Investigating the Relationship between Strategic Planning and Evidence Based Librarianship from the Viewpoint of Managers and Librarians in Kermanshah University Libraries

At the present time, the advancement of technology in every field has accelerated to such an extent that its effects are evident everywhere, so people do not use previous methods to meet their needs. It is in this situation that institutions, organizations, bodies, etc., must change in order to maintain their survival and be present in the competition scene, otherwise, they will face challenges. Libraries are among these organizations. If libraries want to move forward with changes and developments and continue their development and evolution, they must have a plan. One of the plans that are proposed in libraries, especially in university libraries, is "strategic planning", having a strategic plan that has a specific time frame, a set of processes or should include special components appropriate for each library, examine the external environment and give a better understanding of the current and future state of the library and create a competitive advantage (Bayat and Esfandiari Moghadam, 2014, p. 85). The strategic planning process in this research is considered based on Bryson's authentic model (2013), the components that Bryson considered for this process in the book Strategic Planning in Government, Public and Non-Profit Organizations include: 1) initial agreement, 2) determining organizational tasks, 3) analyzing stakeholders, 4) mission, 5) understanding the organizational environment, 6) determining strategic issues, 7) determining strategy, 8) describing plans and actions, 9) vision of the organization and 10) operational plan. David (2013) believes that information is updated from moment to moment, as a result, information collection, analysis, and sending and receiving this information affects strategic decisions. It should be noted that information is effective in strategic planning if it is obtained from scientific research and research results and has scientific support in general. The main question of the research is how to rely on evidence-based librarianship with the components of 1) asking/formulating a detailed question in one of the subject areas of librarianship, 2) obtaining/finding the most appropriate evidence, 3) evaluating 4) applying and 5) evaluating the results, to strategic planning with the components of 1) initial agreement, 2) determining organizational tasks, 3) stakeholder analysis, 4) mission, 5) understanding the organizational environment, 6) determining strategic issues, 7) determining the strategy, 8) describing plans and actions, 9) vision of the organization and 10) operational plan helped. According to the purpose, the current research aims to answer the following questions:To what extent is the state of strategic planning of university libraries in Kermanshah based on strategic planning components?To what extent is the awareness of evidence-based librarianship among managers and librarians of university libraries in Kermanshah based on the components of evidence-based librarianship?What is the relationship between strategic planning and evidence-based librarianship components from the point of view of university library managers and librarians?             

Literature Review:

According to the definitions of Elsan and Eddy (1982, p. 4), strategic planning is "a systematic effort, in order to make decisions and carry out fundamental activities that shape the nature and how and why of the organization's actions" in ideally, strategic planning requires gathering extensive and effective information, defining the organization's mission as well as strategic issues, and finally carefully examining various solutions to achieve organizational goals and the future results of current decisions (Bryson, 2010, p. 19). Alphabet of strategic planningA: Where are we?B: Where do we want to be?A: How to reach the destination Planning in the library is not a new phenomenon. The expansion of the use of strategic planning in libraries and the desired results were among the factors that ledlibrary managers to strategicplanning. Strategic planning in a general perspective leads to the development of understanding and awareness of how the library participates in the development of society.

 The concept of evidence-based librarianship:

 Evidence-based librarianship means the optimal use of existing research findings in compiling and revising the professional activities of librarians and information specialists. Evidence-based librarianship, with a history of ten years, is considered a relatively new approach in this field, based on which librarians first collect and interpret scientific findings and then create the necessary context for integrating new knowledge to provide their own professional activities. (Mansourian, 2019) Since the idea of evidence-based librarianship was first proposed, its proponents have tried to develop a conceptual framework, principles, and steps for it that would help information professionals understand it and enable them to combine it with their professional performance (Lerdal, 2002). Evidence-based librarianship provides a self-correcting framework in such a way that until new information becomes available, it suggests new directions or methods, Cromley and Kofogianakis (2006).

The present study was descriptive and conducted in a survey method. The statistical population of this study is librarians of Kermanshah University Libraries, which is a total of 63 people. Due to the limited number of people in the statistical population, therefore, sampling has been considered in the research. The data collection tools were two researcher-made questionnaires, strategic planning, and evidence-based librarianship.

University libraries perform poorly in terms of implementing strategic planning and using evidence-based librarianship, so it seems that they still follow the previous routine in managing library affairs and providing services.Evidence-based librarianship with an approach to seeking information and expanding knowledge and having a detailed and regulated framework in five stages of formulating questions, obtaining evidence, evaluating evidence, using evidence, and evaluating the effectiveness of the operational plan, has a high capacity in implementing the process. It has strategic planning. Evidence-based librarianship by understanding and recognizing the need and formulating the question in the first stage, extracting valid evidence and finally creating opportunities in the second stage, prioritizing refereed sources in the third stage, and providing a solution with scientific support in the fourth stage, and by examining the effects of the decisions taken in the fifth stage, respectively, leads to transparency and understanding of the problem, to smoothing the detailed information about the problem in question and creating a strategy, to evaluating the strategy and achieving an effective strategy, not sacrificing time and resources in wrong decisions, increasing awareness and knowledge regarding the effectiveness of a strategy, and will be effective in strategic planning. The process of strategic planning in order to identify issues, determine goals, adopt strategies, and predict results requires approaches to gather information, critical analysis, and organization of information, so evidence-based librarianship with accumulated knowledge can be the focus of strategic planning. In other words, evidence-based librarianship acts as a tool in providing detailed information related to the subject for strategic planning, and the effectiveness of this information is to be placed in the framework of the evidence-based librarianship approach. In this way, the information produced in evidence-based librarianship will play a decisive role in strategic planning.