SCENARIO
Setting: Comprehensive university with new EdD program in community college leadership.
Role: Subject specialist for education with collection development and instruction responsibilities.
Problem: Your University has started a new doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis on community college leadership (an EdD). The students’ research interests are closely aligned with their current job responsibilities. Many of the students enrolled in the program are student services or student affairs professionals. They are having difficulty identifying scholarly literature that deals with their topics of concern. In response to this, they have developed a shared database for all of the resources cited by students during their first four semesters in the program — up to when they submit their dissertation proposals.
You are trying to discover the types of literature the students are using. You want to determine if your institution owns adequate indexes to meet the needs of the students. You are also curious to see if they are citing literature outside the field of education and in what fields the literature lies. You want to gain a better understanding of the research interests of this group of students so you can make sure you own the appropriate materials. You also want to be able to recommend better keywords or subject headings to students in these cohorts. Lastly, you wonder if your students are using materials similar to those being used by students at other institutions
DATA
HINTS
Resources for Evidence Based Research in Libraries
Stephanie
Action-Based Research 
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