how academics engage in the digital environment. “with google you are not limited. you have as...

The world’s libraries. Connected.

“With Google you are not limited. You have as much as you can pull up.”

How Academics Engage in the Digital Environment

University of Denver, May 7, 2013

Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph. D.

Senior Research ScientistOCLC

[email protected]

@LynnConnaway

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

©2013 OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.

mailto:[email protected]

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0


“I find Google a lot easier…so many journals come up and when you look at the first ten and they just don’t make any sense. I, kind of, give up.” (USU7, Female Age 19)


• Then: The user built workflow around the library

• Now: The library must build its services around user workflow

• Then: Resources scarce, attention abundant

• Now: Attention scarce, resources abundant

Then & Now

(Dempsey, 2008)


• Many information options

• Library resources not the first choice

• Develop effective library systems & services, to understand users’ engagement with digital environment

• Prove value

Why User Behavior Research?


• Local to global

• Linear to linked

• Print to digital

Changes in Information Acquisition


• Challenges

• Budget cuts

• High retirement rates

• Hiring freezes

• Opportunity

• Best value for most use

• Understand how, why, & under what circumstances individuals use systems & services

Current Environment


• 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

• The Digital Information Seeker: Report of the Findings from Selected OCLC, RIN, and JISC user Behavior Projects.

• WorldCat Study: User-Centered Design of a Recommender System for a "Universal" Library Catalogue

• Visitors and Residents: What Motivates Engagement with the Digital Information Environment

• Cyber Synergy: Seeking Sustainability through Collaboration between Virtual Reference and Social Q&A Sites

Studies


Theory (n.): a systematic explanation for observations that relate to a particular aspect of life

(Babbie, 2013)(Connaway & Powell, 2010)


• Helps organize facts, laws, concepts, constructs, or principles into manageable form

• Can act as guide to discovering facts

• Our research: Digital visitors and residents theory

Theory

(Connaway & Powell, 2010, p. 47-48)(White & Le Cornu, 2011)


Research design (n.): planning, identification of the problem, theory, formulating hypotheses, and validity and reliability

(Connaway & Powell, 2010)


Research Design

• Identify problem

• Place problem in broader theoretical framework

• Develop hypotheses

• Decide on methodology & data collection techniques

• Research is always cyclical

(Connaway & Powell, 2010, p. 47-48)

(Leedy & Omrod, 2005)


Methodology (n.): A system of methods used in a particular area of study



• Quantitative research• Problem-solving approach

• Highly structured

• Quantification (Glazier & Powell, 1992)

• Qualitative research• Focus on observing events from

the perspective of those involved

• Understand why individuals behave as they do

• More natural approach to the resolution of research problems

• Applied research• Action based

• Evidence-based

• Evaluative-based

Types of research


Qualitative Research Methods

• Sampling

• Observation

• Survey

• Interviews

• Focus group

• Individual

• Documents

• Questionnaires

• Diaries

• Journals

• Papers


• Several methods:

• Semi-structured interviews (qualitative)

• Diaries (qualitative)

• Online survey (quantitative)

• Enables triangulation of data

Triangulation of Data Digital Visitors and Residents

(Connaway et al., 2012)


• Ethnographic data collection technique

• Get people to describe what has happened

• Center on defined events or moments

Diaries



Interviews

• Allow for probing, clarification, new questions, focused questions, exploring

• Enable data collection for extended period of time



1. Describe the things you enjoy doing with technology and the web each week.

2. Think of the ways you have used technology and the web for your studies. Describe a typical week.

3. Think about the next stage of your education. Tell me what you think this will be like.

Participant Interview Questions

(White & Connaway, 2011)


4. 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, teachers, coaches, etc.

5. Have there been times when you were told to use a library or virtual learning environment (or learning platform), and used other source(s) instead?

6. If you had a magic wand, what would your ideal way of getting information be? How would you go about using the systems and services? When? Where? How?

Participant Interview Questions

(Dervin, Connaway, & Prabha, 2003-2005)(Radford & Connaway, 2005-2007)


• Face-to-face group interview

• Need a trained moderator

• Explore in depth feelings & beliefs

Focus Group Interviews


• Individual interviews, online surveys, & focus group interviews

• Flanagan (1954)

• Qualitative technique

• Focuses on most memorable event/experience

• Allows categories or themes to emerge rather than be imposed

Critical Incident Technique


• Critical Incident Participant Interview Questions

• 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, teachers, coaches, etc.

