Introducing formal Information scrutiny to Parliamentary research (Information Scrutiny part 1), by Anne-Lise Harding
Anne-Lise
is a chartered librarian and currently holds the position of Senior Liaison
Librarian at the House of Commons. With previous experience in library
management in the education sector, Anne-Lise has diverse experience in
systems, collection management, customer service and many more but is
passionate above all about information literacy. As part of her role in the
committee, Anne-Lise attends meetings of the Government Information Group to
ensure a consistent liaison between both groups. When she is not busy training
or working with others to better services, Anne-Lise loves to play video games,
DIY and travelling. There is nothing Anne-Lise enjoys more than plotting with
fellow librarians over a cup of good coffee!
In this guest blog post Anne-Lise Harding shares some of the practitioner research she has carried out during her first year working in the House of Commons library with Select Committees and the specificities of their Information Literacy needs.
This blog
post was originally published on the Information Literacy
Group blog in December
2020.
In this blog post I would like to share some of the practitioner
research I have carried out during my first year working in the House of
Commons library with Select Committees and the specificities of their
Information Literacy needs.
Parliament performs the key role of holding the UK Government to account
through scrutiny. This role is carried out through various means; one of the
most central being Select Committees. House of Commons Select Committees
examine “the work of government departments and continue working throughout a
whole parliament” (UK Parliament, 2020). To perform this essential
role in scrutiny, Select Committees rely on expert advice, submissions to calls
for information and the research and scoping work performed by Select Committee
Specialists.
In my role as Senior Liaison Librarian, I am particularly
interested in supporting the information needs of research colleagues in the
Committee Office. Through their research and scoping work, Committee
Specialists work at the intersection of two contextualisations of Information
Literacy: workplace and citizenship.
Research colleagues use information “to
help achieve organizational aims, and to add value to organizational activities[1]”
with the mission of questioning and furthering democracy. Through carefully examined and
selected evidence, they allow citizens and marginal voice to make a meaningful
difference on policy and reinforce democracy and civic engagement. In order to develop
an appropriate and challenging Information Literacy framework, both rational
and pedagogical approach need to be suited to a very particular audience. My
research was conducted completely remotely and soon after my appointment,
making organic encounters and research opportunities impossible.
I focused on:
- · Understanding research outputs throughout the inquiry lifecycle: scoping documents, briefs, final report
- · Analysing and recognising the balanced information needs of select committees: it is a delicate balance between reflecting expertise and experience and political positions.
- ·
The
research process of Committee Office researchers which can differ greatly
between committees/has to be very quick
- ·
The
various research backgrounds: Specialists can be either experts in their policy
area or generalists. Their information skills are drastically different.
This was achieved remotely through:
- · Shadowing inquiries
- ·
Attending
in-house training on conducting inquiries training
- ·
Examining
scoping documents
- ·
Conducting
Information behaviour interviews with colleagues across a range of committees
To start with, a meaningful concept needed to be introduced
in order to get buy-in from Committee Specialists. The term Information Scrutiny makes Information
Literacy meaningful for colleagues: it relates back to a familiar concept
whilst introducing a new element of knowledge and expertise that enhances
current practices.
All these considerations will feed into producing an
Information Scrutiny framework aimed at highly skilled, time-challenged
researchers with the following considerations:
- · How do you train highly competent researchers?
- · How do you enrich fully functioning practices?
- · How do you go beyond traditional, HE-focused Information Literacy?
Stay tuned for an update in my next blog post!
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