This was an interesting workshop which described the results of a grant-funded project carrying out evidence-based research looking at library facility work practices. There were several surveys which centred around how students write papers to understand how the library is used to prepare their work.
Surveys used a small sample size (less than 15 students) and included retrospective interviews using poster boards (“Tell us about a paper you’ve done and the steps you carried out”) photo surveys, videoing students in their accommodation, evening interviews in the students union, mapping diaries (providing students a campus map and asked them to mark their route & times on it) and workshops to design library web pages and designing a library space.
The results? Students worked on papers in chunks with days and weeks in between and ask family and friends for help, are highly scheduled, highly mobile and only bring laptops onto campus when they are in one place for a long time (usually in the library at night). They thought Google searches included the library, evaluated resources - just not in the ways that librarians recommended! - and equated librarians with printed books.
The library itself offers a refuge from distractions & is critical to their success. The space should be flexible enough to meet a variety of needs, comfortable, offer appropriate technology and staff support with a one-staff service point for both circulation and enquiries.
What are we doing differently? The library now has a 24/7 collaborative space with a night owl reference service at “paper crunch” times. It runs a parents’ breakfast at orientation and are experimenting with library instruction to engage more with students. They are collaborating more closely with study advice & IT and redesigning their website to support customisation and personalisation (similar to MySpace). This is going live in the Autumn.
The conclusion was to try it! Encourage widespread staff participation but start small to develop staff skills & confidence. Also key was not getting bogged down in bureaucracy to start user surveys and to be aware that this is a learning curve and you won’t get things right from the start.
A full report is available from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/downloadables/Foster-Gibbons_cmpd.pdf
Karina
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