The aim of this thesis is to examine how library employees view and work with UX or User Experience. It also examines how they view library users, the library and their own professional roles and how these views are connected with the concepts of documentality, legitimacy and identity. The concept of power is also used. The study was carried out thorough a series of ten semi-structured qualitative interviews with employees at Karolinska Institutet University Library and Linköping University Library and is based on a social constructivist perspective. The results show that UX is viewed as a mindset where one tries to look at the library from the users’ perspectives and adapt the library after their needs. This was seen as a new perspective where the library aims to stand in the users’ shoes. Through the use of methods like interviews, observations and usability tests the informants try to understand their users and their needs. However, there was a strong emphasis on balancing the users’ wishes with the aims and conditions of the library which indicate a strong internal legitimacy. It also shows that UX does not indicate a loss of power in the informants’ minds. The study shows that an emphasis on the users’ perspective can also be linked to the core of librarianship further strengthening the internal legitimacy. The results also show that arguments can be made for the importance of both constitutive and performative documentality in academic libraries today. Among the informants there was a strong emphasis on a communicatively oriented professional identity with its focus om dialogue and cooperation with library users. In conclusion, the study shows that UX can be viewed as a way for academic libraries to cope with the many changes the last decades have brought and continue to be relevant in years to come. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The aim for this master’s thesis is to clarify users’ and librarians’ views on patient libraries today. This aim is achieved by answering the following research questions: Which are the most important functions and tasks of the patient library, according to users and librarians? Which views on the patient library’s activity come with these functions and tasks? How does the connection to different cultural institutions, such as the library and the hospital, affect users’ and librarians’ views on the patient library? In what ways is the patient library regarded as an asset for health care? As a background for my study, and to give a context to the results, a historical background on the evolvement of hospital libraries in general, and of the case of S:t Görans patient library in particular, is given. Previous research on the subject of hospital libraries from different perspectives is presented and discussed. Aspects such as the hospital library as a bearer of cultural activity, hospital libraries as information centers and collaboration between library and hospital are discussed. Studies from the field of culture and health, about how cultural activity can improve patients’ health and about how health professionals can benefit from reading fiction, are included in the background of the thesis. The theoretical framework is a sociocultural perspective based on the works of Roger Säljö, with the concept of cultural institutions as a tool to analyze the views on the patient library. The method used is qualitative semistructured interviews with library users and librarians.  One of the tasks and functions that arise from the interview is to make literature available for more people. Another is to be a calm room within the hospital. The conclusion is that the patient library has a strong connection to the public library as well as to the hospital. Users connect the patient library more to the public library, but the function of being a part of the hospital is important too. The librarians connect the patient library strongly to the public library. At the same time, they express loyalty towards the hospital.

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of library usage of student teachers and lecturers, the factors influencing their usage behaviour and the methods used by lecturers to promote use. A case study was conducted at Tonota College of Education in Botswana. Questioning data collection methods were used. A total of 172 student teachers and 84 lecturers were selected by means of stratified random sampling. The findings revealed that both student teachers and lecturers made frequent use of the library. Borrowing for curriculum-related use constituted more than half of the reasons why student teachers and lecturers used the library. Most of the lecturers indicated that they adopted topic assignments as a method of motivating students to make use of the library. This was confirmed by the majority of student teachers. Most student teachers perceived the College Library as contributing to their educational success. / M. A (Information Science) / Information Science

The objective of this study was to provide information on the characteristics of a specific group of international college students from a developing country in order to assist system managers in the selection of OPACs.

