1. Brooke the Beginner What she needs to do Get assigned readings for class Find academic articles to cite in a paper Pain points Intimidated by all the different choices Doesn’t understand terminology, like the difference between articles, journals, and databases How She Uses the Libraries Website  Finds class materials by looking up the class in MyUW and following the link to Course Reserves.  Checks the hours at Suzzallo to see how late they are open before she goes there to study  For class papers, if she can’t find enough articles using Google, she will visit the libraries’ website. She looks for basic academic articles across several different topic areas by entering key words in the main search box, then using filters to refine the results. Brooke is a 19 year old undergraduate who hasn’t yet declared a major. Right now she’s taking classes in English, History and Biology. She hasn’t used the library website much yet, but will need to do research for many different class papers and projects over the next couple of years. When Brooke first started at UW last year, she felt overwhelmed by all the activities and classes going on at once, and all the decisions she had to make. She’s learned to cope by tuning out most of the ‘extras’ and just focusing on what she needs to do immediately. She relies on MyUW to access all of her school information in one place, and keeps track of all her friends and social activities on Facebook. Doing well in school is important to Brooke, but she also has a part time job working in the payroll office, tries to work out at least twice a week, and volunteers with JumpStart, a student leadership development club. With all of these activities, she tends to put assignments off until just before they’re due, and usually only has time to do what’s required for a good grade. Brooke comes to the library at least once a week to study and use the computer labs – she doesn’t like to carry her laptop around campus all day because it’s too heavy. For class assignments, she mostly uses printed course materials and websites like Google and Wikipedia. She sometimes tries the Libraries website but she only uses the main search box on the home page because she’s not sure what the other links are. I'd rather use an online article that ‘kinda works’ than go to the hassle of finding a book in the library. Key Facts:  New to the research process and academia  Working on several assignments in different disciplines, but not an expert in any of them  Will take the first thing that’s good enough University of Washington Libraries – Personas Project

2. Paul the Professional Key Facts  Returning to school after several years, still working full time outside of school  Some subject matter knowledge and strong technology skills  Very little time on campus, so all research work is done remotely How He Uses the Libraries Website  Starts assignments by using Google and free web resources to understand the topic, then comes to the libraries site looking for scholarly articles  Looks for easily accessed, specific, factual information from authoritative sources such as major newspapers and business journals.  Uses online chat to ask for help finding relevant materials Paul is a 31 year old MBA student at the UW Tacoma campus, where he takes evening classes. He works full time at Boeing as a systems analyst. His department was recently reorganized, so he’s adapting to new professional duties as well as trying to keep up with his classes. Paul is very familiar with productivity technologies and data analysis. He uses SharePoint sites, Google and commercial database applications all day at work, but he hasn't done academic research in a long time and isn’t used to library terminology and systems. He feels frustrated when he visits the libraries website because he knows the information he needs is there and thinks he should be able to find it, but just isn’t sure where to look. School is a big time strain for Paul. He needs to complete his course requirements efficiently and often works on assignments as he's traveling for his job. He uses a blackberry to keep track of his work and school schedule, and always has a laptop with him that he uses for both work and school. His classmates also use a wiki to share links and write papers with his classmates. Because he's sharing the cost of tuition with his employer, Paul has to keep up a minimum grade point average. But aside from his grades, he also takes his education seriously and wants to learn the material because he knows it will have a long term impact on his career. I feel like there's information in all of these drawers, and I don't know which drawer to open. robinyap.com What he needs to do Find authoritative articles about different business and legal topics Pain points Figuring out where to start looking Getting from citations to full text University of Washington Libraries – Personas Project

