digital libraries and human information behavior © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University digital libraries and human information behavior Tefko Saracevic, Ph.D. School of Communication, Information and Library Studies Rutgers University http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~tefko © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

digital libraries global phenomenon many institutions & fields involved many research efforts & programs many practical developments in and beyond libraries large expenditures in research & practice applications & use growing exponentially huge effects, some unpredictable but study of human aspects relatively neglected © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

what are digital libraries? a number of conceptions with varying emphasis on: technical aspects content organization access use institutions research & practice differ in emphasis technological imperative predominates © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

A digital library service model adapted from Donald Waters, Digital Library Federation Task, Context Institution, Context © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

where do humans fit? in all of these processes but when looking at information behavior in the context of digital libraries, we tend to restrict it to user and use end – left side of the model as yet, we are not sure what processes & variables to observe what context & effects to include what models, measures, methodologies to use © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

dl research most done on right side of the model technical aspects, content handling, organization, operations, access tools … in comparison human information behavior was investigated much less still there are a number of studies in a variety of countries © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

context of studies some studies indeed concentrated on human information behavior in d-libraries but, most were a part of d-lib evaluation users used various features/processes i.e. evaluation was goal and findings on human information behavior were a byproduct d-library evaluation & studies of human information behavior are mixed together © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

methods used surveys interviews observations think aloud focus groups ethnographic analysis log analysis record analysis experiments given task accomplishments economic preferences you named it! © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

classes of variables studied users – who uses a d-library? features – what features are used? access – how is it used? use – what content is used? for what? usability – ease? effectiveness? outcomes – with what results? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

users population, reasons tasks, queries knowledge, understanding who uses a given d-library and why? tasks, queries what is their nature? knowledge, understanding what knowledge & learning needed? preferences, expectations what is preferred? expected? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

features features frequency & amount patterns individual differences what available features in a d-library are being used? frequency & amount how much are they used? distribution? patterns what may be patterns in use of any feature? individual differences how do individuals differ in use of features? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

access access discovery time, effort how? from where? how often? repeated? discovery how searched, navigated, browsed, retrieved? time, effort what does it take to use & find? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

use distribution application social how many items in collection used? for what were the items actually used? social what are social practices associated with digital library use? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

usability ease of use effectiveness barriers learning effort how easy are interfaces & features to use? effectiveness how effectively are they used? barriers what hindrances? frustrations? learning effort how much needs to be learned? how? © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

outcomes downloads assessments effects what & how much is downloaded? what value? relevance? usefulness? satisfaction? effects what impact on activities? e.g. education, scholarly communication © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

some interesting results users half are repeated users features many not used access varies by nature of desired materials users vary in skills & understanding © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

results … use usability 80 – 20 rule seems valid – a small proportion of collection is used downloads are significant usability many barriers to use effectiveness varies greatly frustration is easily triggered © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

results … outcomes many queries do not lead to viewing text materials not appealing valuing varies with age © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

studying inf behavior in d-library context impossible? not really hard? very mostly subsumed under d-library evaluation could not generalize yet no theories no general models emerged yet, although some proposed here is one © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

model for studying human inf behavior in digital libraries users, tasks, contexts seeking inf features d-library access use usability outcomes © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

technological imperative human information behavior in d-libraries quite different then in traditional libraries behavior related more to technology side then library side © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

conclusions research on human information behavior in d-libraries still in infancy not funded much, if at all but necessary for understanding how to build better d-libraries and services © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

How to do it? inf behavior digital library © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

sources URLs for the mentioned & many other sites dealing with studies on d-library evaluation human information behavior usability can be found on: http://scils.rutgers.edu/~miceval © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

Happy inf behavior! © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University

ďakujem vám thank you hvala danke merci gracias grazie © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University