Trends in Use of Citation Management Tools for Thesis and Dissertation Production

Transcription

1 ETD 2012 Trends in Use of Citation Management Tools for Thesis and Dissertation Production Charles J. Greenberg MLS MEd AHIP Research Services Librarian Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library Yale University Background Graduate professional education, academic librarianship, and academic information technology have all rapidly evolved in the past 20 years, in response and reaction to student and faculty research tools and scholarly needs. The Carnegie Foundation Initiative on the Doctorate (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2012; Walker, Golde, Jones, Bueschel & Hutchings, 2007), or CID, supported by the Foundation from 2001 through 2005, produced research methodology and helped the universities under study to evolve best practices, improving the retention and graduation rates and create local institution solutions. An Australian view of the doctoral enterprise evolution suggested a broad and holistic view that emphasizes an integrated outcome of education, training, research, and career development. (Cumming, 2010) Whether local autonomy or holistic integration is driving the evolution of thesis or doctoral methods, users of academic information must also acknowledge one area of universal productivity improvement: desktop software that eliminates the time-consuming chore and detailed work of capturing and organizing the citation record of source material, appropriately inserting and linking source citations to authored text, and formatting a paper and its citations into a preferred manuscript standard. Citation Management (CM) tools for scholarly writing predate the web browser (Kern & Hensley, 2011) and have certainly entered widespread use in the creation of many types of scholarly writing, including theses and dissertations (Kern & Hensley, 2011; Childress, 2011; Smith & Baker, 2007; Kiernan, 2006). Graduate students writing a thesis have the potential to utilize significant number diverse types of source material that require documentation in their thesis manuscripts. The correct use of CM tools can save considerable time and energy in the drafting and final formatting of a thesis or dissertation, as well as time savings doing corrections or adjustments based on faculty feedback. Research or subject librarians are normally the front line trainers and mentors for introducing citation management software and concepts to students (Wang & Li, 2011; Kern & Hensley, 2011; Childress, 2011; Carter, 2011). Any librarian that acts in the capacity of CM instructor or advisor knows that there is not only a learning Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos Av. German Amézaga s/n Ciudad Universitaria, Lima 1 Perú (511) anexo 7620 Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas Av. Primavera 2390 Monterrico, Surco, Lima 33 Perú (511)

2 curve associated with learning one CM application, but even more cognitive load and potential frustration distinguishing from among an expanding number of CM applications (Childress, 2011; Kern & Hensley, 2011; Zaugg, West, Tateishi & Randall, 2011). Librarians and information technology (IT) staff may feel overwhelmed by the options, features and similarity of CM tools: Figure 1: Comparison of reference management software (Wikipedia, 2012) Librarians or IT staff may also feel obligated to offer or recommend a local subscription solution without comparing a student s need to what is available. Another source of concern is how the availability of a particular well-supported CM tool may result in unconsciously steering student researchers towards databases that function optimally with CM and draw student attention away from sources that are potentially useful but lack the facility for easy CM transfer. (Childress, 2011) The advantages of current cloud-based tools, either free or subscription, support the expectation that every academic candidate for an advanced degree has an opportunity to use CM tools. CM improves the efficiency of scholarly writing and improves the formatted appearance of the electronic thesis or dissertation (ETD). 2

