Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Research

Lynn Silipigni Connaway's responsibilities include research projects that directly involve OCLC libraries and users, such as developing the digital "visitors" and "residents" framework and the IMLS-funded grant project, Research Student’s Information Choices, to study the behavior patterns of college and university information seekers. Her previous work includes WorldCat data mining projects, JISC-funded investigations of digital information seekers, and IMLS-funded grant projects to study virtual reference services. She also was the project lead on the American Library Association (ALA) Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) "Action-Oriented Research Agenda on Library Contributions to Student Learning and Success." Lynn and her collaborators have won numerous awards for their research projects and methodologies.
Lynn received the 2020 Distinguished Alumna Award of the Information School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the 2019 ASIS&T Watson Davis Award for Service, and the 2016 ALISE Service Award. She also was awarded the Chair of Excellence position at the Departmento de Biblioteconomía y Documentación at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and collaborated with the faculty on user-centered research. Lynn was a visiting scholar in 2014 at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Copenhagen (now the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen) where she taught qualitative research methods and collaborated with faculty on user behavior studies. Lynn also was a visiting researcher at the University of Sheffield, Information School for the fall 2009 term, where she collaborated with faculty on WorldCat log analysis and user behavior studies.
Prior to joining OCLC Research, Lynn was the vice president of Research and Library Systems at NetLibrary. She also was director of the Library and Information Services Department at the University of Denver, where she taught several courses in library and information science. During her tenure there, Lynn conducted research on the subjects of organization and access of electronic documents, as well as the education of information professionals. She also has served on the faculty of the University of Missouri, Columbia and as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Lynn Silipigni Connaway earned the Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Library Science from Edinboro State University.
Connaway has been actively involved in numerous committees within the American Library Association (ALA), including Vice-chair (2011-12) / Chair (2012-13) of its Library Research Round Table, and Vice-chair (2009-11) / Patty Wong’s Presidential Advisory Committee (2020-2022) / Chair (2011-12) of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Research Planning and Review Committee and Vice-Chair (2013-2014) / Chair (2014-2015) of the Value of Academic Libraries Committee / Co-Chair (2020-2022) ACRL 2022 President’s Program Planning Committee (2020-2022). She has served on the ALA Committee on Accreditation and is a member of the Association of Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE). She also is a member of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and served as a Director-at-Large on the Board (2012-2015) and as President-Elect, President, and Past President (2016-2018).
Lynn has presented at numerous international and national professional and scholarly conferences and has many publications. She is the co-author of the 4th and 5th editions of Basic Research Methods for Librarians and the 6th and 7th editions, Research Methods in Library and Information Science.
More about Lynn's work
- Search Google
- Curriculum vitae (.pdf)
- List of complete publications (.pdf)
Research Areas
Publications

Libraries model sustainability: The results of an OCLC survey on library contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals
8 February 2023
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Brooke Doyle, Christopher Cyr, Peggy Gallagher, Joanne Cantrell
This author accepted manuscript presents findings from a global survey of libraries that investigated if and how libraries are incorporating the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into strategic planning.

Students’ Perceptions of Preprints Discovered in Google: A Window into Recognition And Evaluation
1 January 2023
Tara Tobin Cataldo, Ixchel M. Faniel, Amy G. Buhler, Brittany Brannon, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Samuel Putnam
Preprints play an important role in scholarly conversation. This paper examines perceptions of preprints through the lens of students using a simulated Google environment.
How real is real enough? Participant feedback on a behavioral simulation used for information-seeking behavior research
12 January 2022
This paper assesses the realism of a behavioral simulation used to study the evaluation behavior of 175 students from fourth grade through graduate school. We assess realism through the examination of targeted participant feedback about what would have made the simulated environment and tasks more realistic to these participants. Based on this feedback, we reflect on decisions made in designing the simulation and offer recommendations for future studies interested in incorporating behavioral simulation in their research design.