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Web users are becoming more critical of the web sites they use. This dissertation evaluates the information architecture of the academic library web site at the University of Cape Town. The evaluation of the information architecture of an academic library web site is important because the web site functions as an international gateway to the institution's valuable library resources. A library may therefore be judged on the basis of its web site. It is no wonder that a lot of effort is put into ensuring a well-designed web site. A multi-approach evaluation was completed to evaluate the library web site. Firstly, a formal usability test was conducted with five users to establish the required site structure and to identify any possible problems with the usability of the site. Secondly, a heuristic evaluation with an expert was conducted to test the web site content, information architecture, and navigation design. Thirdly, a closed card sort analysis with ten participants was completed in order to establish the required site structure and terminology for the potential web site re-design. Fourthly, a comparative analysis of the previous versions of the university library web site was done to highlight the main differences and improvements. Reviewing "prior-art'1/previous versions of any web site guarantees the development of an improved information architecture. In addition to the aforementioned evaluation techniques, the study recommended the use of a requirements document that was developed for the purposes of this study that details a set of standard guidelines for the academic library site maintenance. In an attempt to improve the navigation problems identified on the library web site, a site map was developed for the web site as well. 11l This research found that the library web site had an overall usable web site with users rating their satisfaction with the site between good and very good. The site however exhibited a few problems with the terminology used, there were also problems identified with the navigation design. Issues relating to identifying specific information were also identified. This dissertation presents recommendations to handle the aforementioned problems. The study also encourages continual web site evaluation.

美國大學與研究圖書館學會（Association of College and Research Libraries）於1999年制訂「學術圖書館媒體資源指南」（Guideline for Media Resources in Academic Libraries），為大學媒體服務提供一參考準則。William D. Schmidt與 Donald A. Rieck. 在其合著之[媒體服務與管理：理論與實務]（Managing Media Services : Theory and Practice.）中亦曾列舉大學媒體中心之功能。由前述兩個標準與綱要可窺見大學媒體服務所應具備之基本規模與範圍，本研究之目的，即針對我國之大學圖書館與教學資源中心媒體服務進行瞭解，首先在於瞭解我國大學圖書館與教學資源中心或相關之媒體服務單位在大學環境中提供媒體服務的情況，其次探析大學環境與社群中所扮演的角色，最後歸納對兩單位彼此之間的各種互動、合作或競爭等關係、任務。 本研究以文獻分析法依據前段所述，彙整美國圖書館與教育領域針對大學媒體服務單位所制訂之媒體服務綱要，以（一）任務功能、（二）組織編制、（三）人員、（四）經費、（五）使用者服務、（六）館藏與設備、（七）資訊檢索、（八）與校園內其他媒體服務單位之關係、（九）遭遇問題、（十）數位科技對媒體服務的影響等十大方面，依據前述要件，對我國大學之圖書館與教學資源中心或媒體服務相關單位，進行半結構式的深度訪談。以立意抽樣之方式選擇訪談對象，共計有台大、交大、成大與淡江四所大學之圖書館與教學資源中心主管接受訪談。 本研究發現，在數位時代資訊技術與網路科技日漸普及之下，網路已成為大學圖書館與教學資源中心提供媒體服務的重要媒介之一，與其他新興與傳統視聽媒體同等重要，由受訪單位中多數單位均提供隨選資訊系統之服務可見一斑。此外本研究發現台灣地區目前之大學圖書館媒體服務，多以媒體資源之蒐集與維護為主，在教學、研究、學習上提供使用者媒體設備、閱聽空間以及隨選資訊系統，以支援大學社群各項媒體使用需求；教學資源中心之媒體服務主要以提供教學資料與教學相關軟硬體之支援服務，以及教學空間之維護與規劃，並定期進行教師之教學發展與訓練等。 本研究建議：積極研擬台灣地區大學圖書館之媒體服務指南、大學圖書館隨選資訊系統應擴展至全校園網路、大學圖書館之典藏資料系統與教學資源中心之典藏紀錄整合、大學應成立教學資源中心、媒體服務單位應積極解決人力資源問題、促進與使用社群間之良性溝通以提升媒體服務單位與其之關係、積極研究與評估新興視聽設備與資料格式、視聽資料編目專業人力分工與品質。