Critical Incident Technique Digital Visitors and Residents


Critical Incident Focus Group Interview Questions

a. Describe a time when you used WorldCat.org that you considered a success.

b. Describe a time when using WorldCat.org was unsuccessful – i.e., you did not get what you wanted.

c. Think of a time when you did not find what you were looking for, but did find something else of interest or useful to your work?

Critical Incident Technique User-Centered Design of a Recommender System

(Connaway & Wakeling, 2012)


• Exploratory

• Literature surveys

• Experience surveys

• Analytical and Descriptive

• Others

• Cross-sectional study

• Trend study

• Approximation of a longitudinal study

• Sociometric study

• Critical incident study*

Types of Survey Studies

analytical

descriptiveexploratory

trend


• Encourages frank answers

• Eliminates variation in the question process

• Can collect large amount of data in short period of time

• Delivery

• In-person

• Telephone

• Mail

• Email

• Online

• Point of contact

Surveys/Questionnaires



Critical Incident User Online Survey Questions

Please think about one experience using chat reference services in which you felt achieved a positive result

a. Please describe the circumstances and nature of your question.

b. Describe why you felt the encounter was successful.

c. Did the chat format help your experience to be successful? If yes, how?

Critical Incident Technique Seeking Synchronicity


Critical Incident TechniqueSeeking Synchronicity

“The Librarian threw in a cordial sign off and

encouraged me to pursue the reading. It was like

talking to a friendly librarian in person.”

VRS USERONLINE SURVEY


Analysis (n.): summary of observations or data in such a manner that they provide answers to the hypothesis or research questions

(Connaway & Powell, 2010, p. 262)


• Two approaches

• Ethnographic summary

• Qualitative

• Direct quotations

• “Thick description” (Geertz, 1973, p.6)

• Content analysis approach

• Numerical descriptions of data

• Tallying of mentions of specific factors

• Can be combined

Analyzing Qualitative Data

n

%(Connaway, Johnson, & Searing, 1997, p. 409)

(Connaway & Powell, 2010, p.175)(Geertz,1973, p. 6)


I. PlaceA. Internet

1. Search enginea. Googleb. Yahoo

2. Social Mediaa. FaceBookb. Twitterc. You Tubed. Flickr/image

sharinge. Blogging

B. Library1. Academic2. Public3. School (K-12)

C. HomeD. School, classroom, computer labE. Other

Codebook

(White & Connaway, 2011-2012)


• Qualitative research software

• Upload documents, PDFs, & videos

• Create nodes & code transcripts

• Merge files

• Queries

• Reports

• Models

Nvivo 9

(QSR International, 2011)


“It’s like a taboo I guess with all teachers, they just all say – you

know, when they explain the paper they always say, “Don’t use

Wikipedia.” (USU7, Female, Age 19)

Direct QuotationsDigital Visitors and Residents


Dissemination


• Convenience is king

• Satisficing

• Google and Wikipedia

• 84% of users start with a search engine

Convenience

(Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research, 2008)(De Rosa, 2005)


• Power browsing

• Scan small chunks of information

• View first few pages

• No real reading

• Squirreling

• Short basic searches

• Download content for later use

• Situational needs determine search

• Contextually based rational decisions

• Confident in skills

• Differ with discipline

• Awareness of open access is low

• Lack of understanding of copyright & signed publisher agreements

Information-Seeking Behavior

(Connaway & Dickey, 2010)(Consortium of University Research Libraries, and Research

Information Network, 2007)(Research Information Network, 2006)


• Website hard to navigate

• Inconvenient

• Limited hours

• Distance to library

• Physical materials

• Don’t think electronic resources are library resources

• Associate with books

The library? What’s that?

(Connaway & Dickey, 2010)


• Students

• Confident with information discovery tools

• Determine credibility by:

• Common sense (83%)

• Cross-checking (71%)

• Reputation of company/organization (69%)

• Credible recommendations (68%)

• Researchers

• Self-taught in discovery services

• No formal training (62%)

• Doctoral students learn from dissertation professor

• Confident in skills

Skills for Finding & Using Information

(De Rosa, 2006)(Research Information Network, 2006)


• Students

• Lack of mobile access

• Library

• Website hard to navigate

• Inconvenient

• Associate with books

• Faculty

• Accessing online journal articles & back files

• Need desktop access

• Discovery of non-English content

• Unavailable content

• Irrelevant information in result list

• Lack of specialist search engines

Frustrations

(Connaway & Dickey, 2010)


