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Digital Information Seekers: New Report Analyzes and Synthesizes 12 Separate Studies

By admin

Another great post from Gary:

Digital Information Seekers: New Report Analyzes and Synthesizes 12 Separate Studies

“Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Timothy J. Dickey of OCLC Research have a new report on the web titled:

?The Digital Information Seeker: Report of Findings From Selected OCLC, RIN and JISC User Behaviour Projects.?
An overview and summary of the report is available on the JISC web site.

At the bottom of this blog post you?ll find a link to the full text report (61 pages).

From the Executive Summary:

There are numerous user studies published in the literature and available on the web. There are studies that specifically address the behaviours of scholars while others identify the behaviours of the general public. Some studies address the information-seeking behaviours of scholars within specific disciplines while others identify the behaviours of scholars of multiple disciplines. There are studies that only address undergraduate, graduate, or post graduate students or compare these individual groups? information-seeking behaviours to those of scholars. Still other studies address the behaviors of young adults (Screenagers (Rushkoff 1996) and Millennials)

Here is background on how the report was put together.

In the interest of analyzing and synthesizing several user behaviour studies conducted in the US and the UK twelve studies were identified. These twelve selected studies were commissioned and/or supported by non- profit organizations and government agencies; therefore, they have little dependence upon the outcomes of the studies. The studies were reviewed by two researchers who analyzed the findings, compared their analyses, and identified the overlapping and contradictory findings. This report is not intended to be the definitive work on user behaviour studies, but rather to provide a synthesized document to make it easier for information professionals to better understand the information-seeking behaviours of the libraries? intended users and to review the issues associated with the development of information services and systems that will best meet these users? needs.

The 12 studies used in the report follow (in chronological order).

+ Perceptions of libraries and information resources (OCLC, December 2005)1

+ College students? perceptions of libraries and information resources (OCLC, April 2006)2

+ Sense-making the information confluence: The whys and hows of college and university user satisficing of information needs (IMLS/Ohio State University/OCLC, July 2006)3

+ Researchers and discovery services: Behaviour, perceptions and needs (RIN, November 2006)4

+ Researchers? use of academic libraries and their services (RIN/CURL, April 2007)5

+ Information behaviour of the researcher of the future (CIBER/UCL, commissioned by BL and JISC, January 2008)6

+ Seeking synchronicity: Evaluating virtual reference services from user, non-user and librarian perspectives (OCLC/ IMLS/ Rutgers, June 2008)7

+ Online catalogs: What users and librarians want (OCLC. March 2009)8

+ E-journals: Their use, value and impact (RIN, April 2009)9

+ JISC national e-books observatory project: Key findings and recommendations (JISC/UCL, November 2009)10

+ Students? use of research content in teaching and learning (JISC, November 2009)11

+ User behaviour in resource discovery (JISC, November 2009)

The report goes on to offer an executive summary and four primary chapters:

+ Summaries of Each Study
+ Common Findings
+ Implications for Libraries
+ Conclusions and Future Research

In these chapters topics discussed include

From Chapter One

+ Perceptions of libraries and information resource
+ Sense-making the information confluence.
+ Researchers and discovery services
+ Online catalogs: What users and librarians want
+ E-journals: Their use, value and impact
+ JISC national e-books observatory project
+ and Several Others

From Chapter Two

+ Google and Access
+ Changing User Behaviours
+ Content and Resources
+ Common Preconceptions Exposed
+ Non-Academic Users
+ and Several Others

You?ll also find 28 tables.

Access the Full Text Report (61 pages; PDF)”

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on April 08, 2010 (boomark / email).