the training phase. Apart from the exploration of views about training, in general, we also trialled the Opera browser with public librarians.
Interpretivist aspects
Use of action research
Our project met all these criteria. For example, in terms of Criterion 6, a cyclical approach was used for testing the adaptive equipment. The people with disabilities we included ranged from those with severe cerebral palsy to people who were blind to those who were old and a little shaky with normal sight deterioration for their age. We needed to adjust constantly to their individual needs while we were trialling the equipment. In relation to Criterion 7, apart from the research partnership with SLV/VICNET, the public librarians in the sites where we worked were also our partners. In the case of this project, an interpretivist/constructivist approach, while very important, was not suitable on its own. By also using action research, which involved the perspectives of key stakeholders, we ensured that the project would meet both the requirements of the funding body and be useful in the relevant settings. Through action research, we were able to adjust our method for different disability groups, as feedback was obtained in a cyclical approach. We were also able to respond to librarians' views as the trials proceeded. For example, we did not recommend equipment or software which might meet the needs of particular groups with disabilities if they could not be easily supported by busy librarians, or where complex training was required.
Evaluation of the usability of electronic library resources in Victorian public libraries[2] This project was undertaken during 2000, at the time when the Gulliver Program, which was part of the Victorian Government's Libraries Online project, was being undertaken in Victoria. Through this program four databases were trialled in public libraries in Victoria: Ebsco Publishing's World Magazine Bank; IAC Health Reference Center, now Health and Wellness Centre; IAC Custom and Infosentials Electric Library. The aims of this project included:
Research method Once again, interpretivist/constructivist philosophy underpinned the qualitative component of the research. The aim was to include the perspectives and meanings of the key groups involved in the use of the databases. To achieve this, we collected data in four Victorian public library services. Two of the library services are in metropolitan areas (Bayside and Port Phillip), one is a regional library service (Corangamite) and one is in a semi-rural area (Casey-Cardinia). The research in each case began with a focus group of library staff - to explore their perceptions of content and usability of each of their two databases, as well general access issues. A representative of State Library of Victoria, mostly from Vision, was included in each of the focus groups, and attempts were made to include library staff in varying roles, eg., a library manager and a library technician. The focus groups were followed by interviews and trials of the resources with 10 participants, who varied in age and gender, from each of the library services. Each library service was allocated two of the four electronic resources, offered through Gulliver, for the purposes of the research. This was a matter of practicality, as it would have been too time consuming for each librarian to test all four databases, and impossible to discuss them adequately in a hundred-minute focus group session. The setting of 'homework', requiring staff to follow a topic of their choice in their two databases and to answer questions related to content and usability prior to their involvement in their focus group, resulted in data of high quality.
The findings: qualitative data That having been said, the researchers found the results to be somewhat surprising. As indicated above, the major focus of the research was to be the evaluation of the content and usability of the electronic resources - with the findings of the qualitative component feeding into the computerised tool which would enable comparisons between electronic resources to be made. While most librarians in the focus groups saw 'content' as of paramount importance, including the extent to which full text was provided, they felt confident about the authority of the information found on all the databases. They were, on the whole, unconcerned about 'usability' issues, feeling that all the databases were of a reasonable standard. As with the library patrons, there was a wide variety of personal preferences with regard to usability features. The strongest views were expressed about Electric Library, which users often liked very much, or disliked intensely. Health Reference Center was highly regarded by most users - both in terms of content and usability. The issues which were seen to be of greatest importance by the librarians in the focus groups concerned access and training. There were major issues of access to the databases - whether the proxy server or passwords were being used. Problems with Internet connections, including slow response times, often exacerbated more specific difficulties. These problems were seen to deter staff from using the databases, especially given existing time pressures. In relation to training, on the whole the staff of the library services involved in the project believed that they were not very familiar with the databases. Even some who have been trained by SLV staff appeared not to have used the databases extensively. It also seemed that the databases were not being used to an optimal level. It was generally agreed that further training of staff was needed. As one librarian said: 'Staff need training on all the different aspects of these databases, because they are not always apparent from the first screen'. The researchers concluded that training should involve hands-on tasks which familiarise staff with the databases. The 'homework', which required library staff to use the databases and answer questions prior to the focus groups, was seen as most beneficial to the staff involved. Many staff commented that they felt much more confident about using the databases as a result of the research. Clearly training for staff is essential so that library users can be assisted to use the electronic resources. It was telling that almost all library patrons who were approached for interviews as part of the research had no idea that the databases existed, what they were for, and therefore how to use them. What is more, many library patrons were either not computer literate or had limited experience on PCs. It was not possible to evaluate effectively the resources, particularly in terms of content, with such inexperienced users.
