Search

A persona represents a group of target users that share common behavioural characteristics. The personas method, an approach to systems design, has been receiving significant attention from practitioners. However, only anecdotal evidence currently exists for the effectiveness of personas and there have been criticisms about its validity as a scientific approach to research. This paper attempts to demonstrate how incorporating personas may lead to better understand the information needs of humanities scholars. Humanities scholars in an advanced ICT environment in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan are sampled as a case. Previous studies show that the humanities scholars have a significant negative relation with ICT use; they are using it less than scientists and social scientists, and they demonstrate a significantly higher use of library facilities than other academics. There is also a lack of up-to-date international research on the humanities scholars' information needs that takes into account recent rapid increases in the availability of ICT infrastructure, especially the Internet. As such, the objective of this study is to understand the information needs of humanities scholars and the effect of the electronic environment on their information seeking behaviour using personas. This study is conducted within a conceptual framework based on an integration of existing models of information-seeking behaviour, along with additional new elements representing the information context environment, such as languages, decision to seek and format of information resources. The four personas that were uncovered in this study may be able to effectively communicate the actual information needs of the humanities scholars through the personal narrative, name, and face, which continuously will remind the academic library of what their users really want and need from their services. This study also lays the foundation for future research by identifying variables of interest, and building construct validity through the themes of information needs that emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New product development is an omnipresent challenge to modern libraries in the information age. Therefore, we present the design and selected results of a comprehensive research project aiming at the systematic and user-oriented planning of academic library services by means of conjoint analysis. The applicability of the analytical framework used and the expressiveness of the attainable results are demonstrated by means of two surveys complementing each other. Both surveys together are representing the opinions of more than 3500 academic library users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report presents the early findings of an exploratory deep log analysis (DLA) of journal usage on OhioLlNK, reporting on the information seeking methods of users. Compared to the users who sought information by browsing journals, those who conducted searches to find information and articles tended to record longer session times and viewed more articles and journals. Search engine users were also more likely to view old articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the development of collaborative virtual reference service in China. It is natural for libraries to provide a virtual reference service (VRS) as information resources become more Web based and more actively used by patrons outside the walls of libraries. Virtual reference, also called digital reference and online reference, refers to delivering a library reference service by electronic means, from asynchronous via e-mail, Web form, to real-time via chat, Web push, co-browsing, Voice over and IP. In China, more and more libraries have realized the importance of offering a VRS, hence some local VRS systems have been developed to provide better responses to patrons' information needs. These local efforts have contributed a lot to the advance of VRS technologies, but as far as CVRS is concerned, only preliminary experiments have been conducted, such as those by the National Library of China and Shanghai Library. The aim of the DCVRS project is initially to provide Chinese academic library patrons with the best possible reference service, and then to gradually expand the service to public libraries, special libraries, and the information services community.

Focuses on a study which investigated unaffiliated users' access and other privileges at academic libraries. Procedures; Findings; Conclusion.

The article discusses the need to update library catalogs through focusing on the creation of new user services, sometimes layered on top of the current library system and catalog data, and sometimes in terms of a new model for the library's service to the user. The effort to update catalogs is reflected in the term "Web 2.0," which is a shared and open service for library and web users. The 2.0 philosophy emphasizes the social aspects of information such as reviews, recommendations and tagging. The library catalog is an organized index into the library's collection of physical terms.

Abstract: This study investigated the effectiveness of question answering by question types in the inter-institutional collaborative chat reference service at a public library system. In particular, this study examined whether subject-based research type questions are answered as effectively as simple factual type questions, and whether local-specific questions are answered as effectively as non-local questions in the inter-institutional chat reference service. Effectiveness was assessed in terms of answer completeness and user satisfaction. The analysis was based on user surveys and corresponding transcripts of 415 chat reference transactions initiated by patrons of a public library system. The study found little difference in the effectiveness of question answering between subject-based research and simple factual questions. However, local-specific questions, such as circulation-related and inquires about local library services, were answered less completely and patrons expressed lower levels of satisfaction compared to non-local questions. These findings indicate problems and gaps in coordinating the inter-institutional chat reference service among participating libraries. Implications to design seamless services in the collaborative service were discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information about the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) which has been gathering statistics from ARL member libraries since 1961. The ARL statistics emphasize collection size, library expenditures and staffing by which a subset of the data is used to calculate the ARL index, a numerical score that actually defines the criteria for ARL membership. However, ARL has launched some additional data-gathering efforts such as "New Measures Initiative" wherein these efforts cannot rely entirely on automated statistics but use surveys to gather additional data from users.

Abstracts of research related to information technology are presented. These include "The New Mobile Scholar and the Effective Use of Information and Communication Technology," by David B. Bills, Stephen Holliman and Laura Lowe, "Setting Up A Wireless Library," and "Staying Alert: The Wild New World of Current Awareness Services," by Dorothy Barr.