Category Archives: research

Just A Few Questions: Seema Rampersad

Author: Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian and BIR Editorial Board member

In this first instalment of Just A Few Questions, I ‘sit down’ with Seema Rampersad, Senior Business Research and Service Manager at The British Library, and the current President-Elect of the Special Libraries Association to ask her about her current role at the British Library and what she sees as the key issues for the business information profession. 

Hal: First, please tell me about the BIPC and your role there.

Seema: The Business & IP Centre at the British Library has been supporting start-ups and established businesses to grow and develop.  We have one of the largest free collections of business information in the United Kingdom.  Over the last 16 years, we have supported 10000s of entrepreneurs, and the success of the centre has created a strong blueprint brand to expand our network across the United Kingdom to other regionals and local libraries. We have also collaborated on European projects to support business such as in the Erasmus for Young Business and in our own Innovating for Growth programme.  

I work in the reference and research section of the Business & IP Centre, which can be very varied on a day-to-day basis.  I serve customers in our Reading Room in the centre with their reference or research queries, deliver workshops, webinars, one-to-one clinics, and project work. We have several business information databases which can only be accessed in the centre, these require showing customers how to use the systems, how to navigate the library electronic and hard copy sources.  We have an online reference enquiry and chat service using the LibAnswer system where we answer general queries from an international audience. I provided a chargeable business information and evidence for patent litigation research to private international clients.  

We have been running programme webinars for over ten years, which helped us transition seamlessly in the pandemic.  I usually present about 2-3 business related workshops per month, and we hope to go into a hybrid model soon.  There have been a few projects work over the years such as an Open Innovation with European Partners, training and sharing insights with the BIPC Network in the UK, and more recently, the Start up In London Libraries over 10 London boroughs.  As a national library, we do host lots of visits, tours and talk on the collection, our services, and the centre. 

Hal: Is there a high demand for business information to support entrepreneurial development and growth? What type of projects or clients do you work with?

Seema: Definitely there is a high demand for support, and it was one of the feasibilities for the expansion of the BIPC Network.  There has been a phenomenal number of entrepreneurs over the years who are innovative on multiple sectors.  We have seen a whole new tech industry develop over the last 15 years in London but also across the UK.  There has been an organic growth in persons wanting to start their own businesses as well as using the positive developments of ecommerce and online presence.  Business information is still at the crucial to a company who is planning their strategy for launching and growing.  We encourage entrepreneurs to look at the commercialisation of their business idea, explore the market and look at the trends and forecasts for their sector, as well as assist them in finding B2Cs and B2Bs using the company data sources held in the library. Our unique selling point is the strong ties with the Intellectual Property Centre and with the collection for patent information, which complements business information for protecting businesses. We frequently provide expert intellectual property knowledge to customers and for project work.

We generally work with anyone wanting to start or grow a business, but we also have academic researchers, other corporations for their paid prior art or business research, and any readers who come into the library to use the collection or spaces.  We do also have various partnerships and frequently liaise with our project partners inside the British Library and other outreach stakeholders. 

Hal: Is there a strong and supportive information ecosystem between organizations like BIPC, academic business libraries, and other groups?

Seema: There were some organisations who do similar service such as ourselves for the business community such as the Small Business Research and Enterprise Centre (SMREC), London & Partners, the London Growth Hub, and we tend to refer our customers to these complementary organisations.  In the past, we have had some projects with academic business departments such as UCL and Edinburgh University – it is an area of work that we can explore more in future; for example, I am aware that the CASS Business School do great work for business.  I do regular tours for students on Goldsmith University’s Master in Creative Entrepreneurship.  For intellectual property projects and initiatives, we do have regular projects with the PatLib Network, The IPO and the European Patent Office. And not forgetting, we now have a National Network of BIPC Libraries – which is a supportive information ecosystem attached to regional and local libraries across the country. 

Hal: What do you see as the biggest or most influential trends within business information?

Seema: There will still be a focus on new data tools.  Having seen the evolution of databases over decades, there have been gradual but consistent changes over the years to incorporate new data sets that are available from open data sources, such as the Statista database having a large percentage of content from open sources, as well as from their own content and analysis.  The last few years have seen a change in the megatrends that is affecting the way we work and live our lives – this too is reflected in the information and the trends we find on business sources.  Global sustainability goals are mentioned more in business information content, as we try to mitigate some of the issues and risks that the world is currently facing.  Hybrid models of working have impacted on access and our information needs, plus we have seen a great positive digital transformation for organisations who may have been a bit slow in adopting digital and collaborative technologies. It can only get better.   

Hal: Considering the information profession as a whole, what do you see as the biggest challenges on the horizon?