• Undergraduate Students

• Google, Wikipedia

• Also use library website and e-journals

• Human resources

• Other students/classmates

• Family & relatives

• Friends

• Graduate students

• Human resources

• Professors, advisors, mentors

• Electronic databases

Tools Used: Students

(Connaway & Dickey, 2010)(De Rosa, 2006)


• Online resources

• 99.5% use journals as primary resource

• Google, Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, JSTOR

• Human resources

• 90% mention expertise of individuals as important resource

• Coworkers

• Colleagues

• Other professionals

Tools Used: Researchers

(Connaway & Dickey, 2010) (Research Information Network, 2006)


• Visit only a few minutes

• Shorter sessions

• Basic search

• View few pages

• Backfiles difficult to access

• Content often discovered through Google

E-journals

(Research Information Network, 2009)(Wong, Stelmaszewska, Bhimani, Barn, & Barn, 2009)


Digital Sources & Educational Stage

Emerging Interviews Establishing Interviews Embedding InterviewsExperiencing Interviews0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

26%, n=8

50%, n=5

77%, n=24

90%, n=9

70%, n=7

50%, n=5

32%, n=10

50%, n=548%, n=15

40%, n=4

20%, n=20

40%, n=4

Major Media Sites

Wikipedia

Retail

Syllabus- and discipline-based sites


Contact & Educational Stages

Emerging Interviews Establishing Interviews Embedding Interviews Experiencing Interviews0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

55%, n=17 60%, n=6

40%, n=4

84%, n=26

90%, n=9

70%, n=7 70%, n=7

30%, n=3

10%, n=10

52%, n=16

100%, n=10 100%, n=10 100%, n=10

Face-to-Face

Phone calls

IM, Chat

Email


The word “librarian” only mentioned once in original interviews by Emerging Stage participants as a source of information

One participant referred to “a lady in the library who helps you find things” (USU5, Male, Age 19)


• Improved OPACs

• Full text, online accessible

• Seamless discovery to delivery

• Access more important than discovery

• Mobile access

What can we change?


• Advertise resources, brand, & value

• Provide search help at time of need

• OPAC & library web site

• Chat & IM

• Mobile technology

• Design all of our systems with users in mind

• Familiar formats

• Model services on popular services

What can we do?


“By focusing on relationship building instead of service

excellence, organizations can uncover new needs and

be in position to make a stronger impact.”

(Matthews, 2012)


References

ACRL Board of Directors. (2011). Standards for libraries in higher education. ACRL Association of College & Research Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standardslibraries

Bertot, J. C., Berube, K., Devereaux, P., Dhakal, K., Powers, S., & Ray, J. (2012). Assessing the usability of WorldCat Local: Findings and considerations. The Library Quarterly, 82(2), 207-221.

Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research. (2008). Information behaviour of the researcher of the future: A CIBER briefing paper. London: CIBER.

Connaway, L. S., & Clough, P. (2010-2013). User-centered design of a recommender system for a “universal“ library catalogue. Funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/recommender/default.htm

Connaway, L. S., & Dickey, T. J. (2010). The digital information seeker: Report of the findings from selected OCLC, RIN, and JISC user behaviour projects. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/reports/2010/digitalinformationseekerreport.pdf

Connaway, L. S., & Dickey, T. J. (2010). Towards a profile of the researcher of today: What can we learn from JISC projects? Common themes identified in an analysis of JISC Virtual Research Environment and Digital Repository Projects. Retrieved from http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/418/2/VirtualScholar_themesFromProjects_revised.pdf

Connaway, L. S., Dickey, T. J., & Radford, M. L. (2011). “If it is too inconvenient I’m not going after it:” Convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking behaviors. Library & Information Science Research, 33(3), 179-190.

Connaway, L. S., Johnson, D. W., & Searing, S. (1997). Online catalogs from the users’ perspective: The use of focus group interviews. College and Research Libraries, 58(5), 403-420.

Connaway, L. S., Lanclos, D., White, D., Le Cornu, A., & Hood, E. M. (2012). User-centered decision making: A new model for developing academic library services and systems. IFLA 2012 Conference Proceedings, August 11-17, Helsinki, Finland.

http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/standardslibraries

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

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/reports/2010/digitalinformationseekerreport.pdf

http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/418/2/VirtualScholar_themesFromProjects_revised.pdf


References

Connaway, L. S., & Powell, R. R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians (5th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Connaway, L. S., & Radford, M. L. (2011). Seeking synchronicity: Revelations and recommendations for virtual reference. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/reports/synchronicity/full.pdf

Connaway, L. S., & Wakeling, S. (2012). To use or not to use Worldcat.org: An international perspective from different user groups. (OCLC Internal Report).

