Communication of research to practice in library and information science: Closing the gap

A widely held concern in library and information science (LIS) is that the relationship between research and practice, and particularly the communication of research to practice, is flawed. Through critical analysis of the literature, the authors examine the nature of the gap between research and practice, strategies to reduce the gap, and research on the effectiveness of the strategies. Eleven types of gap are identified: knowledge, culture, motivation, relevance, immediacy, publication, reading, terminology, activity, education, and temporal. Strategies proposed in the literature emphasize ways to increase practitioner research activity and to close the publications gap. Only one of the proposed strategies, inclusion of research reports in practitioner publications, is supported by research. The authors propose further research to evaluate this and other strategies based on recognition of a wider range of channels for communication of research to practice and the role of intermediaries between researchers and practitioners. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.