Seema: Financial stability and raising costs will be one of the biggest challenges as we go into the third year since a pandemic as well as the rising cost-of-living and inflation internationally.  I am hoping this will not have an adverse impact on libraries, library and information budgets, and professionals as we have already had so much disinvestment over the last 15-20 years.  This gives us more of impetus to find positive ways to showcase our role in stimulating business and the economy indirectly by the support we give to entrepreneurs and business small and large – near or far.  We must demonstrate our unique access to specialist information, networks of expertise, and a skill-set that is great for supporting research, productivity, innovation and creativity. Therefore, we must actively advocate, invest, and find our allies in industry and the business community to highlight our roles in enabling and empowering economic and sustainable futures. 

Hal: Thanks very much, Seema, for chatting with me today.

Just A Few Questions will become a recurring series here on the Business Information Review Blog. If you would like to suggest someone for a future interview, please email me at kirkwoodhal:@gmail.com 

Looking at the primary research process – an interview with Denise Carter researcher and author of the BIR Annual Survey

Below is an interview with Denise Carter reflecting on the primary research process that she goes through to gather the information needed for our annual research report into the information and knowledge sector.
Tell us about the research process you go through, how has it developed and changed from when you first started?

Usually based on the previous year’s discussions and then conversations with different information colleagues and peers during the year I try to pick on a couple of themes that I believe are of current interest to information professionals. In between surveys, over the course of the year, I try to pick up articles and news items that relate to those themes, as well as anything else I see in both general and professional literature. Evernote is my great “friend” here and I upload everything to a “BIR” notebook, so I can go through when I have time to then do my further reading and see what really is useful and what not so much.

That reading gives me the building blocks for the questions I want to ask, particularly of the telephone interviewees but also to include in the e-survey.
The first year I did the survey I followed much more closely the methodology as described by Allan Foster (BIR’s previous long term author, researcher and writer of the BIR annual survey). In the next couple I have moved to having the e-survey because it handles some of the more routine questions that Allan asked everyone at the beginning of the telephone interviews about the general business climate, budgets, team sizes and so on. Widening this out to an e-survey gives the potential to get more feedback from different people and hopefully make those answers a little more statistically significant.
The process now is that I select a very general theme, collect reading on that over the year. Then I will construct the e-survey, repeating some questions (I hope that in a couple of years we can then include some comparative data), and asking some new questions that are relevant to the theme or to any other issues I see on the horizon. This year I also included a couple more open questions which gave some very insightful comment and I will certainly do that again. I try to collate and do a basic write up of the e-survey results before commencing on the primary interviews. That way I can use any feedback gleaned there to inform the questions and discussion.
What challenges have you encountered?

The biggest challenge is definitely finding telephone interviewees. I have a list of people who are regulars who have been very helpful and loyal to the process. Finding new candidates is not easy and every year it seems that some people retire or go to work in a completely different area and are no longer able to take part. Between July and December this year I plan to make a much more directed effort to finding some new interviewees.

Time is always an issue. Working backwards from the submission deadline of mid-June, then ideally the e-survey would go out second half of January and telephone interviews would take place in February, March, April. Having more time to spread them out would be useful. That would give May to get the article written. Normally I try to add the interview notes immediately following the interview that way everything is still fresh in my mind. This year there was an unexpected event and that threw the timings right out, so this year in particular timing was very tight as the interviews got pushed into May/June. Hopefully next year will be more tranquil and I can stick to my plan.

How have you overcome them?

To be brutally honest I haven’t overcome the issues of time and finding interviewees yet. They are challenges that remain for 2019. As mentioned though I hope in the second half of the year to get my network going and reach out to some new potential interviewees. Hopefully I will be able to stick to the timetable next year and break the process down into chunks.

Can you list your top 5 best practice points for others completing a similar research process/methodology?

1. The more background reading and information you can pull together outside of the primary interviews and e-surveys the better.

2. Get a structure together earlier rather than later. That helps you think of the questions you want to ask interviewees and in the e-survey and build a framework for the final article.
3. But don’t be tied into your intial structure, when you start to get information from your interviewees there may well be a different story that is emerging, you need to be flexible.
4. Don’t make references and figures and tables a chore, try to get these done in the correct format as you go along. Leaving them until the end creates a tedious task.
5. Try to have a break of at least a week, if not longer, after completing the article, and then re-read with relatively fresh eyes (I’m hoping 4th time will be a charm on that one!). Athough you always need someone else to do a proof-read, you simply cannot see all your own errors.
Overall doing a large piece of research like this can be daunting, and every year I wonder why I put myself forward, but it has also been very interesting and enlightening to speak to other information professionals and to understand what they do day-to-day. It also forces you to read, and we all know that we often have great intentions but finding the time to read up on a topic is hard, so this gives me a great opportunity and I appreciate that. This year reading about AI has been particularly fascinating, and even though I’ve submitted the article I’m still collecting more information on that topic.

BIR Annual Survey into the information and knowledge profession now open

The BIR annual survey now in its 28th year, has just opened for this year.  The survey provides a look inside the library, information and knowledge profession, highlighting key trends and changes that have taken place over the last 12 months.

The survey is run by Denise Carter, the Managing Director of DCision Consult, a competitive intelligence & business analytics service provider to the pharmaceutical & bio- technology industries. She has 30 years of experience working in the library and information management sectors.

