Planning for impact: examples
It can be challenge to put together a
proposal for an impactful LIS project that is, one you want to make a difference
and have a legacy. This brief gives some
pointers. The first part includes advice on
proposal writing; the second gives some
examples that you are free to use.
access new information and create
(embed) outputs which support the use of
research results
Part 1: Proposing an impactful
project
General advice
A good starting point for advice is an article by
Juliet Eve, “Writing a research proposal:
planning and communicating your research
ideas effectively”.

Researchers should publish reports with
clear lists of recommendations, in
accessible language. This is in addition to
any academic papers researchers may
choose to publish.
The rest of this document gives examples of
the text we used when putting together out
proposals. We hope it will inspire you to
think about planning for impact!
There is more information on the RiLIES
projects at the end of this document.
Thinking about impact
The RiLIES project showed that it is important
to plan for impact from the beginning.
Successful impact depends on a number of
factors, most importantly how it is planned
and conceived, the extent to which
practitioners are involved in its execution,
and how its findings are reported.
Recommendations included:
Researchers should be encouraged to
develop research dissemination strategies
aligned to where and how practitioners
Document1
Where appropriate, researchers should
be encouraged to include provision
for teaching and community support
materials in project plans.
The RiLIES report can be downloaded via
www.lisresearch.org
Juliet’s article guides professionals through
the stages in writing an effective research
proposal. It covers the when, why and how to
aspects of research proposals, and uses
examples
to
illustrate
the
most
effective way to communicate research ideas.
The original article can be found at:
http://www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.ph
p/lir/article/view/92/136


`
Planning for impact: examples
Part 2: Example texts
DREaM Project
This section gives an example Impact
Summary from the DREaM project proposal.
Although the content is specific to the
particular project, it is worth reading and
should be a useful resource when writing
other proposals. Key features are:
 Clarity about audience and how it will be




