Editorial

EBL 101 Special Issue

Virginia Wilson

Director, Centre for Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (C-EBLIP)

University Library, University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

2016 Wilson. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons‐Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one.

Welcome to a special issue of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice. This issue will serve to commemorate the journal as it begins its eleventh year of publication. It will also be a compilation of all of the EBL 101 columns from the past several years, columns which have been intended to provide an introduction to the concepts of evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP) as well as research methods.

Picture it: May 23, 2008 – Vancouver, BC – the Canadian Library Association conference – at the Evidence Based Librarianship Interest Group (EBLIG) Breakfast Meeting. Five librarians gathered, sipping coffee (and likely tea), and enjoying the obligatory continental breakfast. After talk pertaining to the interest group, the conversation turned to the Evidence Based Library and Information Practice journal and an observation was made around the notion that while willing, librarians might not feel they have the skills to practice in an evidence based way. To address this potential gap, the idea of a regular column focusing on manageable parts of the EBLIP process was put on the table. True to form, EBLIP ran with it, with Julie McKenna and Su Cleyle writing the first EBL 101 column entitled “Evidence Based Librarianship Backgrounder” (EBLIP, 2008, 3(3)). And that was that! EBL 101 was off and running! Lorie Kloda took on the second column about asking the right question in EBLIP 3(4). Shortly after that, I was asked to write the column on a regular basis. From EBLIP 3(3) to EBLIP 6(1), EBL 101 consisted of the steps of the EBLIP process. When that had come to its conclusion, then-editor in chief, Denise Koufogiannakis, suggested morphing EBL 101 into a column dedicated to various research methods using the same approachable style and short format. And off we went on research methods from EBLIP 6(2) to EBLIP 10(2).

In 2008 I had been at the University of Saskatchewan for three years as an academic librarian and was looking ahead to the tenure process. So as well as having a propensity for EBLIP, I thought that this regular column business would look pretty good in my tenure case file. And so it did, but that wasn’t the reason I kept on with the column, writing 24 pieces over the years. I found that in writing with the aim of helping others to learn and grow, I was learning and growing. I became fascinated with dissecting the pieces of the ELBIP process, and later on, various research methods. I constantly thought about making these things accessible, helpful, straightforward, and doable.

The response to EBL101 has been very gratifying. The columns have been and continue to be tweeted, cited, and shared. I’m grateful that the editors at the EBLIP journal gave me the chance to contribute in this way. And I am thrilled by the opportunity to introduce this special issue of EBL 101 columns. This issue contains all past EBL 101 columns – the steps of EBLIP and a variety of research methods. I hope you find it useful as you continue on your path of EBLIP and research.