google is user friendly… the library catalog is not. information-seekers preferences presented by...

“Google is user friendly…the library catalog is not.”Information-seekers’ Preferences

Presented by

Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.Consulting Research Scientist

OCLC ResearchEmail: [email protected]

www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm

Tri-state College Library CooperativeMalvern, Pennsylvania

June 5, 2007

http://www.oclc.org/research/default.htm

http://www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm

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 one’s 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/digitalresourcestudy_final_report.pdf. (2 May 2006, 8-2)

•Get into the flow•Disclose into other environments

Then: The user built workflow around the library

Now: The library must build its services around user workflow

Why Not Libraries?

•Competition for attention

Then: Resources scarce, attention abundant

Now: Attention scarce, resources abundant

Why Not Libraries?

Information-seekers’ Preferences

Two IMLS-funded projects Individuals' preferences for finding and

using information sources and service Why their first choices often do

not 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

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

Sense-Making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of

College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs

Undergraduate Student Comments:Quick Search

Human resources Dad Friend Roommates

Google Everything is current

Blogs Discussion groups Electronic databases

Lexis NexisThese are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

“… 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 library’s online catalog.”

Undergraduate Student Comments:Quick Search

Graduate Student Comments: Quick Search

Web and Google Quick Easy

Personal library Library

Databases EBSCO

Online journals and abstracts Human resources

Friends Advisors

These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

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 stuff…e.g., EBSCO… Library as portal to online sources … will also go to university library ... and search (for) articles I need.

Faculty:Quick Search

Personal library – “quicker than online” Amazon Google

“quick and dirty” “first stop”

Human resources Colleagues

Electronic journal center Library homepage Databases


Faculty:Quick 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.”

Undergraduate Students:Did not use the library

Human resources Dad Parents Professors

Google Online Encyclopedia JSTOR Academic databases

Lexis Nexis Personal library


Undergraduate Students:Did 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.”

Graduate Students:Did not use the library

Internet and Google Easy

Databases Lexis-Nexis

OhioLink Bookstores Amazon.com Personal library Human resources

Professors Dad Peers Other experts


Graduate Students:Did 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”

“Don’t use university online system. Don’t 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…”

Faculty:Did not use the library

Human resources Experts in academic community Colleagues

Subscribed services and electronic databases (Prefer to Google for credibility) PsychInfo

Amazon.com Google for personal information


Faculty:Did 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.”

Undergraduate Students:Thorough Search

Human resources Librarians

Google Amazon.com

Use Amazon.com first, then go to library catalog

Television programs Discovery Channel


Undergraduate Student Comments:Thorough Search

“I use OhioLink, but I don't really need to come into a library, as long as I have a computer at home.”

“Discovered Lexis-Nexis, and those articles are brilliant, give lots of information… get so much information going through library and Lexis-Nexis, and articles are ten time’s better [than web].” “Go to Google… can [pinpoint]… I will find Google articles and then [go] to library and find a couple articles...”

Graduate Students:Thorough Search

Human resources Class members Professors Peers Colleagues Experts

Library Internet Online books


Graduate Student Comments:Thorough Search

“I'm not trust(ing) everything that's on the Internet, but I will print off all the information and I get ideas that I will also go to the university library and search some article I need.”

Faculty:Thorough Search

Online resources Web sites ending in .ORG Google for definitions

Library Academic journals Journal databases Books

Human Resources Experts Authorities in field Personal information specialist


Faculty Comments:Thorough Search

“So if I have athlete that has low back pain and, and I have a question about a particular exercise that would be helpful or, or not helpful or that sort of thing, …

I'd rather get on the phone and talk with a therapist that works with back people all the time, because you can cut right to the chase - ask a specific question and there is some credibility there that you, that is already built in. In talking to this regional expert about how they do things that is directly applicable to what I need to do and it is, it is immediate. It's credible, and it's very specific to what I am looking for.”

“I'm suspicious of people who are publishing on-line because usually the peer review is much less rigorous.”

Undergraduate Student Comments:Magic 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.”

Undergraduate Student Comments:Magic 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.”

Faculty Comments:Magic Wand

“Lessen the intimidation factor”

“Better signage and other pathfinders”

“Bookstore environment”

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?

