5. New Research Paradigm
➔What activities do
students undertake
when assigned an
essay, assignment or
project?
➔What do academic staff
define as good student
research?
Foster & Gibbons, 2007
6. Ethnographic & User
Experience Research
Methods
➔Academic Interviews
➔Customer Journey Map
Workshop (Students)
➔Photo Diaries
➔Student Interviews
7. Team Approach
Dr Marta Bustillo
Jenny Collery
Dr Amanda Doran
Avril Patterson
Client Services &
College Liaison
Team
16. Academic Interviews
Mid-April to early May 2018
N = 9
Academics across all six colleges in UCD: Arts & Humanities, Business,
Engineering & Architecture, Health & Agricultural Sciences, Science,
Social Sciences & Law
Team: Jenny Collery, Amanda Doran, James Molloy, Carmel Norris,
Maolsheachlann O'Ceallaigh, Diarmuid Stokes, Marta Bustillo
17. The rationale….
We want to find out what
students do when carrying
out research and also what
academics expect them to
do in order to plan library
services that successfully
meet users’ needs
18. 8 questions….
1. Do you teach undergraduate or postgraduate
modules?
2. What would you say are the hallmarks of a good
quality assignment?
3. How do you expect students to find information for
their assignments? What steps would you expect
them to take in undertaking this work?
4. What sources do you expect them to use? Do you find
that they use these sources?
19. 8 questions….
5. What are the common pitfalls you have found in how
students undertake research for their assignments?
6. What “stumbling blocks” do you see that your
students face in producing good quality assignments?
7. Do students receive any instruction or tutorials on how
to embark on research for their assignments?
8. In what way could the library assist your students to
develop the research skills needed for academic
assignments /research and improve their academic
performance?
21. I moved away from
the reading list only
to come back to it,
but I don’t want to
be too stuck to the
reading list at the
same time, too
prescriptive
I would say it’s well
researched, first of all... I
mean that it shows careful
evidence of reading of the
primary text[s] as well as
the secondary material. It’s
well argued and supported
with primary and
secondary evidence
I would tend to recommend either
Google Scholar, Science Direct ... also the
Web of Science ... at least from my
perspective you can pick up about 80 %
of what you want to find there…. as a
search engine
22. Actually the
resources are
really
good...sometimes
it’s hard to find
them on the
website
How often do I use
the library? For
accessing texts, yes
occasionally, but for
literature everything
is done online and I
think that is what
most students would
say as well
23. I put up links
to all the
library
videos
The library
connecting with
the lecturers
more to say ‘this
is what we have’
24. Preliminary themes of interest
Different set of expectations depending on the level of the modules,
from first year undergrad to MA or PhD
Concern over students’ lack of critical thinking skills and the fact
that they read less
Academics designing their own information skills training for their
students, using library resources
Lack of awareness of library resources
Need for a programme based, coordinated approach to information
skills training, with Colleges and the Library working together
26. The interviews were a great tool to start
conversations with academics about student
training in information skills
Academics’ expectations of student assignments
are not necessarily centred on the Library
There was a clear gap between students’ and
academics’ perceptions of what was expected - can
the Library bridge this gap?
Transcribing and coding the interviews takes
longer than initially planned!
28. Bibliography
American Libraries Association (2008) Academic Libraries in the United States - Statistical
Trends. Available at: http://www.ala.org/research/librarystats/academic/academiclibraries
(Accessed: 15 November 2016).
Dinkins, D. and Ryan, S. M. (2010) 'Measuring Referrals: The Use of Paraprofessionals at the
Reference Desk', The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(4), pp. 279-286.
Dunne, S. (2016) 'How Do They Research? An Ethnographic Study of Final Year Undergraduate Research
Behavior in an Irish University', New Review of Academic Librarianship, 22(4), pp. 410-429.
Flick, U. (2014) The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis. London: SAGE.
Foster, N. F. and Gibbons, S. L. (eds.) (2007) Studying students: The undergraduate research
project at the University of Rochester: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Gibbons, S. (2013) 'Techniques to understand the changing needs of library users', IFLA Journal,
39(2), pp. 162-167.
Hockey, J. M. (2016) 'Transforming library enquiry services: anywhere, anytime, any device',
Library Management, 37(3), pp. 125-135.
Leavy, P. (2015) The Oxford handbook of qualitative research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McLaughlin, J. E. (2015) 'Focus on User Experience: Moving from a Library-Centric Point of View',
Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 20(1-2), pp. 33-60.
