Why Not Libraries? Users Identify Their Information Preferences Presented by Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. Consulting Research Scientist OCLC Research CO-ASIST Dublin, OH March 6, 2007

Why Not Libraries?...faculty use a variety of strategies for negotiating the digital morass. For most, the path of least resistance is the one usually taken – a Google search, a walk down the hall or an to a colleague, a visit to the website of a trusted archive, or often ones own eclectic collection of digital stuff. Harley, Diane, Jonathan Henke, Shannon Lawrence, Ian Miller, Irene Perciali, David Nasatir, Charis Kaskiris and Cara Bautista Use and users of digital resources: A focus on undergraduate education in the humanities and social sciences. (2 May 2006, 8-2)

Users Identify Their Information Preferences Two IMLS-funded projects Individuals' preferences for finding and using information sources and service Why their first choices often do not include library sources and services Sense-Making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives

Users Identify Their Information Preferences Two IMLS-funded projects Individuals' preferences for finding and using information sources and service Why their first choices often do not include library sources and services Sense-Making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives

Sense-Making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs Project funding Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Ohio State University (OSU) OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) Project duration Calendar years, Project phases I. Literature reviews and dialogue II. Sense-making surveys: online & phone III. Focus group interviews IV. Semi-structured dialogues

Focus Group Interviews: Phase III 5 academic institutions 44 colleges and universities 100 mile radius from Columbus, Ohio Total of 8 focus group interviews 31 faculty 19 graduate students 28 undergraduate students

Think of a time when you had a situation where you needed answers or solutions and you did a quick search and made do with it. You knew there were other sources but you decided not to use them. Please include sources such as friends, family, professors, colleagues, etc. Situation 1: Quick Search

Quick Search: Undergraduate Students Human resources Dad Friend Roommates Google Everything is current Blogs Discussion groups Electronic databases Lexis Nexis These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

… the thing about Google is that I generally find the little somethings under the search results and relevance to anything to actually be fairly good… You know, if I use the library catalog, it will give me a list of a thousand things, but there is really no ranking that I can understand. I stay away from the library and the librarys online catalog. Quick Search: Undergraduate Student Comments

Quick Search: Graduate Students Web and Google Quick Easy Personal library Library Databases EBSCO Online journals and abstracts Human resources Friends Advisors These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Quick Search: Graduate Student Comments …you need to know which database with abstracting, indexing… Google, I don't have to know, I go to one spot. I have been going to library web sites and using their stuff…e.g., EBSCO… Library as portal to online sources … will also go to university library... and search (for) articles I need.

Quick Search: Faculty Personal library – quicker than online Amazon Google quick and dirty first stop Human resources Colleagues Electronic journal center Library homepage Databases These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Quick Search: Faculty Comments Google is my first place to find something quickly. [Google] is user friendly… library catalog is not. Yeah, well, actually I was going to be different and not say Google. I do use Google, but… [I also] use two different library homepages… and I will go into the research databases… do a search there and then I will end [up]… limiting myself to the articles that are available online.

Situation 2: Did not use the library Have there been times when you did not use a library and used other sources instead?

Did not use the library: Undergraduate Students Human resources Dad Parents Professors Google Online Encyclopedia JSTOR Academic databases Lexis Nexis Personal library These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Did not use the library: Undergraduate Student Comments The library is a good source if you have several months. Hard to find things in library catalog. Tried [physical] library but had to revert to online library resources. Yeah, I don't step in the library anymore… better to read a 25-page article from JSTOR than 250-page book. Sometimes content can be sacrificed for format.

Did not use the library: Graduate Students Internet and Google Easy Databases Lexis-Nexis OhioLink Bookstores Amazon.com Personal library Human resources Professors Dad Peers Other experts These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Did not use the library: Graduate Student Comments Also I just go ask my dad, and he'll tell me how to put in a fence, you know? So why sort through all this material when he'll just tell me Dont use university online system. Dont like it. …first thing I do, is, I go to Google… I don't go into the [library] system unless I have to because there's like 15 logins, you have to get into the research databases. Then it takes you out of that to OhioLink…

Did not use the library: Faculty Human resources Experts in academic community Colleagues Subscribed services and electronic databases (Prefer to Google for credibility) PsychInfo Amazon.com Google for personal information These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Did not use the library: Faculty Comments If I have a student mention a book and I'm not familiar with that book, Amazon.com gives me a brief synopsis, … reader reviews of the book, so it's a good, interesting first source to go to for that kind of information. …before I came to the library to use the MLA database, I did a Google search and it turns out that there is a professor at Berkeley who keeps a really, really nice and fully updated… page with bibliographic references.

Situation 3: Thorough Search Think of an academic situation where you needed answers or solutions and you did a thorough search. Describe the situation

Thorough Search: Undergraduate Student Human resources Librarians Google Amazon.com Use Amazon.com first, then go to library catalog Television programs Discovery Channel These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Thorough Search: Undergraduate Student Comments I use OhioLink, but I don't really need to come into a library, as long as I have a computer at home. Discovered Lexis-Nexis, and those articles are brilliant, give lots of information… get so much information going through library and Lexis-Nexis, and articles are ten times better [than web]. Go to Google… can [pinpoint]… I will find Google articles and then [go] to library and find a couple articles...