reached
Specific examples of envisaged impact
It demonstrates previous successes by
project participants
It proposes approaches to measuring
impact
It is realistic about limitations
The main beneficiaries from the project will
be academic LIS researchers (including
research fellows and doctoral students) and
practitioner researchers, both experienced
and inexperienced. They will be exposed to a
new range of skills and contacts that they can
use in their work. Given the structure of the
project, it is these direct beneficiaries who will
first experience the positive outcomes of the
project.
Library end-users across all sectors are
indirect beneficiaries of the project. In short,
they will benefit from improvements in library
and information services provision that result
from changes made on the basis of a sound
evidence base derived from research output.
Equally, those responsible for policy making
will be able to draw on the new resources that
are generated by the larger pool of skilled LIS
researchers. So, for example, DCMS will have
access to an evidence base for decisions on
public library services provision, and the AHRC
will have a clearer picture of where LIS
research priorities lie with reference to its
broad research agenda.
It is also possible to argue that society at large
benefits from a project of this nature in that
targeted effort that goes into supporting key
public services, such as public libraries,
enhances the environment in which we
work and live. There are therefore potential
benefits to the quality of life of ordinary
citizens. In the future it may be possible to tie
specific positive outcomes back to research
projects, the seeds of which were sown at one
of the DREAM events.
Involvement of international participants in
the programme gives an opportunity to
strengthen links with LIS research colleagues
beyond the UK, and demonstrate an
excellence in the UK's commitment to LIS
research.
It will be possible to measure some of the
project outcomes within the timeframe of the
project itself. For example, it will be relatively
straightforward to assess the perceptions of
the extent of growth in research skills
amongst practitioner researcher participants
at DREAM events. The value of other
outcomes will become evident at a later date.
For example, if the project is successful in
fostering a research culture amongst LIS
practitioners, it is reasonable to expect to see
a larger proportion of journal submissions by
this constituency. However, given the time lag
between accessing resources to start a
research project and the approval of a paper
for publication, it is unlikely that this will be
seen within the 20 month time-frame of the
DREAM project.
To ensure the project and its outcomes has as
wide an impact as possible, arrangements
have been made to use multiple channels for
both the coordination of activities and the
dissemination of results. The project itself will
2 of 4
Planning for impact: examples
have an online presence that will offer more
than a standard repository for project
material. For example, it will include a Ning
to foster collaboration online, and podcast
and videocast material from the workshops
will be accessible from the site. Hazel Hall has
experience of managing online environments
such as this for collaborative work purposes
and is therefore positioned to capitalise on
the investment made in the online resource.
More traditional project outputs have
been identified, such as journal articles and
conference papers. Depending on the
materials gathered in the course of
the project some material may be suitable for
publication in book form.
RiLIES proposal extracts
This adapted extract from our proposal
shows a different approach to achieving the
same ends.
One of the main lessons of the RiLIES Project
(Hall, Cruickshank & Taylor-Smith (2012)) is
that researchers need to engage with the
target audience of their eventual research
output from the very early stages to achieve
impact, for example by involving practitioners
in project definition and research design.
<Proposed project> will ensure that this
theme is addressed as part of the project.
It is imperative that outputs be formulated in
such a way that they are attractive
to the target community. This comprises
practitioners, practitioner researchers, […],
consultants and funders. Engagement from
these parties will ensure that the investment
in the work is realised, with its impact felt by
both LIS practitioners and, in turn, by the
communities that they serve.
The project will achieve impact through four
main activities:
1. The identification of existing resources
and good practice in the community …
This scoping exercise will determine gaps
in provision in existing training, good
practice and community materials. It will
ensure that RiLIES2 focuses on where
there is a need for the development of
new materials, and guard against
duplication of effort.
2. The development of a series of training
and good practice materials (i.e. a toolkit)
[...]. The training and good practice
materials will be developed taking into
account the findings of activity 1
above. These are likely to include: (list of
example materials such as pages on an
existing website, quick reference guides on
particular
topics, PowerPoint
presentations for trainers (consultants,
managers, professional bodies), posters)
3. The identification and development of
community space: It will be necessary to
find a “home” where the training and
good practice materials can be hosted,
and around which an engaged community
may be sustained and grow in the longer
term. (Ideally the development of
identified existing provision). This work
will be done in parallel with an
engagement plan that takes into account
hard-to-reach (mainly public) librarians.
4. Materials launch: The materials will be
launched in (period, with proposed
events).
Cont’d over/...
3 of 4
Planning for impact: examples
Stakeholders and dissemination strategy
 Stakeholders who will benefit from the
study include: [List of stakeholders]
 Outputs will be tailored to the needs of
these specific audiences, as appropriate.
 News about the project will be
disseminated throughout its duration.
 Members of the project team are already
committed to involvement in a number of
events at which there will be
opportunities to publicise the project
face-to-face. They will make efforts to
take advantage of participation at these
events to spread the word of the work, in
the light of findings that identified faceto-face dissemination as the LIS
practitioners’ preferred route to research
output.
Schedule of events
Related projects and activities that could be
used for spreading the word can be identified
and included, for instance in a table as below.
It helps make the planned activity clear, and
also helps focus on concrete activities.
Date
(launch)
Event Comments/motivation
News of the project launch to be
presented in opening session at XXX
event.
News of the project will be spread
informally through networking at the
conference in XXX
(during
project)
(Community engagement) It is hoped
that plans to embed the project
output in the community ... to include
approval of the proposed training
event at which the project outputs will
be launched
Workshop session will be used to
generate feedback on draft materials,
and may include input from the
community on their final design
(results)
Final opportunity to provide face-toface updates on the project prior to its
conclusion at the end of the month
As well as taking advantage of these
opportunities to relay information to the
community at large in person, the existing
infrastructure – such as the Twitter feed, the
web site, and the established good will of the
community – will be used to support
dissemination.
References
Cruickshank,
P., Hall,
H., Taylor-Smith,
E. (2012). Enhancing the impact of LIS
Research Projects. Research Information
Network (RIN).
Eve, J. (2008). “Writing a research proposal:
planning and communicating your research
ideas effectively” in Library and Information
Research journal. Volume 32, Number 102.
The RiLIES projects
Research in Librarianship – Impact Evaluation
Study (RiLIES) refers to two projects supported by
the LIS Research Coalition in 2011 and 2012.
RiLIES1 explored the extent to which funded
librarianship research projects influence
library practice in the UK. Of particular
interest were the factors that increase or
hinder the impact of project outcomes on
practice.
RiLIES2 produced of a series of outputs to
support the use and execution of research by
librarians and information scientists.
The projects were led by Professor Hazel Hall,
(h.hall@napier.ac.uk) Director of the Centre
for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier
University (www.csi.napier.ac.uk) and Executive Secretary of the Library and Information
Science Research Coalition.
4 of 4