Research

I am a qualitative researcher with disciplinary interests in library and information science and fan studies. For the latest updates on my work, please view my CV.

I have devoted a page on my website to each of my two primary areas of research, connected learning and fan studies in library and information science.

I keep an open research notebook on this site, consisting of reading notes and reflections on the research process. I also maintain a page tracking work on fan studies in information and library science.

I’m playing with Notion as a productivity tool for things that are too complex for me to keep in a notebook, and sharing some of my set-ups.

Conceptual Synthesis Spreadsheet Template This is a template for using Raul Pacheco-Vega’s AIC and Conceptual Synthesis techniques for building literature reviews.
Scholarly Pipeline/Writing Audit This template combines Katie Linder’s Scholarly Pipeline and Writing templates into one database. Use the Pipeline Board view to see a Kanban/Trello-like board with each of your projects in it arranged by status, and the Writing Audit view to track intended publication venues and other notes.

Research Skills:

identifying relevant literature using research databases
synthesizing literature
identifying research questions
designing research: selecting appropriate sampling procedures and research methods
content analysis
conducting interviews
conducting observations
grounded theory methods
administering surveys
analyzing qualitative data using line-by-line coding, in vivo coding, and thematic analysis
analyzing quantitative data using SPSS and R
presenting findings via posters, presentations, and papers

In Progress

Trasnforming Teen Servies for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

I am a postdoctoral scholar on the TS4EDI project, an IMLS-funded project of the Connected Learning Lab at the University of California, Irvine. This project examines:

the challenges library staff face in designing and implementing CL programming for underserved teens and the means for overcoming these challenges,
ways library staff can use evaluative approaches to understand youth needs in CL programming, and
the means of demonstrating the value of CL programs and building stakeholder support for increasing their scope and scale, particularly to serve equity goals.

Equity in the Making

I have one publication in submission and one in preparation based on the work my colleagues and I did in the Equity in the Making Lab.

Libraries, Tabletop Role-Playing Games, and Teen Identity Development

In this literature review, currently in revision for publication in the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, I argue that library programming can leverage tabletop role-playing games to support teens' identity development through creating space for teens to construct game-related identities, practice shifting between multiple identities, develop morality, take risks in a low-stakes environment, and build their self-esteem and a sense of purpose.

In Development

I have multiple projects in development, at various stages of the research process from initial development to revision before submission for publication. To preserve my anonymity in the peer review process, I have not listed these here, but feel free to email me for more information about them.

Completed

Where’d You Get Those Nightcrawler Hands? The Information Literacy Practices of Cosplayers

For my dissertation, I investigated the information literacy practices of cosplayers. I openly shared both my process and products online. I shared process notes in my research notebook. In addition to the finished dissertation itself, I shared the following research products so far:

Project READY: Reimagining Equity and Access for Diverse Youth

From 2016 - 2019, I worked as a graduate assistant on Project Ready, an IMLS-funded project in which my colleagues and I developed and implemented a continuing education curriculum that will enable school librarians to become more culturally competent educators. This process involved reviewing relevant literature, designing and implementing a week-long intensive professional development experience, and adapting and expanding that experience to create an online, self-paced professional development curriculum.

Special Education Training for School Librarians

I conducted a content analysis of school librarian preparation program websites to determine the extent to which these programs prepare preservice school librarians to work with special education students. The results of this study were presented as a poster at the 2016 American Library Association

The Transformational Leadership Practices of National Board Certified School Librarians in North Carolina

My Master’s paper explored the self-reported transformational leadership practices of National Board Certified School Librarians in North Carolina and how those practices related to school librarians' ability to carry out leadership guidelines as identified in the American Association of School Librarians publication, _Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs.

“A Real Fun Scene”: Learning Improvisational Comedy in Community; Unlocking the Door to Adventure: Creating a Community of Practice in Improvisational Comedy

These two small-scale, unpublished research studies feature qualitative methods including interviewing and participant observation, thematic data analysis, and application of Lave and Wenger’s Community of Practice framework.