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Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

 

 
 
Erin D. Foster, MSLS 
Co-Editor 
Service Lead, Research Data Management Program 
University of California, Berkeley 
Berkeley, CA 
 
Margaret Hoogland, MLS, AHIP 
Co-Editor 
Assistant Professor, Clinical Medical Librarian 
Mulford Health Science Library 
University of Toledo 
Toledo, OH 
 
Carol L. Perryman, MLIS, PhD 
Co-Editor 
Associate Professor 
School of Library and Information Studies 
Texas Woman’s University 
Denton, TX 

 
We at Hypothesis want to start by saying that we hope you and your families, 

friends, colleagues, and all loved ones are doing well (or as well as can be expected) 
during this time. As co-editors, we acknowledge that this has been a time of great 
challenge for those in our community and beyond. 

In June, Research Caucus Chair Alexander Carroll released a message of 
solidarity in support of our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) library 
community members. The statement charged Research Caucus members to recognize 
“how [our] systems and services reflect and reinforce systemic inequality, and [ask] 
what can we do to reform those systems to create more equitable libraries, institutions, 
and communities?” We strongly encourage you to read this statement (published in this 
issue as an Invited Commentary) if you have not had the opportunity. Hypothesis 
welcomes submissions (across any of our submission types) that actively engage with 
these questions and contribute to efforts to dismantle systems of oppression within the 
(medical) library community and our society at large.  

In addition to the ongoing fight for social justice, many within our community have 
been, and continue to be, affected by the global pandemic. Library budgets across 

http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions


EDITORIAL 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

institutions have been cut and many of us know colleagues/friends who have lost their 
jobs. In such a time of uncertainty and stress, Hypothesis wants to publish research or 
perspectives (i.e., Voices of Experience) that highlight the work and value of information 
professionals - now more than ever. 

Finally, cheers to our second issue published on the OJS platform! We continue 
to improve our processes - from submission to publication - to best highlight the work of 
our authors and showcase the amazing research of health sciences 
librarians/information professionals. We are grateful for those that submit manuscripts 
and, as always, for our readership. Read on to learn more about recent (exciting) 
journal developments and to get brief overviews of this issue’s content. 

Welcoming Our New Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland 
We’re delighted to welcome Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland! Employed at the 

University of Toledo Libraries as the Clinical Medical Librarian, Margaret formerly 
served as the MLA Research Section Community Manager (with a job description that 
starts with ‘other duties as assigned’ and goes on from there), Margaret’s deep 
knowledge of MLA as an organization brings great value to this publication, and her 
involvement in the efforts of getting Hypothesis indexed and uploading back issues 
continues to be invaluable to us.  

Research Caucus 2020 Research Awards 
As always, we are excited to showcase those that received Research Awards for 

excellent research papers or posters presented at the annual MLA meeting. This year 
the Research Caucus also awarded its biannual award for JMLA Best Research Paper 
for a paper published in JMLA between 2017-2019. Congratulations to these awardees 
and all the great research conducted! 

New Column - Methods Moment 
Also new to Hypothesis is Methods Moment, an edited column focused on 

research methods. The column is the brain child of Nina Exner, Virginia Commonwealth 
University Research Data Librarian, who contributed a piece for the inaugural column 
on case studies, providing the benefit of her considerable research experience. Feel 
free to contact Nina with suggestions if there’s a research methodology you’d like to see 
explored - or if you, yourself would like to write a focused piece on a methodology to 
help others benefit from your own experience. Learn about submission criteria here.  

Methods Moment - Case Studies 
Since librarians often earn their MLS with little or no exposure to actually 

performing research, it’s no surprise that our most frequently used method is the survey. 

http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions
http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/submissions


EDITORIAL 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

Learn with column editor Nina Exner about other methods to enhance your practice 
and publication record. And if you’re not aware of it, MLA has a number of research 
mentors to help get your own research accomplished, whether you’re new to 
librarianship - or just new to a method of research.  

Voices of Experience - Sharing Research Data to Comply with a Journal Policy  
Marianne D. Burke enumerates lessons learned for the benefit of others (either 

novices to the process or current data librarians) entering the territory of open data 
policy compliance, particularly for LIS research during an era where it’s all still being 
developed. 

Hypothesis: Failure - Challenges of the Two-Year Manuscript 
The honesty of author Jolene M. Miller in reflecting on the writing process 

encourages our own thoughts with a well-written overview of reflective methods, 
enhancing this tale of a journey toward publication.  

Research - Expanding a Single-Institution Survey to Multiple Institutions  
Erin R.B. Eldermire, et al, discuss the challenges of getting not only Institutional 

Review Board approval to do a study but also how research approval policies and 
permissions for distributing studies vary by location. Despite these challenges, the team 
feels that multi-institutional studies are worthwhile endeavors. 

Research - Factors Affecting Clinical Referrals to the Medical Library  
Liz Kellermeyer, who writes about the results of her 2018 Medical Library 

Association - Research Training Institute project, and Matthew Strand collaborated to 
investigate barriers preventing health providers from referring patients to the library. Of 
the population surveyed, the primary barrier was lack of knowledge about the library 
services and ways to refer patients to the library. Kellermeyer and Strand acknowledge 
that these are identified barriers for a single hospital, but future studies could investigate 
barriers at standalone hospitals or hospital systems. Additionally, hospital libraries could 
explore the capability of making library referrals an option within the Electronic Health 
Record system.  

Introducing Our New Hypothesis Team Members 
We’ve been growing! The Hypothesis team now consists of our Editorial team, 

but also a Peer Review Team headed by Kimberly Powell, a Social Media team led by 
Danielle Aloia and Amy Reyes, a Copyediting team led by Andrea Ball and Heather 
Healey, and a number of contributing team members - see the full list of team members 
on our journal site (link). 

http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/hypothesis/about/editorialTeam


EDITORIAL 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 32 No.1  

Fall/Winter 2020 

Back Issue Import and Call for Tech Team Members 
Hypothesis now has the first two published issues from 1987 and 1988 on the 

journal website! We hope to make more issues available, and even individual articles, 
where appropriate. We plan to consider ways for streamlining our indexing processes. 
Another goal is to get Hypothesis listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals.  

To be consistent and to achieve these goals, we are forming a Tech Team, 
which will work directly with Margaret Hoogland. If anything in the above description 
calls your name, please email mlarshypothesis@gmail.com to schedule a brief meeting 
(15-30 minutes) with the Co-Editors. 
 
In summary 

As co-editors, we hope you enjoy Vol. 32, No. 1 of Hypothesis: Journal of the 
Research Caucus! Join us on this journey: submit, read, and share what you find in our 
pages. 

mailto:mlarshypothesis@gmail.com

	Welcoming Our New Co-Editor, Margaret Hoogland
	Research Caucus 2020 Research Awards
	New Column - Methods Moment
	Methods Moment - Case Studies
	Voices of Experience - Sharing Research Data to Comply with a Journal Policy
	Hypothesis: Failure - Challenges of the Two-Year Manuscript
	Research - Expanding a Single-Institution Survey to Multiple Institutions
	Research - Factors Affecting Clinical Referrals to the Medical Library
	Introducing Our New Hypothesis Team Members
	Back Issue Import and Call for Tech Team Members