Connaway, L. S., White, D., Lanclos, D., & Le Cornu, A. (2013). Visitors and Residents: What motivates engagement with the digital information environment? Information Research, 18(1). Retrieved from http://informationr.net/ir/18-1/infres181.html

Cunningham, S. J., & Connaway, L. S. (1996). Information searching preferences and practices of computer science researchers. In J. Grundy (Ed.), Proceedings: Sixth Australian conference on computer-human interaction, November 24-27, 1996, Hamilton, New Zealand (pp. 294-299). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.

Dempsey, L. (2008). Always on: Libraries in a world of permanent connectivity. First Monday, 14(1). Retrieved from http://www.firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2291/207

Dempsey, L. (2013, January 23). The inside out library: Scale, learning, engagement. Presented at Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey.

De Rosa, C. (2005). Perceptions of libraries and information resources: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, OH: OCLC Online Computer Library Center.

De Rosa, C. (2006). College students' perceptions of libraries and information resources: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, OH: OCLC Online Computer Library Center.

http://www.oclc.org/reports/synchronicity/full.pdf

http://informationr.net/ir/18-1/infres181.html

http://www.firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2291/207


References

Dervin, B., Connaway, L. S., & Prabha, C. (2003-2006). 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 (IMLS). Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/past/orprojects/imls/default.htm

DeSantis, N. (2012, January 6). On Facebook, librarian brings 2 students from the early 1900s to life. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/on-facebook-librarian-brings-two-students-from-the-early-1900s-to-life/348458-22/Study-College-students-rarely-use-librarians-expertise/50094086/1

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 327–358.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. NY: Basic Books.

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory; strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.

Kolowich, S. (2011, August 22). Study: College students rarely use librarians’ expertise. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-0

Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Leedy, P. D., & Omrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research: Planning and design (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Merrill Education.

Morgan, D. L. (1998). Planning focus groups. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing

Prensky, M. (2006). Listen to the natives. Educational Leadership, 63(4), 8-13.

http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/past/orprojects/imls/default.htm

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/on-facebook-librarian-brings-two-students-from-the-early-1900s-to-life/348458-22/Study-College-students-rarely-use-librarians-expertise/50094086/1

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/on-facebook-librarian-brings-two-students-from-the-early-1900s-to-life/348458-22/Study-College-students-rarely-use-librarians-expertise/50094086/1

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-0

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing


References

QSR International. (2011). NVivo 9: Getting started. Retrieved from http://download.qsrinternational.com/Document/NVivo9/NVivo9-Getting-Started-Guide.pdf

Research Information Network. (2006). Researchers and discovery services: Behaviour, perceptions and needs. London: Research Information Network.

Research Information Network. (2009). E-journals: Their use, value and impact. London: Research Information Network.

Saunders, L. (2012). Faculty perspectives on information literacy as a student learning outcome. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, (38)4: 226-236.

Tenopir, C., & Kaufman, P. (n.d.). The Lib-Value Project. LIBValue: Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries. Retrieved from http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/node/2

Wasserman, S. (2012, June 18). The Amazon effect. The Nation. Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/article/168125/amazon-effect

White, D., & Connaway, L. S. (2011). Visitors and Residents: What Motivates Engagement with the Digital Information Environment. Funded by JISC, OCLC, and Oxford University. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/vandr/

White, D. S., & Le Cornu, A. (2011). Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3171/3049

Whyte, W. F. (1979). On making the most of participant observation. The American Sociologist, 14, 56-66.

Wong, W., Stelmaszewska, H., Bhimani, N., Barn, S., & Barn, B. (2009). User behaviour in resource discovery: Final report. Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/userbehaviourbusandecon.aspx

Zickuhr, K., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (2013). Library services in the digital age. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/Library-services/

http://download.qsrinternational.com/Document/NVivo9/NVivo9-Getting-Started-Guide.pdf

http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/node/2

http://www.thenation.com/article/168125/amazon-effect

http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/vandr/

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3171/3049

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/inf11/userbehaviourbusandecon.aspx

http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/01/22/Library-services/


Questions & Discussion

Lynn Silipigni [email protected]@LynnConnaway

mailto:[email protected]

how academics engage in the digital environment. “with google you are not limited. you have as...

Education

worlds libraries

research design

user behavior research

research action

residents connaway

cyclical connaway powell

reliability connaway

qualitative research