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The Library is a good source if you have several
months.Making the Library More Accessible

• Presented by
• Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.
• Senior Research Scientist
• OCLC Research
• Email connawal_at_oclc.org
• www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm
• Delaware Valley Chapter of ACRL
• Millersville, Pennsylvania
• November 2, 2007

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Why Not Libraries?

• ...faculty use a variety of strategies for
  negotiating the digital morass. For most, the
  path of least resistance is the one usually taken
  a Google search, a walk down the hall or an
  email to a colleague, a visit to the website of a
  trusted archive, or often ones own eclectic
  collection of digital stuff.
• Harley, Diane, Jonathan Henke, Shannon Lawrence,
  Ian Miller, Irene Perciali, David Nasatir, Charis
  Kaskiris and Cara Bautista. 2006. Use and users
  of digital resources A focus on undergraduate
  education in the humanities and social sciences.
  http//digitalresourcestudy.berkeley.edu/report/di
  gitalresourcestudy_final_report.pdf. (2 May 2006,
  8-2)

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Why Not Libraries?
Then The user built workflow around the
library Now The library must build its services
around user workflow

• Get into the flow
• Disclose into other environments

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Why Not Libraries?
Then Resources scarce, attention abundant Now
Attention scarce, resources abundant

• Competition for attention

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Information-seekers Preferences

• Two IMLS-funded projects
• Individuals' preferences for finding and using
  information sources and service
• Why their first choices often donot include
  library sources and services
• Sense-Making the Information Confluence The
  Whys and Hows of College and University User
  Satisficing of Information Needs
• Seeking Synchronicity Evaluating Virtual
  Reference Services from User, Non-User, and
  Librarian Perspectives

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• Sense-Making the Information Confluence
• The Whys and Hows of College and University User
  Satisficing of Information Needs

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Focus Group Interviews

• 5 academic institutions
• 44 colleges and universities
• 100 mile radius from Columbus, Ohio
• Total of 8 focus group interviews
• 31 faculty
• 19 graduate students
• 28 undergraduate students

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Situation 1 Quick Search

• Think of a time when you had a situation where
  you needed answers or solutions and you did a
  quick search and made do with it. 
• You knew there were other sources but you
  decided not to use them. Please include sources
  such as friends, family, professors, colleagues,
  etc.

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Undergraduate Student Comments Quick Search

• the thing about Google is that I generally
  find the little somethings under the search
  results and relevance to anything to actually be
  fairly good You know, if I use the library
  catalog, it will give me a list of a thousand
  things, but there is really no ranking that I can
  understand.
• I stay away from the library and the librarys
  online catalog.

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Graduate Student Comments Quick Search

• you need to know which database with
  abstracting, indexing Google, I don't have to
  know, I go to one spot.
• I have been going to library web sites and using
  their stuffe.g., EBSCO Library as portal to
  online sources will also go to university
  library ... and search (for) articles I need.

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FacultyQuick Search

• Google is my first place to find something
  quickly.
• Google is user friendly library catalog is
  not.
• Yeah, well, actually I was going to be different
  and not say Google. I do use Google, but I
  also use two different library homepages and I
  will go into the research databases do a search
  there and then I will end up limiting myself
  to the articles that are available online.

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Situation 2 Did not use the library

• Have there been times when you did not
• use a library and used other sources instead? 

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Undergraduate StudentsDid not use the library

• The library is a good source if you have several
  months.
• Hard to find things in library catalog.
• Tried physical library but had to revert to
  online library resources.
• Yeah, I don't step in the library anymore
  better to read a 25-page article from JSTOR than
  250-page book.
• Sometimes content can be sacrificed for format.

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Graduate StudentsDid not use the library

• Also I just go ask my dad, and he'll tell me how
  to put in a fence, you know? So why sort through
  all this material when he'll just tell me
• Dont use university online system. Dont like
  it.
• first thing I do, is, I go to Google I don't
  go into the library system unless I have to
  because there's like 15 logins, you have to get
  into the research databases. Then it takes you
  out of that to OhioLink

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FacultyDid not use the library

• If I have a student mention a book and I'm not
  familiar with that book, Amazon.com gives me a
  brief synopsis, reader reviews of the book, so
  it's a good, interesting first source to go to
  for that kind of information.
• before I came to the library to use the MLA
  database, I did a Google search and it turns out
  that there is a professor at Berkeley who keeps a
  really, really nice and fully updated page with
  bibliographic references.

