(via Dr. Zhiwu Xie—University of California, Riverside)
Supported by IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian (LB21) grant RE-254915-OLS-23, four ARL member libraries initiated a Joint Professional Development Institute (PDI) in 2023. As part of the Joint PDI, University of North Texas (UNT) Department of Library & Information Science will make a free, MLS-level Research Methods course, titled “Research Will Save Us,” available to library professionals. The course targets academic library staff who are interested in pursuing more research as part of their career growth but feel they need to learn more about or refresh their research skills. Others who feel they can benefit from this course are welcome to join. The full course syllabus can be found here.
“Research Will Save Us” is modeled after a typical 3-credit hour, online course offered as part of UNT’s ALA accredited MLS program. Upon completion, students will be confident in designing all components of a research project, including crafting hypotheses and submitting an IRB application. Professor Sarah Ryan, who developed the course materials, will synchronously teach this course starting from Monday, January 13, for a period of 10 weeks. The typical course workload is about 5 hours per week, and 10-week cohort students will be expected to successfully complete the course by the end of March. A parallel 20-week cohort will also be formed for those who would like to take a slower pace. Librarians are also welcome to audit the course, download open-access materials for their trainings, or otherwise use the course materials as they see fit.
This course is offered free of charge through UNT Canvas and requires registration. All course materials are also offered for free. All those who complete the course will receive a certificate of completion, along with being invited to a survey providing feedback for us to improve the course offering.
To register for this course, please follow this link.