3. What he needs to do Look up full text articles (already has citations) Refer to facts in authoritative reference materials Organize research materials Pain points Getting from a citation to full text Only comfortable using his one‘go-to’ database How He Uses the Libraries Website  Searches the catalog for specific texts that he’s seen referenced in other works or heard about from colleagues  Looks in the Web of Science database to find out which other researchers have cited articles important to his project  Searches for the full text of citations that he’s found through Google Scholar Richard is a 29 year old doctoral student in the College of Built Environments. He’s working on a dissertation about public transportation utilization and incentives, which he models with computer simulations. Richard has already completed a Master’s in Civil Engineering and has used academic libraries for research at both his undergraduate and masters’ institution. He feels like he knows his way around a library, but he hasn’t actually had any library instruction at UW or spent much time finding out everything that’s available here. To earn his doctorate, Richard needs to do original research, which means reviewing everything published on transportation modeling. He focuses on journals because that’s where the important work in the area is published, and he uses EndNote to save a list of all the articles he comes across. Richard’s faculty advisor refers him to specific authors and articles, and fellow students actively share advice about other resources to try (such as Web of Science, which lets him see who has cited a certain article). He also makes heavy use of internet sites like Google Scholar and public databases on government sites. Richard usually works from his lab, where he has several different networked computers to run simulations. He also visits the Engineering Library, Foster Business Library, and Suzzallo to retrieve materials from different disciplines that relate to his project. Richard is very comfortable with technology. Generally if he has trouble online he will try figure it out for himself or search for online instructions rather than ask someone for help. Accessing full-text articles online is my primary use of the library and is central to my research…but I still go to the library for some reference materials that aren’t online. Jurvetson Richard the Researcher Key Facts  Dedicated full time student with significant knowledge in his area of study  Working on a long term, in depth project  Will pursue all avenues to obtain materials related to his research University of Washington Libraries – Personas Project

4. What she needs to do Keep current on new work in the field Share materials with students and colleagues Pain points Keeping track of research materials Taking time to learn new systems when library resources change How She Uses the Libraries Website  Searches the catalog for books she’s heard about at conferences or from colleagues  Subscribes to journal updates to receive alerts when new articles are published  Maintains an active interlibrary loan account and requests books and articles through it when UW does not own a copy  Places books and films on reserve for students to access Sharon is a 37 year old Assistant Professor in the Anthropology department. As a tenure-track faculty member, she needs to prove her ability to conduct innovative research. So far she’s published several articles in smaller journals and one in a major journal, and is also working on a book to come out next year. Sharon studies Chinese culture and the expression of gender through art, and her current research focuses on the contemporary art world in Beijing. For some projects, she travels to China to conduct in-person interviews and work with primary sources that are only available locally. Sharon knows all of the important authors, journals and conferences in her field. To be successful, she needs comprehensive access to everything relating to her research. She subscribes to email alerts for major journals such as the Journal of Visual Culture. She also reads the New York Times regularly and enjoys browsing around sites like Amazon to find new books that are coming out in related areas, that she might not have otherwise heard about. She often emails her department’s library liaison to request a book purchase. When she’s not traveling, Sharon usually works from her office and only comes to the library to pick up materials. She also teaches and develops the curriculum for her classes. She often puts books and films on reserve for students to use. Sharon usually creates a course website for her classes and includes links to different websites and some library pages for students to use on their assignments. Sharon doesn’t have much time to spend on learning about library systems or copyright rules. She does, however, consider the Libraries critical to her professional success, both to support her own research and to help her attract high quality graduate students. I have to stay current on my field and do the research work —get the grant money, do the work, publish, etc. Those are the priorities at a research institution. Sharon the Scholar Key Facts  Expert knowledge in her research area  Ongoing, in-depth projects using primary sources  Long term user who has already learned existing systems sean dreilinger University of Washington Libraries – Personas Project

5. What she needs to do Find scientific data to support a personal project Pain points Can’t get into online journals How She Uses the Libraries Website  Emails to ask for help with locating technical information on specific topics  Wants to search online databases for datasets and full text scientific journal articles April is a 26 year old Environmental Engineer and member of the UW Alumni Association. She now works at an engineering consulting firm, but she’s also volunteering with a group that’s trying to protect salmon in the Pacific Northwest. To help support their grant application, she wants to research background information on pollution and remediation techniques, and she remembers being able to access journals through the Libraries website when she was in school. At her job, April is usually in the field collecting samples, or writing up her findings in the office. Her company provides a laptop and cell phone that she can use to work remotely, but since the firm’s business doesn’t require library research, they don’t maintain any journal or database subscriptions. April still feels like a member of the UW Community. She has paid to be a member of the Alumni Association, and has a library card and UW Net ID. She knows that the University has all the information she needs and doesn’t understand why she can check out books and search the catalog remotely, but can’t get into the databases. I have a library card, why can’t I use the research databases? Gare and Kitty April the Alumna Key Facts  Former UW student who now has access to some (but not all) library services  Remembers extensive resources at the Libraries and would like to use them for a personal project  Asks for help via email and phone University of Washington Libraries – Personas Project