3 Do universities with ETD programs use their academic libraries to support the CM selection process, or do universities limit choices? How have universities supporting ETDs reacted to the emergence of new credible CM applications that offer attractive options for certain disciplines or devices? Methodology A brief web-based survey (Appendix A) was distributed to the ETD support community and social networks and Twitter to ascertain the impact of burgeoning choices in CM for graduate students, faculty, and ETD administrative staff. The survey was conducted with an institutional subscription to Qualtrics (Qualtrics Labs, 2012). No personal demographic information was collected, in an effort to obtain honest responses. Although there were 17 total questions, the response to a question about academic profession or identity (e.g. faculty, student, or staff) determined the subset of questions offered to a responder. Students received a greater number of questions, while faculty or librarians were offered fewer. Besides academic identity and private or public university setting, all participants received three opinion questions: Do you feel your college or university provides adequate training opportunity for students that want or need to learn how to use a citation management application? Do you feel your college or university invests enough resources in acquiring the most effective citation management applications? In your opinion, is it a Library or Information Technology support role to help students learn a citation management application? The survey was announced and distributed on May 16 th and concluded on July 12 th (56 days). During this period access to the survey by URL was inadvertently turned off, then subsequently restored. The survey was re-announced several times, with additional responses collected. Results 305 participants completed the survey (Figure 2). 95% of participants completed the survey in six minutes or less. The largest professional representation in those surveyed included librarians (39%) and faculty (39%). About 14% of the respondents were non-librarian university staff. Figure 2: Profession categories for survey completion (n=305) 3

4 The low participation of students (5.4%) reflects the unfortunate design choice of a late-semester survey period and the difficulty of student compliance with optional survey requests. Cross-tabulated with a question about whether their university was public or private (Figure 3), more than 77% of total survey participants were from public universities, though the proportions varied among different academic categories. Figure 3: Academic status cross-tabulated with response to public or private university The opinion question about adequate CM training availability, cross-tabulated with profession (figure 4), produced a range of perspectives. Figure 4: Do you feel your college or university provides adequate training opportunity for students that want or need to learn how to use a citation management application? (n=303) 58% of librarians answered yes or absolutely, while only 36% of staff and 41% of faculty responded similarly. In the small sample of masters or doctoral students responding, only 32% responded yes or absolutely. Uncertainty, represented by the not sure response, was greatest among faculty (37%). The opinion question about investment of resources in selecting the best CM application (figure 5) produced a similar range of opinion. 4

5 Figure 5: Do you feel your college or university invests enough resources in acquiring the most effective citation management applications? (n=300) 60% of librarians answered yes or absolutely, while only 36% of staff and 28% of faculty responded similarly. In the small sample of masters or doctoral students responding, only 33% responded yes or absolutely. Uncertainty, represented by the not sure response, was greatest among faculty (53%). The last universal question about the support role of librarian and IT staff produced a clear consensus for the continued role of librarians in the CM education and support process: Figure 6: In your opinion, is it a Library or Information Technology support role to help students learn a citation management application? (n=303) Librarians self-reported satisfaction confirms their identity as frontline CM support. Majorities of faculty (81%), non-librarian staff (74%), and graduate students (77%) also provide the evidence for continued librarian leadership in CM support efforts. Some librarians do not feel appreciated for their CM support role (figure 7). When librarians were asked whether faculty advisors supported their efforts to promote citation management tools, as many librarians were uncertain as those responding affirmatively. 5

6 Figure 7: Are faculty advisers supportive of library efforts to promote use of citation management tools in thesis or dissertation production? Select your best response (n=118) Faculty are about equally ambivalent about the credit they receive from their campus partners from their efforts to promote CM (figure 8). Figure 8: Are library and information technology staff supportive of faculty efforts to promote use of citation management tools in thesis or dissertation writing? (n=117) Nearly as many responding faculty were uncertain as those responding affirmatively. The unanticipated scarcity of doctoral and master s thesis student survey participation (figure 9) and the lack of data to support assigning responses to geographic or institutional specific contexts do not support the ability to report any assertion for several survey questions. 6