The e Survey is open now just click this link to contribute and give your opinion https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BIRsurvey18 The survey is complemented by 30 minute interviews for those who wish to take part further.  These interviews, conducted by Denise are highly confidential in nature.   The resulting report does not identify any one person or company.

The report will be published in September’s Business Information Review.

Social Network Analysis (SNA) and LIS research

Louise Cooke and Hazel Hall have published an article in Journal of Documentation exploring the potential value of SNA in library and information science research.  Here’s the abstract:


Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a research approach that focuses on relationships among social entities, and the patterns and implications of these relationships. This paper reviews the value of SNA as a method appropriate to research in the domain of Library and Information Science (LIS). In addition to offering a brief overview of the academic antecedents of modern-day SNA, the relevance of SNA to LIS research is illustrated through the presentation of a case study.

The paper cites an article by Bonnie Cheuk (on SNA and knowledge transfer, published in BIR in 2007) and also develops ideas presented by Hall, Irving and Cruikshank in BIR in 2012.

If you would like to read the article, the published version can be accessed from JDoc contents page on the Emerald web site (non-subscribers to Emerald will need to pay a fee to reach the full text). The full-text of the manuscript is available also available and free to download.

Pharmaceuticals, research and data mining

An agreement has been reached between representatives of pharmaceutical companies and publishers which aims to help pharma companies undertake text and data mining.

The agreement has been made between the Pharma-Documentation-Ring (P-D-R – an association of 21 pharmaceutical companies), the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), and the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers.

You can read more about the agreement on Research Information.

The importance of demonstrating value

The concluding conference of the DReAM project last week showcased just how much had been achieved in promoting LIS practitioner research and in fostering the take up of new techniques from other disciplines in the last two years. The audience was held spellbound by Ben Goldacre – demonstrating the importance of robust research and lateral thinking beforehand on how to realise the full potential from data.  You can see and hear all the presentations from: http://lisresearch.org/event-5-presentations/
BIR joint editor, Sandra Ward contributed to the One Minute Madness session – see:
Sandra’s message was:  Because you’re worth it – the importance of demonstrating value!
*  As joint editor of Business Information Review, I believe strongly in the value of effective information management to business and other sectors.
*  As a consultant, I am appalled that few information functions have processes in place to calculate and demonstrate value.  As a result, we lose credibility, opportunities –and jobs! 
*  I am convinced that research techniques can be used to design value into services. 
We must apply them to:
·       Identify, with our organisations, where information skills will contribute most value;
·       Focus services on business critical activity;
·       Recognise it’s our customers that reap the value from services;
·       Partner with them to assess the real business benefit
And, where you can – I ask you to share good practice through publication!  Because you’re worth it!

Celebrating social science research


The Festival of Social Science 2011 takes place in London during the week 20th October to 5th November.
Coordinated by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) the events provide insights into the impact that social science research has on economic, social and political policies.

As part of the event, Sage and the British Academy (in association with Times Higher Education) will be hosting a debate on 31st October at the British Academy. How Can Social Scientists ad Government Work Together to Strengthen Public Trust in Scientific Evidence will be chaired by Evan Davis and speakers from academia, government and policy will be represented.
Other events at the Festival are listed here.

The future for LIS research is bright : DREaM launched

Business Information Review was privileged to be given a place at the launch of the DREaM project at the British Library’s Conference Centre this week.
DREaM (Developing Research and Excellence and Methods) intends to build research capacity and capability, raise the quality and standards of research through training, and attract LIS practitioners to undertake research and to collaborate with academic researchers. Watch out for the three training events that will take place in the next few months – October, January and April.
You can click on this link to access to the story of the day. The most impressive speaker for me was Blaise Cronin, the Rudy Professor of Information Science at Illinois – informative, entertaining and accessible. Blaise told the story of LIS research with a wealth of information. I was struck by many of his points. Has LIS research over many years actually created a consolidated body of accepted knowledge on which new research builds? Can the field be precisely defined? The questionable quality of much past research – which backs the need for DREaM); and the recent increase in citations to LIS research being made by non-LIS researchers. This suggests changes in the definition of ‘our’ subject area as well as useful opportunities for cross- discipline collaboration – and the need to identify where we are major players with influence and should be creating waves.
One minute madness sessions demonstrated the impact possible from very quick stories of new research – and certainly stimulated active networking in networking breaks. Two that particularly struck me were Frank Huysman, University of Amsterdam reporting on a survey sampling an entire community on the value of public libraries and Simon Burnett, Robert Gordon University, exploring whether storytelling and blogging can be used to transfer knowledge in the police service. An appropriate topic for this week in the UK!
Sandra Ward

LISRC announces review

The Library and Information Science Research Coalition (LISRC), which is now two years old, has announced a review of its value and impact.

The review will be conducted by Ian Wooler and co-Editor of BIR Sandra Ward.

A questionnaire, which should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete, will be published on the LISRC website next week and will be available until 8th April 2011.