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Magic Wand

• If you had a magic wand, what would your ideal
  information systems and services provide?
• How would you go about using the information
  systems and services?
• When? Where? How?

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Undergraduate Student CommentsMagic Wand

• Make library catalogs more like search engines
  or OhioLink.
• Make a universal library card that would work in
  all libraries.
• Space in the library to interact and collaborate
  - group study areas and areas to spread stuff
  out.

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Graduate Student CommentsMagic Wand

• More staff, roaming personnel
• Book delivery from library through campus mail
• Drive-up pickup or drop off delivery service
  since parking is a problem.
• Make the library like a coffee house.

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Faculty CommentsMagic Wand

• Lessen the intimidation factor
• Better signage and other pathfinders
• Bookstore environment

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Semi-structured Dialogue

• 15 participants
• 6 faculty
• 4 graduate students
• 5 undergraduate students
• Situations
• Academic
• Recall how you go about writing your most recent
  assignment or research.
• What sources did you consult
• How did you decide on using them
• Where did you locate them?
• Personal
• Show us one of your favorite websites, one you
  use frequently.

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Why user looks for informationMotivations
Extrinsic Motivations - imposed by others
-job-related -assigned Intrinsic
Motivations - personal interest -day to day
information needs -hobbies
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Emerging ThemesInternet

• More than one-half use Google
• More than one-third use other search engines
• Familiarization tool
• Convenient
• Current information

The findings are not generalizable because of the
small, non-random sample.
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Emerging ThemesInternet

• Internet as indispensable for familiarization
• Graduate student comments
• Without Google it takes away that initial
  familiarizing yourself with whats out there. We
  wouldnt know what the good keywords were when we
  go to a more academic database.
• but if I want more in-depth information then I
  would go to the library and find books or
  whatever.
• Faculty comment
• I find Google really, really useful as a fast
  familiarizing tool.

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Emerging ThemesInternet

• Internet as convenient
• Graduate student comment
• I obviously turn to electronics first, then
  library second because its convenient. But if
  I want more in-depth info, then I go to the
  library.
• Internet as current
• Faculty comment
• Theyre a bunch of sites I go to everyday. Now
  none of them are academic. I dont go to any
  academic sites everyday.

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Emerging ThemesLibrary

• Used for research
• Desire ability to customize library portals
• Inclusion of recommender services
• Enhanced discovery services
• Databases, abstracts, and indexes
• 8 use electronic databases
• Do not perceive as library sources
• Unable to locate or access full-text copies of
  journals and books

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Emerging ThemesLibrary

• Library as customizable Recommender Services
• Undergraduate student comments
• Oh people who liked these have also liked this.
  Maybe you should check this out.
• It would be more like Amazon than, say, the
  current library catalog.
• Ill try to find something where I can search
  inside of a book I would have descriptions,
  maybe, you know like, amazon.com has.
• Well, I have our library web page here open
  and theres a lot of information and theres
  nowhere to search. This is the opening to the
  catalog but theres no box to search.

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Emerging ThemesLibrary

• Graduate student comment
• Ok. I definitely dont like going to the library
  because I
• think its time consuming... They dont have
  someone
• there that can have the journals and books out
  ready for
• you.
• Faculty comment
• The library is much less self-contained. Its
  now connected to other libraries. So,
  interlibrary loan, shared electronic resources,
  Ohiolink, is much more important to us now.