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate planning processes for academic library buildings and the outcomes of such processes. This is accomplished through a case study utilising discourse analysis. The main question is: How is a vision of an academic library implemented in and through a building? The case study is retrospective and focused on the building of a newlibrary at Kalmar University, Sweden, at the end of the 1990s. During this period, technological and educational developments and general societal change transformed the context of library planning and made way for renegotiations of the librarian profession.A critical realist approach characterises the study of visions, processes and the analysis of the various functions of the building. Results reveal the proactive nature of the activities of thelibrary director in Kalmar. Early in the process he formulated a vision in which he presents the library as an information resource, a meeting place between different user groups and a workplace intended to promote learning and knowledge. From a professional point of view, the vision implied a dehierarchisation of relations both within the library staff and between library staff and visitors. The vision was based on an interpretation of Swedish national educational policy, and architecturally manifested by an ambition to reduce the physical and psychologicalboundaries between library staff and visitors. The early formulation of the visiontogether with the clients’ use of architectural expertise facilitated the choice of architects.However during the process a need arose to anchor the decision in the library field. Efforts were made to address library expertise and to collect user comments from a broader academic field. Discourses concerning the university library as a workplace and a meeting place wereespecially evident in the strategies of the leading agents. The discourses uncovered in the study correspond to more general discourses which became prominent in society and higher education during the period in question. The library itself has met growing appreciation by users both from within and outside the university.The proactive leadership demonstrated by the library director in Kalmar was based on hegemony rather than coercion. This corresponds to contemporary tendencies. Hegemonic consent may persist even after changes in leadership. In Kalmar however, architectural solutions with insufficient support from the library staff have been reconstructed after changes in leadership.Future research on architectural planning processes may pay further attention to different discursive resources, social fields and the positions within them. / Akademisk avhandling som med tillstånd av samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid Göteborgs universitet för vinnande av doktorsexamen framläggs till offentlig granskning klockan 13.15 fredagen den 4 december 2009 i sal D207, Högskolan i Borås, Allégatan 1

O ensino universitário tem buscado cada vez mais formar profissionais com espírito crítico e reflexivo, aproximando-os da realidade desde seu estágio como estudante. A biblioteca universitária tem sido vista freqüentemente como ambiente de apoio às atividades de ensino, pesquisa e extensão na academia. Entretanto, é também sua função, contribuir para a inserção do estudante no universo da pesquisa acadêmica, desenvolvendo atividades de mediação junto ao usuário nos processos de busca da informação para que ele tenha condições de transformá-la em conhecimento. Considera-se a importância da Biblioteconomia e da Ciência da Informação dialogarem com outras áreas do conhecimento tais como a Educação, a Metodologia Científica e a Psicologia. Abordam-se os conceitos de informação e conhecimento, biblioteca universitária, estudos e educação de usuários. Objetiva-se discutir o papel do bibliotecário na educação de usuários, entendendo a biblioteca como espaço de aquisição do conhecimento. O estudo é baseado no processo construtivista de busca de informação (ISP) de Carol Kuhlthau. A pesquisa é de caráter exploratório com abordagem qualitativa através de entrevistas com alunos de graduação e pós-graduação de faculdades das três áreas do conhecimento, Humanas, Biológicas e Exatas da Universidade de São Paulo. Ao final da análise conclui-se que há necessidade e espaço para que e a biblioteca universitária possa tornar-se ambiente propício a colaborar na aprendizagem do estudante universitário. / The learning process at the university has been increasingly trying to develop reflexive and critical professionals, offering them a close contact with the reality since their intern period as students. The academic library has been seen frequently as an environment to support learning, research and additional studies activities at the academia. Nevertheless, it also has the role to contribute to the student immersion on the academic research, developing activities as a medium for its users to search for information so that they could transform it in knowledge. It is taken into consideration the importance of Librarianship and Information Science to dialogue with other areas as Education, Scientific Methodology and Psychology. This paper deals with the concepts of information and knowledge, academic library, users studies and learning. Its goal is to discuss the role of the librarian in relation to its users education, understanding the library as a place to acquire knowledge. The study is based on the constructive Information Search Process (ISP) from Carol Kuhlthau. The research has an exploratory character with qualitative approach through interviews with students from graduation and post graduation from three fields: Humanities, Biological and Exact Sciences from Universidade de São Paulo (Sao Paulo University). By the end of the analysis, it is concluded that there is a need and space for the university library to become an environment proper to collaborate on the knowledge of the university student.

