Day 6 of the EBLIP-Gloss FOLIO Course:

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Day 6 of the EBLIP-Gloss FOLIO Course Ask

• A SPICE Tutorial
• Revised August 2009

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On Day 5 of the EBLIP-Gloss Course

• we asked you to identify a burning question
  about your library and information services.
• Today we will be looking at how you ask that
  question.

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To be able to ask a question clearly is
two-thirds of the way to getting it answered
(John Ruskin)
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Fuzzy questions tend to lead to fuzzy answers
(Oxman Guyatt 1988)

• Therefore

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Your burning question should be

• Focused
• Relevant
• Answerable

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You may already be familiar with the PICO/PIOC
framework

• POPULATION
• INTERVENTION (sometimes EXPOSURE)
• COMPARISON
• OUTCOME
• commonly used for questions in evidence-based
  practice (terminology drawn from epidemiology).

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The alternative for EBLIP is

• The SPICE framework
• Developed specifically for library and
  information questions.

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SPICE

• SETTING in which context are you addressing the
  question?
• PERSPECTIVE who are the users/potential users
  of the service?
• INTERVENTION what is being done to them/for
  them?
• COMPARISON what are your alternatives?
• EVALUATION how will you measure whether the
  intervention has succeeded?

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Our burning question

• What evidence is there that the Information
  Clinics are providing the same level of tuition
  or better than the traditional one-to-one format?

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Our SPICE Example

• SETTING ScHARR Information Resources
• PERSPECTIVE Masters Students
• INTERVENTION Information Clinics
• COMPARISON One-to-one tutorials
• EVALUATION Ability to perform unassisted a
  predetermined list of searching tasks

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Now your turn

• Recall your burning question from Day 5.
• What is the SETTING for your burning question?
• Click for a hint!
• Hint in which context are you addressing the
  question?

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Now your turn

• What is the PERSPECTIVE for your burning
  question?
• Click for a hint!
• Hint who are the users/potential
  users/stakeholders of the service?

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Now your turn

• What is the INTERVENTION for your burning
  question?
• Click for a hint!
• Hint what is being done to/for the
  users/potential users/stakeholders?

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Now your turn

• What is the COMPARISON for your burning question?
• Click for a hint!
• Hint what are your alternatives?

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And finally

• What will be the EVALUATION for your burning
  question?
• Click for a hint!
• Hint how will you measure whether the
  intervention has succeeded?
• Please note we will be covering evaluation in
  more detail on Day 10 of the EBLIP-Gloss course!

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You should now have a question that is

• focused, relevant and answerable!

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References

• Booth, A. (2003) Formulating Answerable
  Questions in Booth, A. Brice, A.
  Evidence-Based Practice for Information
  Professionals A Handbook. London Facet.
• Booth, A. (2006a) Australian supermodel? A
  practical example of evidence-based library and
  information practice (EBLIP). Health Information
  and Libraries Journal 23 (1) 69-72.
• Booth, A. (2006b) Clear and present questions
  formulating questions for evidence based
  practice. Library Hi Tech 24 (3) 355-368.
• Oxman, A.D. Guyatt, G.H. (1988) quoted in Booth
  2006b.
• Ruskin, J. (1886) Proserpina quoted in Booth
  2006b.

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Further Reading

• Booth, A. (2003) Where systems meet services
  towards evidence-based information practice.
  Vine 33 (2) 65-71.
• Booth, A. (2004) Evaluating your performance
  in Booth, A. Brice, A. Evidence-Based Practice
  for Information Professionals A Handbook.
  London Facet.
• Cotter, L., Harije, L., Lewis, S. Tonnison, I.
  (2005) Adding SPICE to our library intranet site
  a recipe to enhance usability online. Available
  from http//conferences.alia.org.au/ebl2005/Cotte
  r.pdf Accessed August 2009
• Kloda, L. (2008). Asking the Right
  Question. Evidence Based Library And Information
  Practice, 3(4). Available from http//ejournals.li
  brary.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/442
  6/3725 Accessed August 2009