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End Notes

• This presentation is one of the outcomes from the
  project Sense-Making the Information Confluence
  The Whys and Hows of College and University User
  Satisficing of Information Needs." Funded by the
  Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ohio
  State University, and OCLC Online Computer
  Library Center, Inc., the project is being
  implemented by Brenda Dervin (Professor of
  Communication and Joan N. Huber Fellow of Social
  Behavioral Science, Ohio State University) as
  Principal Investigator and Lynn Silipigni
  Connaway (OCLC Consulting Research Scientist III)
  and Chandra Prahba (OCLC Senior Research
  Scientist), as Co-Investigators. More
  information can be obtained at
  http//imlsosuoclcproject.jcomm.ohio-state.edu/

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• Seeking Synchronicity
• Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User,
  Non-User, Librarian Perspectives

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Focus Group Interviews

• 8 Focus Group Interviews
• 2 with VRS librarians
• 4 with VRS non-users
• Screenagers
• Rural
• Suburban
• Urban
• College students
• Graduate
• 2 with VRS users
• College students
• Graduate
• Undergraduate
• Adults

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Participant DemographicsUser Focus Group
Interviews

• Ethnicity-Users
• 15 Caucasian (68)
• 4 Asian (18)
• 2 African- American (9)
• 1 Hispanic/Latino (5)
• Gender-Users
• 13 Male (59)
• 9 Female (41)

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Participant DemographicsNon-user Focus Group
Interviews

• Ethnicity-Non-users
• 18 Caucasian (45)
• 7 African- American (17.5)
• 6 Hispanic/Latino (15)
• 2 Asian (5)
• 7 Missing (17.5)
• Gender-Non-users
• 23 Female (57.5)
• 17 Male (42.5)

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Non-User (Screenagers)Stereotypes and
Independence

• Because, I mean, once they do their famous
  point, its just like you dont want to go near
  them again.
• I wouldnt really trust my librarian. I trust
  Google.
• Plus I think the IMing kind of gives it a cold
  feeling to it when you can actually sit and talk
  to someone face-to-face you kind of can see if
  they care or not

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Non-User (Screenagers)Security, Accuracy, and
Speed

• I dont usually like to talk to like people I
  dont know on the Internet.
• Im not going to go get tutored on the Internet
  by somebody who might be some psycho serial
  killer out there when I could get personal help
  from my home and people in my community.
• A librarians trying to do like 15 of those
  conversations at once theyre going to mix up
  replies
• I dont really want to take the time actually to
  type out, like explaining what Im doing, what I
  need it for, what type of sources I need.

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Non-User (Screenagers) Factors to Influence Use
of VRS

• I dont think I would use VRS because I like
  going to people I know. I would probably try it
  as a last desperate resortId
• Moderator Consensus. So if your librarian
  recommended it, you would all try this service?
• Multiple Participants Yes Yup..

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Non-User Graduate StudentsPreference for
Face-to-Face

• Just generally, I would talk to somebody in
  person.
• I prefer to interact with a librarian that I
  know.
• I would just go, um, to the library website
• I go to Google Scholar as well and Inquestia.com
  which I belong to.

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Non-User Graduate StudentsMisperceptions

• I dont know if I felt I might be annoying
  them. Or felt like I might be blown off.
• I guess my reluctance would because I said I do
  research at odd hours like at two oclock in the
  morning. What are the chances that Im going to
  be able to have a chat with a librarian?

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Non-User Graduate StudentsPrivacy and Technology
Concerns

• And there could be a chance that the librarian
  might say This guys teaching these classes and
  he doesnt know this?!
• I was worried that in some way, you know, if
  the Department would get a report about what
  questions I was asking, you know what I mean
• Would the connection be good enough to
  facilitate real-time chat?

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Non-User Graduate StudentsFactors to Influence
Use of VRS

• I would want to know that they wanted me to use
  it.
• Big sign in the library or around campus saying
  Have you tried instant messaging your
  librarian?

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VRS UsersConvenience and Independence

• Id rather go two feet to my computer than a
  couple of miles to the library.
• I always want to do everything myself I dont
  want help.

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VRS UsersCollaboration

• Its helpful to have another person looking for
  you so you get twice as much information which
  is quicker.
• they know how to do it and know where to look
  and you dont necessarily know.

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VRS UsersPersonalized Service

• I was on the site at 2 or 3 in the morning and
  it felt personalized.
• Instead of having to write everything down you
  have the transcript of the conversation and all
  the links from the conversation in a permanent
  email.

