Approaching librarianship from the data: using bibliomining for evidence-based librarianship

摘要

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to present an alternative way of considering evidence-based librarianship (EBL) through an examination of the data that makes up studies used for EBL. Design/methodology/approach – This piece starts with the standard evidence-based librarianship definition and deconstructs it down to the level of the individual user, and that data is considered in a different context. Findings – The bibliomining process, or the combination of data warehousing, data mining, and bibliometrics, is used as a framework to build a different path to EBL. Bibliomining-based evidence-based librarianship is not appropriate for all topics; however, when the artifacts of library use can be gathered and explored, this method can provide a different path to reach the goals of EBL. Originality/value – As the quantity of studies needed for traditional EBL are not currently available, this alternate method provides a way to achieve the goals of EBL through data already in the library systems.