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Introduction to Core Competency L. Understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups.
Inquiry-based research is the cornerstone of academic discourse. Inquiry-based research involves following standard research methods and applying rhetorical modes of discourse. While the MLIS is an applied, rather than research-oriented, degree, I have had ample opportunity to increase my understanding of inquiry-based research and demonstrate competency. The evidence I am presenting includes published and unpublished manuscripts. All show evidence of my ability to apply rhetorical modes of inquiry and conduct research-based writing. Skills I demonstrate are comparison, description, evaluation, discussion, analysis, synthesis and argument. Each article has an extensive bibliography.
The following list of manuscripts that have been published in LIS scholarly journals and newsletters and unpublished manuscripts provides evidence of my competency in inquiry-based research.
- Yiotis, K. (2004, November). Achieving equity: Distance learning library services. California University Strategic Plan 2005-2008. Unpublished manuscript, San Jose State University, CA.
- Chang, S., Coyle, E., McDonald G., & Yiotis, K. (2004). Are some students more equal than others? Equity for distance learners in academic libraries. Unpublished manuscript, San Jose State University, CA.
The second paper was instrumental in informing my decision-making process in the first paper, a 7-year Strategic Plan for the case study library.
- Yiotis, K. (2005). The Open Access Initiative: A new paradigm in scholarly communications. Information Technologies and Libraries (ITAL), 24(4), 157-162.
This article is useful to librarians and student librarians and has been translated into multiple languages. This article has opened avenues of communication for me from library school students worldwide. I have received correspondence from students from Africa and India, who have asked for my input on their theses research.
In addition, this paper has added to the body of knowledge on the Open Access Movement and has been reviewed, referenced, and cited in articles published world wide. I believe that this paper has broadened thought regarding open access journals and local institutional repositories. It is being used in the curricula of several schools of library and information science including:
Below is a list of citations where this paper has been referenced:
- Reviewed by Suber, Peter. (January 22, 2006). A short history of OA. Open Access News. "I can't tell from the abstract whether the author has coined 'Open Access Initiative' to refer to the OA movement or whether she really means the Open Archives Initiative."
- Reviewed in McGrath, Mike (ed). (2006). Interlending and document supply: A review of the literature - 56. Interlending & Document Supply, 34(3), 140-7. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Emerald Fulltext Database. "A useful, if biased, article (Yiotis, 2005) describes the history of OA, its development and where its support comes from; perhaps the most useful are the 54 references" (Open access section).
- Referenced by School of Information Science, University of Tennessee, student Dean Ruppert in a research paper on Copyright and the Web, for Information Science 564: Archives and Records Management, Spring 2006.
- Referenced in Barnett, M. & Keener, M. (2007). Expanding medical library support in response to the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy. Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA), 95(4): 450-3. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from PubMed Central.
- This article found its way to Arabia and is cited in Arabic by Dr. Abd Al-Majid Salih Bu Azza. (2006). Arab researchers promotioins of Open Archives and free electronic journal: Sultan Qabus University Faculty as a model. Cybrarians Journal, 10.
- It has found its way to University of Pretoria, South Africa: Olivier, Elsabe. (2006). Putting the dean on the map: Developing the Jonathan Jansen Collection on the institutional research repository of the University of Pretoria. Developing IT Capacity in Higher Eduction (DITCHE): National Library Information Technology Event 2006, Pretoria, South Africa.
- Again in Olivier, Elsabe. (2007). The efficacy of institutional repositories: Reflections on the development of a personalised collection on UPSpace. Perspectives in Education, 25(1): 123-8. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- This, and the below, article are cited in Bergman, Sherrie. (2006). The scholarly communication movement: Highlights and recent developments. Collection Building, 25(4) 108-128. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Emerald Fulltext database.
- Yiotis, K. (2005). The Open Archives Initiative and Eprints repositories. Bulletin of the Information Technology Division (b/ITe), 22(2), Supplement.
Publishing these articles were instrumental in my being invited to join the editorial board of the Library Student Journal, a peer-reviewed student publication of the Library and Information School, University at Buffalo. My work as editor includes reviewing papers, submitted comments to editors and authors, and making decisions regarding the papers' appropriateness for publication. Recently I have been assigned duties as a section editor.
- Yiotis, K. (2008). Electronic theses and dissertation (ETD) repositories: What are they? Where do they come from? How do they work? OCLS Systems & Services: International Digital Library Perspectives, (forthcoming).
This paper underwent blind peer review with the Distance Learning Section (DLS) of the Association of Colleges and Research Libraries (ACRL). It was also submittted to and accepted for publication in ITAL but will be published instead in OCLS Systems & Services because of a better fit with this journal's technical focus.
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