Thorough Search: Graduate Students Human resources Class members Professors Peers Colleagues Experts Library Internet Online books These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Thorough Search: Graduate Student Comments I'm not trust(ing) everything that's on the Internet, but I will print off all the information and I get ideas that I will also go to the university library and search some article I need.

Thorough Search: Faculty Online resources Web sites ending in.ORG Google for definitions Library Academic journals Journal databases Books Human Resources Experts Authorities in field Personal information specialist These are not listed in order of the number of occurrences.

Thorough Search: Faculty Comments So if I have athlete that has low back pain and, and I have a question about a particular exercise that would be helpful or, or not helpful or that sort of thing, … I'd rather get on the phone and talk with a therapist that works with back people all the time, because you can cut right to the chase - ask a specific question and there is some credibility there that you, that is already built in. In talking to this regional expert about how they do things that is directly applicable to what I need to do and it is, it is immediate. It's credible, and it's very specific to what I am looking for. I'm suspicious of people who are publishing on-line because usually the peer review is much less rigorous.

Situation 4: Magic Wand If you had a magic wand, what would your ideal information system and services provide? How would you go about using the systems and services? When? Where? How?

Magic Wand: Undergraduate Student Comments Make library catalogs more like search engines or OhioLink. Make a universal library card that would work in all libraries. Space in the library to interact and collaborate - group study areas and areas to spread stuff out.

Magic Wand: Graduate Student Comments More staff, roaming personnel Book delivery from library through campus mail Drive-up pickup or drop off delivery service since parking is a problem. Make the library like a coffee house.

Magic Wand: Faculty Comments Lessen the intimidation factor Better signage and other pathfinders Bookstore environment

Semi-structured Dialogue: Phase IV 15 participants 6 faculty 4 graduate students 5 undergraduate students Situations Academic Recall how you go about writing your most recent assignment or research. What sources did you consult How did you decide on using them Where did you locate them? Personal Show us one of your favorite websites, one you use frequently.

Emerging Themes: Internet More than one-half use Google More than one-third use other search engines Familiarization tool Convenient Current information The findings are not generalizable because of the small, non-random sample.

Emerging Themes: Internet Internet as indispensable for familiarization Graduate student comments Without Google it takes away that initial familiarizing yourself with whats out there. We wouldnt know what the good keywords were when we go to a more academic database. …but if I want more in-depth information then I would go to the library and find books or whatever. Faculty comment … I find Google really, really useful as a fast familiarizing tool.

Emerging Themes: Internet Internet as convenient Graduate student comment I obviously turn to electronics first, then library second… because its convenient. But if I want more in-depth info, then I go to the library. Internet as current Faculty comment Theyre a bunch of sites I go to everyday. Now none of them are academic. I dont go to any academic sites everyday.

Emerging Themes: Library Used for research Desire ability to customize library portals Inclusion of recommender services Enhanced discovery services Databases, abstracts, and indexes 8% use electronic databases Do not perceive as library sources Unable to locate or access full-text copies of journals and books

Library as customizable: Recommender Services Undergraduate student comments Oh people who liked these have also liked this. Maybe you should check this out. It would be more like Amazon than, say, the current library catalog. Ill try to find something where I can search inside of a book… I would have descriptions, maybe, you know like, amazon.com has. Well, I have our library [web page] here open and… theres a lot of information and theres nowhere to search. This is the opening to the catalog but theres no box to search. Emerging Themes: Library

Graduate student comment Ok. I definitely dont like going to the library because I think its time consuming... They dont have someone there that can have the journals and books out ready for you. Faculty comment The library is much less self-contained. Its now connected to other libraries. So, interlibrary loan, shared electronic resources, Ohiolink, is much more important to us now.

END NOTES This presentation is one of the outcomes from the project Sense- Making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs." Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ohio State University, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., the project is being implemented by Brenda Dervin (Professor of Communication and Joan N. Huber Fellow of Social & Behavioral Science, Ohio State University) as Principal Investigator; and Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC Consulting Research Scientist III) and Chandra Prahba (OCLC Senior Research Scientist), as Co-Investigators. More information can be obtained at: state.edu/ state.edu/

Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives Project duration 10/1/2005-9/30/2007 Four phases: Focus group interviews* Analysis of 1,000+ QuestionPoint transcripts 600 online surveys* 300 telephone interviews* *Interviews & surveys with VRS users, non-users, & librarians

Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives $1,103,572 project funded by: Institute of Museum and Library Services $684,996 grant Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, Inc. $405,076 in kind contributions

Phase I: Focus Group Interviews 8 Focus Group Interviews 2 with VRS librarians 4 with VRS non-users Screenagers Rural Suburban Urban College students Graduate 2 with VRS users College students Graduate Undergraduate Adults

Participant Demographics: 8 Focus Group Interviews Total participants 21 Librarians (25%) 40 Non-users (48%) 23 Users (27%) Total librarians 13 Academic librarians (62%) 3 Public librarians (14%) 1 Government Librarian (5%) 4 Unknown (19%)