PersonalShow us one of your favorite websites, one you use frequently.

Emerging Themes:Internet

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.


Internet as indispensable for familiarization

Graduate student comments

“Without Google it takes away that initial familiarizing yourself with what’s out there. We wouldn’t 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.”


Internet as convenient

Graduate student comment

“I obviously turn to electronics first, then library second… because it’s convenient. But if I want more in-depth info, then I go to the library.”

Internet as current

Faculty comment

“They’re a bunch of sites I go to everyday. Now none of them are academic. I don’t go to any academic sites everyday.”

Emerging Themes:Library

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

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.”

“I’ll 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… there’s a lot of information and there’s nowhere to search. This is the opening to the catalog but there’s no box to search.”



Graduate student comment

“Ok. I definitely don’t like going to the library because Ithink it’s time consuming... They don’t have someonethere that can have the journals and books out ready foryou.”

Faculty comment

“The library is much less self-contained. It’s now connected to other libraries. So, interlibrary loan, shared electronic resources, Ohiolink, is much more important to us now.”

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/

http://imlsosuoclcproject.jcomm.ohio-state.edu/

http://imlsosuoclcproject.jcomm.ohio-state.edu/

Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User,

& Librarian Perspectives

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

Participant Demographics:User 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%)

Participant Demographics:Non-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%)

Non-User (Screenagers): Major Themes

Librarian stereotypes Preference for independent

information seeking Google Web surfing Trust own ability to evaluate web

resources more than librarians’ Preference for face-to-face

interaction Value interpersonal interactions in

Face-to Face

Non-User (Screenagers): Major Themes

Privacy/Security concerns Librarians as “psycho killers” Fear of cyber stalkers

Concern for accuracy of information Chat takes too long

Factors influencing future VRS use Recommendation Marketing Ability to choose a trusted librarian

Non-User Graduate Students: Major Themes

Most students prefer face-to-face librarian interactions Reliable Developing a personal relationship

with a librarian Utilize internet tools for

information Library website, Google, other

internet resources


Negative perceptions about VRS: Sounds like a chat room, not

professional, fear of question unsuitability, technology/learning curve

Fear of appearing stupid, or being negatively evaluated by the librarian.

Privacy concerns/ transcripts revealed to professors


Factors influencing future VRS use Recommendation by

librarian/colleague Developing confidence in service’s

use, speed & access Promotional campaign

VRS Users: Positive Major Themes

Convenience Research/Information retrieval

independence Collaborative – share work Knowledgeable service provider

VRS Users: Positive Major Themes

Pleasant interpersonal environment

Transcript of chat session Anonymity of VRS Immediacy of chat vs. email Allows multi-tasking

VRS Users: Negative Major Themes

Just another search engine Generic responses Distrust in information provided Technical improvement suggestions Face-to-face interaction preferred Fear of overwhelming the librarian Concerns about librarians’ lack of

subject expertise

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/synchronicity/

Funded by IMLS, Rutgers University and OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, Inc.

Special thanks to Jocelyn DeAngelis Williams, Patrick Confer, Julie Strange, Susanna Sabolcsi-Boros, & Timothy Dickey.

http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity/default.htm



A library experience like the experience available on the web

Yes, libraries!

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. delicious)Low transaction costs: A short path between discovery and

fulfilment (e.g iTunes, Google, Amazon, ..)Network: navigable knowledge patterns: a rich texture of

suggestionReflexive: 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

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 aren’t sure what exactly that may be.”

Good search and discovery tools Better meta-discovery tools than currently offered by

federated technology

Andrew Pace, presentation at the Charleston Conference, November 1, 2006.

Implications for Library Services

Integrate library search and discovery tools into the campus environment Course management systems

Share discovered resources in the classroom

Bursar’s and registrar’s systems Access and order resources with an

automatic debit to the user’s account

Andrew Pace, presentation at the Charleston Conference, November 1, 2006.

Questions and Comments

Links

This presentationwww.oclc.org/research/presentations/connaway/20070605-tsclc.ppt (.ppt: 5MB/76 slides)

OCLC Research projectswww.oclc.org/research/presentations/

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