Abstract
In summer 2025, a team of three librarians from different Canadian universities (Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan) ran a six-week Library and Information Science (LIS) research accelerator. This free certificate-based program was based out of a national association, the Canadian Association of Professional and Academic Librarians, and was designed to support MLIS students, new librarians, and library staff in their research and publishing journeys. The sessions were grounded in the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, as the competencies for researchers require actively participating in key information literacy frames, such as scholarship as a conversation and research as inquiry. Over the course of the program, we provided tools and guidance for all stages of the research process, from identifying gaps in the literature to submitting work for publication.
This program was assessed using surveys at the midway, endpoint, and six months after the conclusion of the program. The results of these surveys were analyzed to determine the impact of a research-centric program on LIS researchers, and to learn from and improve future iterations of the program. A key aspect of the research accelerator was supporting reflective information literacy development for academic librarians growing as researchers who publish. This meant questioning our own authority as constructed and contextual, immersing ourselves in all the steps of information creation as a process, and valuing information as evidence for our research. The considerations of research as inquiry and searching as a strategic exploration supported the central element: scholarship as conversation. This key theme was a guiding thread in all our sessions, including our participant activities.
The ACRL Information Literacy Framework (2016) splits information literacy into six core concepts and combines knowledge practices and sets of dispositions for each. It provides a flexible tool with which librarians can teach their user groups regardless of the learner’s skill level or information literacy needs. This framework guides the work of North American librarians.
Throughout this presentation, we will share details about the planning of this program, including learning outcomes derived from working closely with the Information Literacy Framework, particularly the frames “Research as Inquiry,” “Scholarship as Conversation,” “Searching as Strategic Exploration,” and “Information Creation as a Process.” The content and emphasis of each lesson plan was derived from our robust literature review of LIS researcher knowledge gaps, and we developed engaging activities to assess learning within each session.
The presentation will also include our reflections as facilitators, particularly the nuances of providing information literacy support for information professionals. We will also provide a brief overview of the results from the participant surveys to discuss the impact of the program and lessons learned. This session will include resources for attendees interested in running similar programming for their communities.
References
"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education", American Library Association, February 9, 2015 https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed November 7, 2025)