Participant Demographics: Librarian Focus Group Interviews Ethnicity-Librarians 20 Caucasian (95%) 1 African- American (5%) Gender-Librarians 14 Female (67%) 7 Male (33%)

Participant Demographics: User Focus Group Interviews Ethnicity-Users 15 Caucasian (68%) 4 Asian (18%) 2 African- American (9%) 1 Hispanic/Latino (5%) Gender-Users 13 Male (59%) 9 Female (41%)

Participant Demographics: Non-user Focus Group Interviews Ethnicity-Non-users 18 Caucasian (45%) 7 African- American (17.5%) 6 Hispanic/Latino (15%) 2 Asian (5%) 7 Missing (17.5%) Gender-Non-users 23 Female (57.5%) 17 Male (42.5%)

VRS Librarians: Positive Themes Interactivity Opportunity to reach people and develop relationships Providing accessibility Access to librarians Access to services and databases Opportunity to learn No geographic boundaries

VRS Librarians: Negative Themes Performance/Staffing Job performance Human resource allocation Issues about pressure and accountability Technological problems Software Learning curve for VRS librarians and users

Non-User (Screenager): Major Themes Librarian stereotypes Preference for independent information seeking Google Web surfing Trust own ability to evaluate web resources more than librarians Preference for face-to-face interaction Value interpersonal interactions in Face-to Face

Non-User (Screenager): Major Themes Privacy/Security concerns Librarians as psycho killers Fear of cyber stalkers Concern for accuracy of information Chat takes too long Factors influencing future VRS use Recommendation Marketing Ability to choose a trusted librarian

Non-User Graduate Students: Major Themes Most students prefer face-to-face librarian interactions Reliable Developing a personal relationship with a librarian Utilize internet tools for information Library website, Google, other internet resources

Non-User Graduate Students: Major Themes Negative perceptions about VRS: Sounds like a chat room, not professional, fear of question unsuitability, technology/learning curve Fear of appearing stupid, or being negatively evaluated by the librarian. Privacy concerns/ transcripts revealed to professors

Non-User Graduate Students: Major Themes Factors influencing future VRS use Recommendation by librarian/colleague Developing confidence in services use, speed & access Promotional campaign

VRS Users: Positive Major Themes Convenience Research/Information retrieval independence Collaborative – share work Knowledgeable service provider

VRS Users: Positive Major Themes Pleasant interpersonal environment Transcript of chat session Anonymity of VRS Immediacy of chat vs. Allows multi-tasking

VRS Users: Negative Major Themes Just another search engine Generic responses Distrust in information provided Technical improvement suggestions Face-to-face interaction preferred Fear of overwhelming the librarian Concerns about librarians lack of subject expertise

24/7-QuestionPoint Transcript Analysis Previous sample: 24/7 July 7, 2004 through June 27, ,673 sessions 25 transcripts/month = 300 total New sample: QuestionPoint December 1, 2005 through August 31, ,237 sessions 50 transcripts/month= 450 total Total transcripts analyzed: 750

6 Analyses Geographical Distribution Originating library Librarian respondent Type of Library Wait Time & Session Time Type of Questions Katz/Kaske Classification Subject of Questions Dewey Decimal Classification Interpersonal Communication Radford Classification

VRS Session Times Wait time Mean – 1.87 Minutes Median – 1 Minute Minimum – 1 Second Maximum – 67 Minutes Session time Mean – Minutes Median – 12 Minutes Minimum – 12 Seconds Maximum – 71 Minutes

VRS Transactions by Library Type

VRS Questions by Location of Originating Library

Location of VRS Librarian Respondents

Wait Time for VRS

VRS Mean Wait Time by Library Type

VRS Mean Session Times by Library Type

VRS Questions by Type

VRS Questions by Subject

Results Interpersonal Communication Analysis 2 Major Themes Relational Facilitators Aspects with positive impact on interaction that enhance communication. Relational Barriers Aspects with negative impact on interaction that impede communication.

Comparison of Relational Facilitators N=558

Comparison of Relational Barriers N=558

Transcript Examples Positive Example – Relational Facilitators Natural Resources of Washington Question Type: Ready Reference Subject Type: Economics Duration: 19 min., 21 sec. Negative Example – Relational Barriers Bumper Cars Question Type: Subject Subject Type: Physics Duration: 39 min.

Implications for Practice Recommend/market your VRS services Reassure that VRS is safe Kindle users enthusiasm Encourage, mentor, and learn from user Use basic service excellence skills Try new social software applications

Future Directions Complete Phase II Analysis of 1,000+ QuestionPoint transcripts Complete Phases III & IV Online Surveys (in progress) Telephone Surveys (coming soon) If interested in participating us:

End Notes This is one outcome from the project Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, & Librarian Perspectives, Marie L. Radford & Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Co-Principal Investigators. Funded by IMLS, Rutgers University and OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Special thanks to Jocelyn DeAngelis Williams, Patrick Confer, Julie Strange, Susanna Sabolcsi-Boros, & Timothy Dickey. These slides available at project website:

Questions and Comments Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. Marie L. Radford, Ph.D.