Legal Research

The Rochester Library Anthropology Study

The University of Rochester library hired an anthropologist to work with their students and staff, to understand exactly what their needs are, and how they go about studying and writing research papers. I love it when my undergrad in anthropology comes into play in my work in libraries! There are a few of us in libraries and the tools and techniques of social and ethnographic anthropology work very well in developing understanding of the social life of information and libraries. This report is exciting and will provide some bedtime reading for me.

Download this for free (99 page PDF):

Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester
edited by Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons
Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA, Chicago 2007

Table of Contents
Introduction to the Undergraduate Research Project
Faculty Expectations of Student Research
Asking Students about Their Research
Night Owl Librarians: Shifting the Reference Clock
Library Design and Ethnography
Dream Catcher: Capturing Student-Inspired Ideas for the Libraries? Web site
Photo Surveys: Eliciting More Than You Knew to Ask For
Mapping Diaries, or Where Do They Go All Day?
What an Experience: Library Staff Participation in Ethnographic Research
Then and Now: How Today?s Students Differ
The Mommy Model of Service
Conclusion: Creating Student-Centered Academic Libraries
References
Author bios

You can also purchase it for $28.00 from ALA/ACRL.

This is a lovely contribution for libraryland, again, from the good people at the University of Rochester. Thanks.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).