Introduction. The aim of this thesis is to investigate problems that users face when using a library discovery service, and determine which problems can be solved by UX design and which problems must be solved by information literacy teaching. A second aim is to examine how UX specialists and user instruction specialists cooperate and how these two specialties are shaped by each other and by the discovery service. Method. User problems were identified by analyzing documented reference questions from the library support chat. A survey based on the user problems was sent to UX specialists and user instruction specialists. The survey was followed by a focus group interview with the same participants. Survey data and transcripts of the focus group interview formed the data for analysis. Analysis. Qualitative analyses were carried out on the data. Theories on organizational structure and professional specialization formed the basis for analysis. Results. The results imply that UX design can be used to solve problems related to wayfinding and problems that can be solved by providing short on-screen instructions, while information literacy teaching can be used to solve problems that require a wide set of information literacy skills. Conclusion. Users’ successful use of the library discovery service requires information literacy teaching as well as continuous UX assessment and design. In the studied organization, UX specialists and user instruction specialists have found ways to cooperate in providing users with high quality services. For UX to be successful, a ”UX mindset” must be employed by all members of the organization. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The purpose of this study was to develop a consensus from a panel of experts composed of library deans/directors, reference librarians, and instructors with online teaching experience. The panel developed the methodology necessary for evaluating free sources of information on the Internet for inclusion in academic library holdings by the year 2010. The following areas were explored as they related to the forecast: 1) The changes in higher education institutions that will be necessary to prepare students to deal with free sources of information on the Internet; 2) The procedures that librarians need to develop and implement to ensure that free Internet materials will meet quality standards for inclusion in academic library holdings; and 3) The things that publishers of free sources of information on the Internet need to do to ensure that their materials will be considered for inclusion in academic library holdings. The Delphi panel was composed of 24 members: eight library deans/directors, eight reference librarians, and eight instructors with online teaching experience. The members of the panel were selected from the community colleges of the Tennessee Board of Regents System. In the first round of the study, panelists responded to 10 open-ended questions on an e-mail questionnaire dealing with free sources of information on the Internet. The narrative responses to the questions were specific and provided a basis on which to develop the Round 2 Questionnaire. In the second round of the Delphi study, panelists responded to 9 questions with 42 subparts. The results of this study may be used to project the information needs of students as well as suggest strategies for publishers on the basis of the data collected in this study. A major finding of the study was the need for reliable information in documents on the Internet. The Delphi panel also listed the lack of permanence of Internet sites as a major reason librarians do not use free sources of information on the Internet. The Delphi panel recommended that educators assist students in dealing with Internet materials by teaching them how to use critical thinking skills.

According to a 2002 National Center for Education Statistics report, 98% of schools in 2001 were connected to the Internet and 63% of public classrooms had Internet connections. According to a 2003 United States Census Bureau report, 68.3% of homes with children subscribed to the Internet. These statistics reveal the scope of access children have to the Internet. This study focused on the children's voice by investigating the children's report of their online activities and their awareness of cyber security, ethics, and safety issues. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the specific reported online activities and Internet safety knowledge of children aged 10-14 years along with their report of parental supervision of their Internet use. The study included data gathered from 446 self-administered surveys completed by 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students in a rural school district in East Tennessee. An analysis of the research confirmed that as children mature, they increase their use of the Internet and their participation in unsafe online practices. The findings indicated that the most common online practices reported by the middle-grade students included emailing, social networking (MySpace), instant messaging, publishing and sharing information about their favorite sports and activities, and using secret codes while messaging with friends. The results of this study indicated significant relationships between the household placement of the computer and the frequency of unsafe online practices; students with computers in private locations reported unsafe online practices with twice the frequency of those with computers that could be monitored. The findings reflected that, in general, students were knowledgeable about unsafe Internet practices and engaged primarily in safe practices; however, many did report practices that could potentially place them at risk. The results from this study demonstrate a need for Internet safety programs to educate parents about the dangers their children face online and how to minimize those risks and to help children to gain the knowledge, decision-making skills, and motivation necessary to make safe and responsible choices when they are using the Internet.

Evaluation of library service effectiveness is important in identifying the areas where improvement is most needed, and in justifying library budgets. Traditional methods of service effectiveness evaluation have been too costly and impractical for regular use. However, most of the data required for this evaluation can be collected inexpensively and quickly with automated library systems which many libraries have already started using. This study reviews traditional methods of library service effectiveness and proposes new methods which take advantage of electronic data processing. The proposed methods are practical and inexpensive so that they can be used routinely. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the study was to investigate students’ perceptions of the role of the library in their studies. A positivist research paradigm was employed and quantitative and qualitative research approaches were followed. The research design was a case study. Three sampling methods were used in the study. To obtain a sample of the students, stratified random sampling and systematic sampling were applied. In the case of the library staff, purposive sampling was used. Data was collected from students and a limited number of library staff using questionnaires and interview schedules respectively. The latter was for the purpose of validating and collecting complete data from students.The findings of the study revealed that students at TUT, PC have positive perceptions of the library and are satisfied with library services. The findings of the study further revealed that students find the library to be user-friendly and they use the library to borrow materials, read their own notes and books, access the internet and study. Factors, such as opening and closing hours, a conducive environment for studying, and knowledge of the library staff helps the library to contribute to students’ achievement outcomes. Moreover, the findings reveal that lack of resources, non-attendance of information literacy programmes by students, a lack of research support, and an inadequate infrastructure hinder the library’s contribution to students’ achievement outcomes. The research recommends that there should be a credit-bearing and compulsory information literacy programme offered as part of the curriculum at all levels of study at TUT, PC. Furthermore, library staff need to engage and interact well with students in order to better meet the needs of individual students. They should have continuous engagement with students and notify them about important events within the library. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science) / 1 online resource (xii, 94 leaves) ; color charts