Presented at LISDIS 2015, Saturday 15 November 2015

1. The use of an academic
library’s discovery layer:
An ethnographic approach
By Lizzie Sparrow
A 2013 dissertation for the
MA in Library & Information Studies at UCL

3. Observation Interview Questionnaire

4. 1. Participant recruitment
2. Search terms
3. Faceted searching

5. Historic Collections
Other Reading RoomsCatalogue Hall

9. ?

10. ?

11. ?

12. ?

13. ?

14. ?
Literary journeys -- Great Britain

16. Facets?
Where?
Facets?
Where?

17. What do they do?What do they do?

18. Location, location, location
Location, location, location

19. ETHNOGRAPHY
Time consuming
BUT real in-depth insight into users’ experience

20. DISCOVERY LAYERS
Users’ information needs are all different

21. DISCOVERY LAYERS
Users’ information needs are all different
Users’ search strategies are all different

22. DISCOVERY LAYERS
Users’ information needs are all different
Users’ search strategies are all different
Users’ ideal discovery layers are all different

23. DISCOVERY LAYERS
Consider range of search strategies
Don’t assume users notice or understand features
Provide point of need advice

24. Any Questions?
Lizzie Sparrow
lizzie.sparrow@birdlife.org
@library_lizzie