Research
For a complete list of recent publication, see Dr. Tucker's CV on this page.
Selected publications
Tucker, V.M., Dale, J., Egge, V., & Fullman, E. (2018). Student internships within an information consulting practice: A case study of taxonomy design. Information and Learning Sciences, 119(7/8), 403-413.
Tucker, V.M. & Lampson, M. (2018). Finding the answers to legal questions, 2nd edition. Chicago: ALA Editions. http://a.co/9uZbBCm
Tucker, V.M. (2018). Threshold concepts and information experience in IL professional education: Curriculum for online learning. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 810, 749-758. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74334-9_76
Tucker, V.M. & Simmons, M.H. (2018). Using threshold concepts to assess dispositional readiness for a professional domain. Seventh Biennial International Threshold Concepts Conference, June 13-15, 2018, Oxford, OH. miamioh.edu/hcwe/threshold-concepts/program/sessions-g
McLaughlin, J. & Tucker, V.M. (2017). Citation indexing and threshold concepts: An essential ah-ha in student learning. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 58(4), 236-240.
Tucker, V.M. (2017). Threshold concepts and core competences in the library and information science (LIS) domain: Methodologies for discovery. Library and Information Research, 41(125), 61-80. www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/750
Simmons, M.H. & Tucker, V.M. (2017). The process of becoming teachers: Professional identity formation among student teachers. Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning Conference, October 19-21, 2017, Traverse City, MI.
Tucker, V.M. (2016). Learning experiences and the liminality of expertise. In R. Land, H.F. Meyer, & M.T. Flanagan (Eds.), Threshold Concepts in Practice, (pp. 93-106). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Tucker, V.M., Bruce, C., & Edwards, S.L. (2016). Using grounded theory to discover threshold concepts in transformative learning experiences. Theory and Method in Higher Education, 2, 23 46.
Tucker, V.M. (2015). Professional searchers today: Leadership roles in design and information experience. Library 2.0 Worldwide Conference, October 20, 2015. www.library20.com/forum/topics/professional-searchers-today-leadership-roles-in-design
Tucker, V.M. (2015). Sharpening the search saw: Lessons from expert searchers. iSchool Research Journal, 5(1), article 2. scholarworks.sjsu.edu/slissrj/vol5/iss1/2/
Tucker, V.M. (2014). The expert searcher's experience of information. In C.S. Bruce, K. Davis, H. Hughes, H. Partridge, & I. Stoodley (Eds.), Information Experience: Approaches to Theory & Practice, (pp. 239-255). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Tucker, V.M., Weedman, J., Bruce, C.S., & Edwards, S.L. (2014). Learning portals: Analyzing threshold concept theory for LIS education. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 55(2), 150-165. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1074326
Tucker, V.M. (2014). The expert searcher's experience of information. In: Information experience: Approaches to theory & practice. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Tucker, V.M. (2012, June). Threshold concepts in search expertise. Poster presentation. 4th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Tucker, V.M. (2012, January). Threshold concepts in search expertise. Poster presentation. Conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), Dallas, TX.
Presentations
Tucker, V.M. (2013, November). The expert searcher and threshold concepts. Invited speaker, iSchool Colloquium Series. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2169C089B850A9B8
Tucker, V.M. (2012, April). What does it mean to be an expert searcher in a 2.0 world? ASIST Chapter Meeting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06d34q4DzNw
Selected publications
Tucker, V.M., Dale, J., Egge, V., & Fullman, E. (2018). Student internships within an information consulting practice: A case study of taxonomy design. Information and Learning Sciences, 119(7/8), 403-413.
Tucker, V.M. & Lampson, M. (2018). Finding the answers to legal questions, 2nd edition. Chicago: ALA Editions. http://a.co/9uZbBCm
Tucker, V.M. (2018). Threshold concepts and information experience in IL professional education: Curriculum for online learning. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 810, 749-758. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74334-9_76
Tucker, V.M. & Simmons, M.H. (2018). Using threshold concepts to assess dispositional readiness for a professional domain. Seventh Biennial International Threshold Concepts Conference, June 13-15, 2018, Oxford, OH. miamioh.edu/hcwe/threshold-concepts/program/sessions-g
McLaughlin, J. & Tucker, V.M. (2017). Citation indexing and threshold concepts: An essential ah-ha in student learning. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 58(4), 236-240.