7 Figure 9: Did you use a citation management program in preparing your thesis or dissertation manuscript? (n=26) Nevertheless, one question and result (figure 10) does illustrate that information on CM is received through multiple communication channels, even beyond the specific suggestions provided. Figure 10: How did you learn about citation management product and decide to use it? select all that are appropriate (n=12) Conclusion CM is widely available to graduate student pursuing advanced studies, but support issues are still present. The uncertainty of large proportions of surveyed faculty as to how CM is supported or whether that support is adequate presents a communication challenge and opportunity to library staff. Involving faculty in CM support and decisions to support CM would improve library service to advanced students. Given the apparent acceptance and visibility of CM in thesis and dissertation production, it is still disconcerting to document uncertainty on a significant proportion of surveyed faculty (figure 8) and librarians (figure 7) that their CM promotional efforts may not be recognized or appreciated. This paper can serve to inform future studies at local doctoral and master s thesis university settings, where student survey participation can be better planned and achieved. Questions used in the survey are provided in Appendix A. An increase in class-coordinated instruction that brings librarians into research support teaching roles in doctoral studies (Harris, 2011) will also promote faculty-librarian communication and improve the quantity and quality of use of CM in thesis and dissertation research and writing. 7

8 APPENDIX A Question # Question Target Responses (n) 1 Please indicate your academic status All Is your college or university public or private? All Did you use a citation management program in Students 26 preparing your thesis or dissertation manuscript? 4 Is there a better citation management application Students 26 for your discipline that the university did not provide or support? 5 If there was a better application, what was it? Students 3 (more than one could be provided, if appropriate) 6 Were you guided by anyone at the University to Students 20 select a particular citation management tool? 7 Was the person that guided, demonstrated, or Students 8 introduced a citation management application a... 8 How did you learn about citation management Students 12 product and decide to use it? (select all that are appropriate) 9 Do you feel your college or university provides All 303 adequate training opportunity for students that want or need to learn how to use a citation management application? 10 Do you feel your college or university invests All 300 enough resources in acquiring the most effective citation management applications? 11 In your opinion, is it a Library or Information All 303 Technology support role to help students learn a citation management application? 12 Was the production of your thesis or dissertation Students 20 enhanced by the use of a citation management application? 13 Should a librarian that helps students research Librarians 118 their thesis or dissertation topic introduce the benefits of using citation management in the research process? 14 In the last six months, has any citation Students 17 management application come to your attention that you might consider as a credible substitute for the application you used for your thesis or dissertation? 15 Do you remember the name of that credible Students 4 citation management application? 16 Are library and information technology staff Faculty 116 supportive of faculty efforts to promote use of citation management tools in thesis or dissertation writing? 17 Are faculty advisers supportive of library efforts to promote use of citation management tools in thesis or dissertation production? Librarians 118 8

9 References Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2012). Professional & Graduate Education. Retrieved 07/28/2012, from Carter, S. (2011). Doctorate as genre: supporting thesis writing across campus. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(6), Childress, D. (2011). Citation Tools in Academic Libraries: Best Practices for Reference and Instruction. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(2), Cumming, J. (2010). Doctoral enterprise: a holistic conception of evolving practices and arrangements. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), Harris, C. (2011). The case for partnering doctoral students with librarians: A synthesis of the literatures. Library Review, 60(7), Kern, M. K., & Hensley, M. K. (2011). Citation Management Software: Features and Futures. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(3), Kiernan, V. (2006). Toss Out the Index Cards. Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(40), A29- A30. Qualtrics Labs, I. (2012). Qualtrics Online Survey Software Enterprise Survey Tools. Retrieved 12 August 2012, from Smith, C. M., & Baker, B. (2007). Technology in nursing scholarship: Use of citation reference managers. Int J Ment Health Nurs, 16(3), Walker, G., Golde, C., Jones, L., Bueschel, A., & Hutchings, P. (2007). The formation of scholars: rethinking doctoral education for the twenty-first century; Book Highlights. Retrieved 07/28/2012, from Wang, T., & Li, L. Y. (2011). Tell me what to do vs. guide me through it : Feedback experiences of international doctoral students. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(2),

10 Wikipedia (2012). Comparison of reference management software. Retrieved 12 August 2012, from Zaugg, H., West, R. E., Tateishi, I., & Randall, D. L. (2011). Mendeley: Creating Communities of Scholarly Inquiry Through Research Collaboration. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55(1),