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VRS UsersAbility to Multi-Task

• Moderator Okay, so theres some consensus on
  that that it allows you to multitask?
• Multiple Participants Yes.

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VRS UsersDistrust

• To me it wasnt that much more than any other
  search engine.
• Im not sure how much attention the person was
  paying attention to the actual question or the
  key words in the actual question.
• they were just Googling stuff as far as I could
  see.
• I feel like I get better results when Im, like
  with the person.

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VRS Users Technology Issues

• A tutorial would be nice, for non-computer savvy
  people.
• Make the chat window bigger.
• Have the chat in one window and have opened up
  all the links they send you in a separate window.

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VRS Librarians Expand Client Base

• Weve been able to reach people we know wed
  never reach otherwise, theyd never come in the
  building, wouldnt pick up the phone. And weve
  actually had people tell us that, they say that
  reference librarians are scary.
• We saw a lot of kids who struggled, wouldnt
  feel comfortable asking for help. But with the
  on-line connection, seemed to be more comfortable
  asking for help.

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VRS Librarians More Challenging Questions

• the face-to-face reference supervisor is
  envious when I tell them about the questions that
  we do get and how much fun we have finding the
  information.

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VRS Librarians Suggestions for Improvement

• Visibility is an asset but somebody showed
  that their virtual reference statistics had gone
  up markedly after they added a link
• We have to be able to accompany a broader array
  of browsers and operating systems and things like
  that.

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End Notes

• This is one outcome from the project Seeking
  Synchronicity Evaluating Virtual Reference
  Services from User, Non-User, Librarian
  Perspectives, Marie L. Radford Lynn Silipigni
  Connaway, Co-Principal Investigators. Project
  website http//www.oclc.org/research/projects/syn
  chronicity/
• Funded by IMLS, Rutgers University and OCLC,
  Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
• Special thanks to Patrick Confer, Timothy Dickey,
  Jocelyn DeAngelis Williams, Susanna
  Sabolcsi-Boros Julie Strange, Janet Torsney.

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Yes, libraries!
A library experience like the experience
available on the web
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Yes, libraries!

• Comprehensive unified discovery its all there
  (e.g. Google, Amazon)
• In the flow disclosed into research and learning
  workflows (e.g. toolbars)
• Telescopic a personal to global traverse (e.g.
  del.icio.us)
• Low transaction costs A short path between
  discovery and fulfillment (e.g iTunes, Google,
  Amazon, ..)
• Network navigable knowledge patterns a rich
  texture of suggestion
• Reflexive adapt based on aggregate
  intention/attention (e.g. page rank, people who
  read this, personalize, ..)
• Lorcan Dempsey, presentation at the University of
  Virginia Libraries, April 26, 2007

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WorldCat.org
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WorldCat.org
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Local libraries displayed automatically
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Article Citations
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University of Washington on WorldCat.org
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Holdings Local, Group, Global
Univ Washington collections
Summit collections
WorldCat
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Detailed record item held by UW
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Detailed record request item
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Request handled locally
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Item not held by UW
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Item not held by UWor Summit
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Article citations
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Article citations
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Implications for Library Services

• Patrons lack patience to wade through content
  silos and indexing and abstracting databases
• Libraries should be providing patrons with what
  they want when and how they want it, and
  providing patrons with the means to uncover what
  they want when they arent sure what exactly that
  may be.
• Good search and discovery tools
• Better meta-discovery tools than currently
  offered by federated technology
• Pace, Andrew. (2006). I Hear the Train a
  Comin. Presentation at the Charleston
  Conference. Charleston, SC, November 1.

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Implications for Library Services

• Integrate library search and discovery tools into
  the campus environment
• Course management systems
• Share discovered resources in the classroom
• Bursars and registrars systems
• Access and order resources with an automatic
  debit to the users account
• Pace, Andrew. (2006). I Hear the Train a
  Comin. Presentation at the Charleston
  Conference. Charleston, SC, November 1.

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Questions and Comments

• Lynn Silipigni Connaway
• connawal_at_oclc.org