Tucker, V.M. (2017). Threshold concepts and core competences in the library and information science (LIS) domain: Methodologies for discovery. Library and Information Research, 41(125), 61-80. www.lirgjournal.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/750
Simmons, M.H. & Tucker, V.M. (2017). The process of becoming teachers: Professional identity formation among student teachers. Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning Conference, October 19-21, 2017, Traverse City, MI.
Tucker, V.M. (2016). Learning experiences and the liminality of expertise. In R. Land, H.F. Meyer, & M.T. Flanagan (Eds.), Threshold Concepts in Practice, (pp. 93-106). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Tucker, V.M., Bruce, C., & Edwards, S.L. (2016). Using grounded theory to discover threshold concepts in transformative learning experiences. Theory and Method in Higher Education, 2, 23 46.
Tucker, V.M. (2015). Professional searchers today: Leadership roles in design and information experience. Library 2.0 Worldwide Conference, October 20, 2015. www.library20.com/forum/topics/professional-searchers-today-leadership-roles-in-design
Tucker, V.M. (2015). Sharpening the search saw: Lessons from expert searchers. iSchool Research Journal, 5(1), article 2. scholarworks.sjsu.edu/slissrj/vol5/iss1/2/
Tucker, V.M. (2014). The expert searcher's experience of information. In C.S. Bruce, K. Davis, H. Hughes, H. Partridge, & I. Stoodley (Eds.), Information Experience: Approaches to Theory & Practice, (pp. 239-255). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Tucker, V.M., Weedman, J., Bruce, C.S., & Edwards, S.L. (2014). Learning portals: Analyzing threshold concept theory for LIS education. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 55(2), 150-165. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1074326
Tucker, V.M. (2014). The expert searcher's experience of information. In: Information experience: Approaches to theory & practice. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Tucker, V.M. (2012, June). Threshold concepts in search expertise. Poster presentation. 4th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Tucker, V.M. (2012, January). Threshold concepts in search expertise. Poster presentation. Conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), Dallas, TX.
Presentations
Tucker, V.M. (2013, November). The expert searcher and threshold concepts. Invited speaker, iSchool Colloquium Series. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2169C089B850A9B8
Tucker, V.M. (2012, April). What does it mean to be an expert searcher in a 2.0 world? ASIST Chapter Meeting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06d34q4DzNw
PhD Dissertation
Full text of dissertation may be downloaded here from QUT ePrints. Final seminar videorecording may be viewed here.
Acquiring Search Expertise: Learning Experiences and Threshold Concepts
ABSTRACT
Expert searchers engage with information as information brokers, researchers, reference librarians, information architects, faculty who teach advanced search, and in a variety of other information-intensive professions. Their experiences are characterized by a profound understanding of information concepts and skills and they have an agile ability to apply this knowledge to interacting with and having an impact on the information environment.
Acquiring Search Expertise: Learning Experiences and Threshold Concepts
ABSTRACT
Expert searchers engage with information as information brokers, researchers, reference librarians, information architects, faculty who teach advanced search, and in a variety of other information-intensive professions. Their experiences are characterized by a profound understanding of information concepts and skills and they have an agile ability to apply this knowledge to interacting with and having an impact on the information environment.
This study explored the learning experiences of searchers to understand the acquisition of search expertise. The research question was: What can be learned about becoming an expert searcher from the learning experiences of proficient novice searchers and highly experienced searchers? The key objectives were: (1) to explore the existence of threshold concepts in search expertise; (2) to improve our understanding of how search expertise is acquired and how novice searchers, intent on becoming experts, can learn to search in more expertlike ways.
The participant sample drew from two population groups: (1) highly experienced searchers with a minimum of 20 years of relevant professional experience, including LIS faculty who teach advanced search, information brokers, and search engine developers (11 subjects); and (2) MLIS students who had completed coursework in information retrieval and online searching and demonstrated exceptional ability (9 subjects). Using these two groups allowed a nuanced understanding of the experience of learning to search in expertlike ways, with data from those who search at a very high level as well as those who may be actively developing expertise. The study used semi-structured interviews, search tasks with think-aloud narratives, and talk-after protocols. Searches were screen-captured with simultaneous audio-recording of the think-aloud narrative. Data were coded and analyzed using NVivo9 and manually.