The findings: quantitative data 'I have not found a tool with this capacity, web-enabled or otherwise, available for any form of evaluation at this time. There are many examples of survey type evaluations of programs and resources on the internet but as yet there is nothing which offers the capacity for weighting and scoring criteria (and giving an overall rating) that MultiVal can provide' (Handley 2001, p 5). The fact that the evaluation rating can be stored for future use and that criteria can be easily removed, added or altered, increases the versatility of this now web-based tool. The major problem that arose was that the qualitative data did not provide the criteria for the tool as was intended. Criteria such as ease of use, attractiveness of layout and design and relevance of content, which the researchers had considered were important for the evaluation of the electronic resources, did not seem to be so reliable and usable after the qualitative data were analysed. For example, the search options varied from one database to another so that ease of use became a much more complex issue than originally thought. Handley (2001) therefore looked at other ways of developing the criteria for use in the tool. She found that: 'Discussions with SLV staff, and access to their internal procedures for evaluating electronic information resources have provided a rich source of material on which to base the criteria' (p 6). She found that staff procedures were well developed based on '... examples of evaluations used by other libraries and educational institutions, and through their own working groups'. SLV had identified their important stakeholders (eg. acquisitions librarians, technical support staff, library managers) and the factors (criteria) relating to electronic databases which needed to be considered in an overall evaluation. For the version of MultiVal, which she is customising to assist librarians to select electronic resources, Handley has included all criteria nominated by SLV as important to their current selection process. They have been grouped so they can be easily weighted and scored by the relevant stakeholder (evaluator). For example the criterion, degree of full text on a database, is grouped with other factors relating to content. This criterion might be considered important enough to be given the weighting of 100 per cent by a particular evaluator, but another may consider this to be of less importance and weight it at say 80 per cent. Both evaluators might give a score of only 75 per cent if most, but not all, citations on the database are provided in full text. These weightings and scores for the range of criteria will result in an overall score for each of the electronic resources evaluated, for each evaluator. MultiVal, when completed, promises to be a practical, useful, adaptable tool for evaluation of electronic - or any other library - resources. Indeed the potential for such a tool is well beyond library applications.
Developing competency of Australian public librarians in using online databases
The research design will include:
The fieldwork for the project will be undertaken at three different sites: in Sydney, Canberra and Wagga Wagga, NSW and will involve 24 librarians. Possibilities for the futureResearch can play a valuable part in the practice of all information professionals. The profession will flourish where information workers develop inquiring frames of mind, underpinned by an understanding of research. Research can assist the understanding of many of the issues involved in the provision of library services. Lowe (1999) makes a very strong statement about research in relation to information professionals: Research enables professionals to add value to their work and work practices ... (Its use) distinguishes between professionals who maintain the status quo without question and those who strive to develop their work practices through continual evaluation and investigation (p 1). Given the more flexible approaches and wider range of research methods, now available, there are many exciting possibilities for useful public library research which can add considerable value to practice. Partnerships between librarians and academic researchers offer particular opportunities. Through research collaborations, practitioners can develop their research skills and academic researchers can ensure that the research they undertake is relevant and useful. The research itself can generate community interest and result in new clients and services. For example with the disability project, discussed above, the academic researchers made contact with various disability groups based in the communities of the libraries involved in the research. Sometimes this was done through librarians; other times it was necessary for the academic researchers to make contacts. Often we received an enthusiastic response from those disability groups, who could have then been used to publicise the library to their disabled members. One of the recommendations of the project was that: '... reaching out to local disability organisations is the best way of making services known. Marketing services more widely in the local community is also important' (Online Services...2001). If one looks at the paper which summarises the major issues which confront the Victorian Public Library system and which will need to be addressed in the development of policies for Victorian public libraries (The Strategy Shop 2001), it becomes obvious that many of the questions raised lend themselves to research. For example from the section on 'social engagement' come the questions:
Considerable understanding about these questions could be developed through some qualitative research in one locality - or better still in several localities which might offer different perspectives and answers. The involvement of local councillors, key community groups, other community gatekeepers, and everyday library users and non-users could be achieved through focus groups and individual interviews, to gain a rich picture of the range of community views. Action research could be undertaken to develop and pilot a program which would assist in bringing the community, or parts thereof, together. Another section of the paper looks at changing roles and patterns of use. The aim of this section is : 'To understand the needs of different groups in the local community in order to provide library services for the whole community as inclusively as possible' (p 8). It is stated that there are significant gaps in the user base of public libraries, particularly among young people and young professionals. One of the questions posed is:
Once again, understandings and insights about the needs of users and non-users and the associated trends for the future would emerge from exploration with different community groups. The involvement of representatives from different community groups can leverage interest and support, and provide information and publicity about the library service. An example of the generation of this kind of interest was seen to result from the research undertaken for the Review of Library Services at Port Phillip last year. The community was surveyed and a number of focus groups was held prior to the writing of the review documents by the librarians and staff of the Port Phillip Council. There was considerable enthusiasm and interest generated as a result of the research, as well as many ideas for future development of the public library service. This undoubtedly provided a basis for future marketing of the library service. ConclusionOne of the problems with research is that it can be an isolated event and not have the continuing impact that it deserves. Consistent frameworks and continuity can lead to an aggregation of effort. For example, action research undertaken by one library can be so much more effective if a group of library services takes part. By drawing in specialist researchers, librarians can develop their skills as researchers and the best possible outcomes can be attained. The research group, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research (ITNR), includes a former public librarian in its team: Louise Stockfeld who, until recently, worked as Reference Librarian with Riverina Library Service. The group is very interested in public library research and has been involved in several recent public library projects, as discussed above. The principal message from this paper is that you, too, can become a team researcher - learning skills, producing useful findings and improving and developing your library service. All that is required is some imagination about the possibilities and a will to try new ways of understanding. ReferencesBerger, P L. and Luckman, T. (1967) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Press. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press. Cited by Schwandt, T.A. (1998). Constructivist, interpretivist approaches to human inquiry. In N K Denzin, and Y S, Lincoln, (Eds.), The Landscape of Qualitative Research. London, Sage Publications, pp 221-259. Cassell, P. (Ed.) (1993). The Giddens reader. London: Macmillan. Dervin, B. (1992) 'From the mind's eye of the user: the sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology'. In Glazier, Jack D. and Powell, Ronald R. (eds), Qualitative Research in Information Management. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, pp 61-84. Dervin, Brenda and Nilan, Michael (1986), 'Information needs and uses'. In Martha E. Williams (ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) 21, np.: Knowledge Industry Publications, pp 3-33. Dick, A L. (1991) 'Influence of positivism on the design of scientific techniques: implications for library and information science techniques'. South African Journal of Library and Information Science, 59(4), pp 231-239. Flowers, Louise (1995) 'Non-users of the upper Goulburn Library Service'. The Australian Library Journal, 44(2), May, pp 67-85. Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of a theory of structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press. Goldhor, Herbert (1975) A Public Opinion Survey of the Evansville Public Library. Occasional Papers, No 56. Illinois: Illinois Library School. Goombridge, Brian (1964) The Londoner and his Library. London: Research Institute for Consumer Affairs. Grosser, Kerry and Bagnell, Gaye (1989) 'External students and public libraries: student perspectives'. The Australian Library Journal, 38(4), November, pp 303-317. Handfield and Hamilton-Smith (1975) Libraries and People in Melbourne. Melbourne: Library Council of Victoria. Handley, Nettie (2001) Evaluating Electronic Data Resources: A Multiple Perspective Approach. Paper presented to Masters Review Panel of School of Information Management and Systems, September, 2001. Hart, E. and Bond, M. (1995). Action research for health and social care: A guide to practice. Buckingham: Open University Press. Kelly, George (1955) The Psychology of Personal Constructs, Vols 1 and 2. New York: Norton. Lowe, D (1999) Introduction to Research in Relation to Professional Practice. Unpublished paper. Caulfield, Vic: School of Information Management and Systems. Maynard, Sean (1997) A Multiple-Constituency Approach for the Evaluation of Decisions Support Systems, Masters Thesis, Faculty of Computing and Information, Monash University. Navigating the Economy of Knowledge (1995), Institute of Cultural Policy Studies, Griffith University. Online Services for People With Disabilities in Australian Public Libraries (2001). Final Report for the AccessAbility Program, DoCITA. Caulfield, Vic. Information and Telecommunications Needs Research, Monash University. Report on a Survey of Users and Non-Users of the St Kilda Public Library (1990). St Kilda, Vic: Library Advisory Committee. The Strategy Shop (2001) Issues for Victorian Public Libraries in 2001. A brief paper summarizing the major issues which confront the Victorian Public Library system and which will need to be addressed in the development of policies for Victorian public libraries. Melbourne: The State Library of Victoria and the Department of Infrastructure http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/localgov.nsf/ (Sitemap: What's New in Local Government/ New Public Library Policy for Victoria) Access date 25.09.2001. Tanner, Kerry (1993) Williamstown City Library User Survey 1992. Melbourne: RMIT Department of Information Management and Library Studies. Williamson, Kirsty (2001) 'Knowledge management issues in people's use of telecommunications and new media'. In Burstein, F. and Linger, H. (eds) Knowledge Management for Information Communities, Proceedings of the Australian Conference of Knowledge Management and Intelligent Decision Support. Held at Monash University, 4-5 December, 2000. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishers, 2001 Williamson, Kirsty (1978) Library Use and Information Needs in the City of Ringwood. Melbourne: Department of Librarianship, Melbourne State College. Williamson, Kirsty, Stillman, Larry, Bow, Amanda and Schauder, Don.(1999a) 'Guidelines for a flexible public online workstation for people with disabilities'. Paper presented at OzCHI '99. Interfaces for the Global Community. Held at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, 28-30 November, 1999. Wagga Wagga, NSW: Charles Sturt University, pp 92-97. Williamson, Kirsty, Stillman, Larry, Bow, Amanda and Schauder, Don.(1999b) 'Online services for people with disabilities in Australian public libraries'. A refereed occasional paper documenting a paper presented at the AccessAbility Conference for Online Services for People with Disabilities, held at Monash University on 11 June, 1999. http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/itnr/ Access date 25.09.2001. Williamson, Kirsty, Stillman, Larry, Bow, Amanda and Schauder, Don (1999c) 'Online services in public settings for persons with disabilities'. Key note paper presented at Telecom 99/Interactive 99, International Telecommunication Union Conference, held in Geneva, 10-17 October 1999. Published on CD-ROM and on the Web site. http://www.itu.int/TELECOM Access date 25.09.2001. Williamson, Kirsty, Stillman, Larry, Bow, Amanda and Schauder, Don.(1999d) 'Public online access for people with disabilities'. Paper presented at ARATA 1999. Technology for Life: Education, Work and Leisure. Fourth Australian Conference of ARATA (Australian Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association) on Technology for People with Disabilities, held 28-30 September 1999 at the Masonic Centre, Sydney. Sydney: ARATA, Internet Access Section, pp 13-15. Williamson, Kirsty, Stockfeld, Louise, Wright, Steve, Schauder, Don and Bow, Amanda.(2001) 'The role of the Internet for people with disabilities: Issues of access and equity for public libraries'. The Australian Library Journal. Vol. 50, No.2, 2001, pp 157-174. Williamson, Kirsty, Wright, Steve, Schauder, Don, Stillman, Larry and Jenkins, Louise (2000a) 'Flexible work stations in community settings for people with disabilities'. Paper presented at Communications Research Forum 2000. Annual conference hosted by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, held at Old Parliament House, Canberra, 3-4 October, 2000. On DoCITA website:http://www.dcita.gov.auAccess date: 25.09.2001 Williamson, Kirsty, Wright, Steve, Schauder, Don, Stillman, Larry and Jenkins, Louise. (2000b) 'Levelling the playing field: The role of libraries in providing online services for people with disabilities'. Paper presented at ALIA 2000, Capitalising on Knowledge, held at the National Convention Centre Canberra, 23-27 October, 2000. http://www.alia.org.au/conferences/alia2000/ Access date: 25.09.2001 Williamson, Kirsty, Wright, Steve, Stockfeld, Louise, Schauder, Don, Burstein, Frada and Handley, Nettie (2001) 'Trialling online database resources in public libraries: Issues for reference staff'. Accepted for publication in the proceedings of Revelling in Reference. Reference and Information Section Symposium. To be held at VUT Conference Centre, 12-14 October, 2001. Endnotes[1] Reports of this project, 'Online Services for People with Disabilities in Australian Public Libraries', which was funded by the AccessAbility Program, Australian Commonwealth Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, can be found on ITNR's web site (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/itnr/). The project was undertaken in partnership with State Library of Victoria/VICNET (with Larry Stillman as one of the Chief Investigators on the project) and was sponsored by AAPT Ltd. See also, Williamson, Stillman, Bow and Schauder 1999a, 1999b, 1999c, 1999d; Williamson, Wright, Schauder, Stillman and Jenkins 2000a, 2000b; Williamson, Stockfeld, Louise, Wright, Schauder,and Bow 2001. A video outlining the method used for the project and illustrating some suitable adaptive equipment is available from Information and Telecommunications Needs Research at Monash University (Phone: 03 9903 2322 or email: itnr@sims.monash.edu.au) [2] Members of Enterprise Information Resources Group (EIRG)/Information and Telecommunications Needs Research Group (ITNR) at Monash University undertook this study. The Chief Investigators, Associate Professor Frada Burstein and Dr Kirsty Williamson received an ARC SPIRT Grant, in partnership with SLV/VICNET, for the project. ARC SPIRT grants (now called ARC Linkage) are awarded for projects which involve industry/academic research partnerships. One of the options available under the SPIRT (Linkage) Program is to include one or more PhD or Masters students in the projects for which funding is sought. The Monash/ SLV project involved a Masters student, Nettie Handley, who received an Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) to take part. Papers and articles on this project are in the process of being written. Two are already available (Williamson 2001; Williamson, Wright, Stockfeld, Schauder, Burstein, Handley 2001) [3] Marion Bannister who, for many years, worked as a public librarian and who is now an academic at Charles Sturt University, is one of the Chief Investigators for this project. The other is Kirsty Williamson who is employed by both CSU and Monash University.
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