Academic Librarians Use Evidence for Convincing: A Qualitative Study

The objective of this study was to explore and understand how academic librarians use evidence in their professional decision making. A grounded theory methodology was used, following the approach of Charmaz. The 19 participants were academic librarians in Canada. Data were gathered via online diaries and semistructured interviews over a 6-month period in 2011. The findings from this study illustrate how academic librarians use evidence in their practice, namely to convince. Convincing has two subcategories: confirming, which is usually applied to oneself, and influencing, which is usually applied to others. This study is the first to focus on how academic librarians use evidence in their decision making. The findings highlight the impact of collaboration and organizational dynamics on decision making and evidence use. Convincing emerged as the main theoretical concept in relation to how evidence is used.