Grounded theory allowed categories and themes to emerge from the data. Categories represented conceptual knowledge and attributes of expert searchers. In accord with grounded theory method, once theoretical saturation was achieved, during the final stage of analysis the data were viewed through lenses of existing theoretical frameworks. For this study, threshold concept theory (Meyer & Land, 2003) was used to explore which concepts might be threshold concepts. Threshold concepts have been used to explore transformative learning portals in subjects ranging from economics to mathematics. A threshold concept has five defining characteristics: transformative (causing a shift in perception), irreversible (unlikely to be forgotten), integrative (unifying separate concepts), troublesome (initially counter-intuitive), and may be bounded.
Themes that emerged provided evidence of four concepts which had the characteristics of threshold concepts. These were: information environment: the total information environment is perceived and understood; information structures: content, index structures, and retrieval algorithms are understood; information vocabularies: fluency in search behaviors related to language, including natural language, controlled vocabulary, and finesse using proximity, truncation, and other language-based tools.
The fourth threshold concept was concept fusion, the integration of the other three threshold concepts and further defined by three properties: visioning (anticipating next moves), being light on one’s ‘search feet’ (dancing property), and profound ontological shift (identity as searcher). In addition to the threshold concepts, findings were reported that were not concept-based, including praxes and traits of expert searchers. A model of search expertise is proposed with the four threshold concepts at its core that also integrates the traits and praxes elicited from the study, attributes which are likewise long recognized in LIS research as present in professional searchers.
The research provides a deeper understanding of the transformative learning experiences involved in the acquisition of search expertise. It adds to our understanding of search expertise in the context of today's information environment and has implications for teaching advanced search, for research more broadly within library and information science, and for methodologies used to explore threshold concepts.
The participant sample drew from two population groups: (1) highly experienced searchers with a minimum of 20 years of relevant professional experience, including LIS faculty who teach advanced search, information brokers, and search engine developers (11 subjects); and (2) MLIS students who had completed coursework in information retrieval and online searching and demonstrated exceptional ability (9 subjects). Using these two groups allowed a nuanced understanding of the experience of learning to search in expertlike ways, with data from those who search at a very high level as well as those who may be actively developing expertise. The study used semi-structured interviews, search tasks with think-aloud narratives, and talk-after protocols. Searches were screen-captured with simultaneous audio-recording of the think-aloud narrative. Data were coded and analyzed using NVivo9 and manually.
Grounded theory allowed categories and themes to emerge from the data. Categories represented conceptual knowledge and attributes of expert searchers. In accord with grounded theory method, once theoretical saturation was achieved, during the final stage of analysis the data were viewed through lenses of existing theoretical frameworks. For this study, threshold concept theory (Meyer & Land, 2003) was used to explore which concepts might be threshold concepts. Threshold concepts have been used to explore transformative learning portals in subjects ranging from economics to mathematics. A threshold concept has five defining characteristics: transformative (causing a shift in perception), irreversible (unlikely to be forgotten), integrative (unifying separate concepts), troublesome (initially counter-intuitive), and may be bounded.
Themes that emerged provided evidence of four concepts which had the characteristics of threshold concepts. These were: information environment: the total information environment is perceived and understood; information structures: content, index structures, and retrieval algorithms are understood; information vocabularies: fluency in search behaviors related to language, including natural language, controlled vocabulary, and finesse using proximity, truncation, and other language-based tools.
The fourth threshold concept was concept fusion, the integration of the other three threshold concepts and further defined by three properties: visioning (anticipating next moves), being light on one’s ‘search feet’ (dancing property), and profound ontological shift (identity as searcher). In addition to the threshold concepts, findings were reported that were not concept-based, including praxes and traits of expert searchers. A model of search expertise is proposed with the four threshold concepts at its core that also integrates the traits and praxes elicited from the study, attributes which are likewise long recognized in LIS research as present in professional searchers.
The research provides a deeper understanding of the transformative learning experiences involved in the acquisition of search expertise. It adds to our understanding of search expertise in the context of today's information environment and has implications for teaching advanced search, for research more broadly within library and information science, and for methodologies used to explore threshold concepts.