C’est dans un contexte de pauvreté ou d’exclusion informationnelle, que la diffusion massive des outils informatiques et technologiques dans les bibliothèques de l’enseignement supérieur sénégalais, répond à un urgent besoin de transformation et d’amélioration des modes de fonctionnement et de modernisation des services offerts aux différents publics, notamment les étudiants. Actuellement, dans la quasi-totalité des bibliothèques de recherche et d’étude des universités du Sénégal, se développent des activités de numérisation qui ont culminé avec l’essor de l’Internet. Cette situation a engendré un véritable effet amplificateur des ressources numériques, par la mise en place de moyens de création, un accroissement des accès et le partage de l’information scientifique et technique dans les établissements d’enseignement supérieur. En tant que véritables vecteurs de transformation des usages et des pratiques documentaires des usagers dans les bibliothèques de l’enseignement supérieur du Sénégal, le développement des technologies de l’information et de communication, et la croissance des ressources numériques, vont inévitablement bouleverser les rapports traditionnels des étudiants aux bibliothèques. L’objectif de la présente thèse, est, dès lors, d’étudier la transformation de la professionnalité des bibliothécaires, la culture informationnelle des étudiants, et les usages qu’ils font réellement des ressources numériques, au regard des contextes socioculturel, politique, économique et sociotechnique du Sénégal, dans un contexte de société de l’information en construction. Ainsi, pourrons-nous, à travers cette étude, arriver à faire une analyse prospective consacrée au développement et à l’émergence des bibliothèques. / It is in the context of poverty or information exclusion that the massive dissemination of information and technology tools in Senegalese academic libraries responds to an urgent need for transformation and improvement of operational modes as well as modernization of services for different audiences, in particular students. Currently, in almost all academic and research libraries of Senegal digitization activities that crossed the rise of the Internet are being developed. This has created a real increasing effect of digital resources, by the establishment of means of creation and by expansion of access and of sharing of scientific and technical information in higher education institutions. The development of information technology and communication - the true vectors of documentary practices among Senegalese academic libraries users – together with the growth of digital resources, will inevitably turn the traditional relationship between students and libraries upside down. The objective of this thesis is, therefore, to study the transformation of the librarians’ profession, information culture of students, and their use of digital resources, with regard to sociocultural, political, economic, and sociotechnical contexts of Senegal; and in the context of the information society under construction. Thus, through this study, a prospective analysis devoted to the development and the emergence of libraries can be constructed.

O objetivo da pesquisa é avaliar a contribuição das ferramentas de redes sociais da Web na melhoria da comunicação e da qualidade dos serviços e produtos das bibliotecas universitárias. A pesquisa é de caráter exploratório com abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, por meio da aplicação de questionário às bibliotecas da UNESP, UNICAMP e USP e de entrevista a uma amostra de bibliotecas dessas instituições. Os resultados revelam que as bibliotecas estão, ainda, em um estágio de experimentação com relação à utilização das redes sociais. Verifica-se que as ferramentas possibilitam novas formas de comunicação e de divulgação de informações, serviços e produtos para as bibliotecas, bem como de capacitação para seus usuários, o que resulta em inovações e agrega valor aos processos já existentes. Ao mesmo tempo, entende-se que as redes sociais não se caracterizam apenas como espaços de comunicação e divulgação, mas também de participação, colaboração e interação algo ainda, pouco explorado pelas bibliotecas consultadas. Apesar disso, acredita-se que as redes sociais podem contribuir na melhoria da comunicação e da qualidade dos serviços e produtos bibliotecários. / The objective of this research is to evaluate the contribution of social networking sites of the Web in improving communication and the quality of services and products offered in academic libraries. This is an exploratory research with quantitative and qualitative approaches. We have submitted questionnaires to the libraries of UNESP (São Paulo State University), UNICAMP (University of Campinas) and USP (University of São Paulo) and conducted interviews with a sample of libraries of these institutions. The results show that the libraries are still experimenting with the use of social networks. We have observed that the tools provide new forms of communication and dissemination of information, services and products for libraries, as well as build capacity for the users. This results in innovations and adds value to the existing processes. At the same time, we have understood that the social networks are not characterized only as spaces for communication and the dissemination of information, but also of participation, collaboration and interaction, all of which are still little explored by these libraries. In spite of this, we believe that social networks can contribute to the improvement of communication and the quality of services and products offered by libraries