Research Questions – Users vs. Librarians

1. What are the expectations that different groups (students…current and future, faculty) of users have when they search?

• How do these differ from the expectations of librarians?

• What breakdowns occur when searches are performed? (indicating differences between user expectations and designer intentions)

• What workarounds do users employ when they run into problems with a search?

2. What skill sets do librarians assume users have? How do these correspond or conflict with literacies that users actually have? Will have? (“born digital gen?”

Research Questions – What are users doing?

3. What kind of searches are actually being performed by users most often? What features or resources are little used?

• Where might there be opportunities to highlight some features over others? To consolidate or “sunset” some features?

Research Questions – What is the system doing?

3. For any given search entry point, what is the body of information being searched?

• How do the MSU libraries’ approach to indexing and cataloguing fit with best practices for supporting search? Could something be gained from alternative approaches (e.g. centralizing vs. fragmenting)

• Where are the repositories housed? Who owns them and/or controls the policies for them?