Peters, T. (2015) 'Taking librarians off the desk: one library changes its reference desk staffing
model', Performance Measurement and Metrics, 16(1), pp. 18-27.
Ryan, S. M. (2008) 'Reference Transactions Analysis: The Cost-Effectiveness of Staffing a
Traditional Academic Reference Desk', The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(5), pp. 389-399.
Saldana, J. (2015) The coding manual for qualitative researchers. 3rd edn. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Stevens, C. R. (2013) 'Reference Reviewed and Re-Envisioned: Revamping Librarian and Desk-Centric
Services with LibStARs and LibAnswers', Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(2), pp. 202-214.
Notas do Editor
In the context of declining reference queries at our desks I was asked to review the literature in relation to these questions.
While relevant, and indicating that yes, there have been serious declines, the service development research seemed to indicate that they were….
Research across universities shows a significant decrease over time
American Libraries Association (2008) - 58%
Dinkins and Ryan (2010) – 50 % (approx)
Hockey, J. M. (2016) - 47%
Kyrillidou (2012) – 65%
Ryan, S. M. (2008) - 50% (approx)
Peters (2015) – 48.8%
Stevens, C. R. (2013) – 81%
….library centric in outlook.
Ethnography, User Experience, and Participatory research design all suggested a more Student Centric approach. (Foster & Gibbons, 2007, Gibbons, 2013, McLaughlin, 2015,Dunne, 2016, Asher & Miller, 2016)
In consultation with the User Services Manager, Avril Patterson we decided to follow in the footsteps of those at the University of Rochester and ask these questions in order to develop services.
We choose four ethnographic and user experience research methods. It important to note that these methods take small samples sizes to provide detailed narratives of student or academic experiences. Rather than counting numbers, we look at the intricacies of experience.
In order for the service development to be effective, we have adopted a team approach, by including those people who deliver our services in the research process. The core team is:
The broader Research Team is made up of the Client Services team and the College Liaison Librarian Team.
The ethics approval process delayed us considerably. But it did have the benefit of forcing us to create quality documentation and consider difficult questions such as how do we include people with disabilities, or how will we store and archive our research data securely.
57 page submission not including supporting documentation
23 “questions” returned from Ethics Committee first review
Forced us to consider and formulate thinking
•Research Design – Interpretivist Paradigm, Ethnographic/User Experience Approaches
•Justifying Sample Sizes (approx N=10 most methods)
•Research Information Sheets
•Informed Consent
•Interview Protocols
•Archiving and Data Management (data, consent forms, photo release forms)
•Anonymity of participants
•Data Recording
•Matching Data across with research methods
•Appropriately including people with a diagnosed disability
•Language proficiency of participants
We asked students in pairs or singly to create a Journey Map of their research process.
We are now at the data analysis phase. We are using a two pronged approach for this. Our entire Client Services Team have analysed the journey maps and separately, the research team are coding the transcripts of explanations of their journeys using open and then closed coding.
There are a number of Positive Service Interaction Points that the library could leverage.
Searching & Gathering Information - positively profile our search tools
Subject Matter - Positively profile Collections to Undergraduates
OneSearch & other tools - scholarly
Library Spaces and Library Staff - “We have a great time”
Serendipity when browsing shelves
Non-library sources - e.g. SciHub & YouTube
Pain points, so what can we fix for the students?
Book Access
Referencing and Citation, Writing Skills
Paywalls
Identifying Relevant
Reputable sources were all mentioned.
Quick Fixes & more research
Sources Beyond the LibraryGoogleGoogle ScholarSparkNotes Research GateSci-hub citethisforme.com Google Images YouTube
Peers & Culture
Reading Lists
What does my lecturer want? Academic Expectations
Assessment*
Student Skills: Critical Thinking*, IT Skills, Time Management Skills
Language of Emotion – 11 positive, 18 negative
Liaison with our colleagues in access staff and the schools.
9 interviewees
3 men, 6 women
Across all UCD colleges
Interviews carried out by the liaison librarians for each college
So far, ????? pages of transcripts. Coding will be carried out by Marta Bustillo and Amanda Doran
Interviewees wanted students to use primary sources, to go back to the original material, and many were concerned that there is now so much information out there it is difficult to decide what are the appropriate secondary sources to use.
They expect students to follow the reading list, but also to find other relevant material by themselves
Transcription and coding process is ongoing, so these are very tentative/ preliminary themes of interest
Sample is not statistically significant and therefore themes are not generalizable
As with all qualitative research, the interviews convey rich narratives that explore the issues in great detail