DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH

Abigail L. Phillips

My scholarship promotes a vision of libraries as community advocates and technology rich

learning spaces that enhance the interest-driven, social, and developmental experiences of youth.
Specifically, my focus is to (1) support the ethical online behaviors of digital youth, (2) research
and develop supports for librarians who are expanding their services to incorporate new
technology-based services, and (3) explore librarian empathetic support of youths social,
emotional, and psychological needs.

I have a robust academic record that has grown to include interest in libraries as an evolving
resource for youth development, implications of technology in the already information-rich lives
of young adults, and librarianship as opportunity for social justice and advocacy. My research
interests evolved from my practitioner experiences and rigorous doctoral and post-doctoral
guidance. These experiences provide the basis for my curiosity into the many dimensions of
library and information science as a field of both research and practice.

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH

As evidenced through conversations via scholarly literature, professional publications and social
media communities, libraries and librarians support youths complex and information practices
as they find their way in digital spaces. The online environment does not provide clear rules and
norms that promote youth safety. Youth need help from adults, including librarians, and a space,
like the library, to feel included, respected, and supported. My research trajectory focuses in part
on supporting digital youth who are exploring and expanding information pathways.

Libraries will continue to be refuges; but more than ever, they are bucking traditional views of
how this engagement has been perceived. They are taking part in, and in many instances leading,
movements in social justice, inclusion, and advocacy. However, to support this powerful stance,
LIS needs to connect with other fields of study. This leads me into interdisciplinary work. As my
research progresses, I will continue collaborations across fields as I have while at Utah State
University (USU), particularly when considering empathy, information ethics, and social justice.

Related to empathy and empathetic services, I have one article in press (Phillips, 2017) on
empathy and serving youth in the Journal of Libraries and Young Adults (JRLYA) and two
forthcoming articles from my dissertation data--one focusing on video autoethnography, a unique
method I applied in my doctoral work, and the second on youth reflections about librarian
support and the role of libraries in their increasingly digital lives. For a future paper, I am
interviewing librarians (including public, school, academic, special) on how empathy is
understood and demonstrated in the workplace.

Intersection of Information and Learning Sciences

I am currently engaged in a major project co-editing a book with Dr. Victor Lee entitled
Reconceptualizing Libraries: Perspectives from the Information and Learning Sciences. In the
book, we blend views from established researchers in both LIS and Learning Sciences to
illustrate how librarians and educators are participating in evolving state of libraries, technology,

Discussion of Research - 1
and youth services. This book is currently under contract with an anticipated publication date of
Summer 2018.

IN-PROGRESS AND FUTURE STUDIES

Digital Citizenship Instruction: A School Librarians Role

Frequently, K-12 school librarians are tasked with digital citizenship instruction for students in
their schools. Tying in with information literacy instruction, digital citizenship involves teaching
youth safe, ethical, and responsible online behaviors. School librarians have smaller windows for
engaging with students, which makes instruction challenging to organize and perform. This
survey of 899 public, charter, and private schools from a single-state within the Intermountain
West, in collaboration with Dr. Lee, focuses on the perceptions, expectations, and concerns of
school librarians from a single state in the Western United States. Data analysis is currently on-
going.

Supporting Neurodivergent Youth in the Library: A Public Librarians Role

Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at an increased risk for cyberbullying, as they
often have difficulty understanding social norms and communication patterns. However,
cyberbullied youth with ASD have received little attention from researchers. Through interviews
with public librarians, my colleague, Dr. Amelia Anderson in the iSchool at Florida State
University, and I are investigating how public librarians can prepare individuals with ASD to
navigate communications in the online environmentboth to avoid cyberbullies and to
appropriately respond when cyberbullying occurs. In the spring of 2018, we will conduct surveys
of youth with ASD to hear from the youth themselves what they would like public libraries to
offer and how they envision librarian support.

Libraries as Spaces for Making and Youth Maker Practices

Although librarians have begun incorporating makerspaces into the library space, making and
libraries as a space for making have received sparse research attention in the library and
information science literature. As a research member of a collaborative, multi-year IMLS funded
study, we are investigating the impact of librarian identity, resources, and image on the
construction of programming. A paper is forthcoming that offers a framework for understanding
school librarians within the context of programming, providing a lens in which school librarians
identities and program development can be better exemplified.

CONTINUED TRAJECTORY

To date, my research represents a strong curiosity in the transformation of libraries, the emerging
roles of school and public librarians, and support of digital youth. I am inspired by the work of
Library and Information Science (LIS) youth researchers including Denise Agosto, Marcia A.
Mardis, and Kyungwon Koh, who use inquiry as a means of improving the professional practices
of librarians and subsequent library services for youth. Additionally, danah boyds work,
especially Its Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens (2014), is a powerful influence
on how I conduct research concerning youth.

My research trajectory will focus in part on supporting youth as they find their way in digital
spaces. These spaces frequently do not provide clear rules and norms that promote youth safety.
Because of this, young adults need guidance and support from adults, including librarians. This
trajectory may lead me into more interdisciplinary work. As my research progresses, I will

Discussion of Research - 2
endeavor to continue collaborations across fields. This is not only an important way to improve
my research capacity, but it is also critical to advancing Information Science.

As my work during the doctoral program and postdoctoral fellowship shows, I have the strong
research skills to develop and conduct independent investigations. A healthy balance of solo and
collaborative research allows me to demonstrate expertise and leadership within the scholarly
community alongside an ability to learn and support the research of my colleagues.

REFERENCES

boyd, d. (2014). Its complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.

Lee, V. R. & Phillips. A. (Eds.). (under contract). Reconceptualizing libraries: Possibilities for
information and learning sciences. Abington, U.K.: Routledge

Phillips, A. (2016). The empathetic librarian: Rural librarians as a source of support for rural
cyberbullied young adults (Order No. 10120555). Available from ProQuest Dissertations
& Theses Global. (1806821473).

Phillips, A. (2017). Understanding empathetic services: The role of empathy in everyday library
work. Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 8(1), Retrieved from
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Phillips_Understanding-
Empathetic_final.pdf.

Discussion of Research - 3