Starting in summer 2011, two librarians at Wesleyan University annually interviewed and directed usability studies with undergraduate students to determine how students interact with academic e-books. In 2014, the librarians used a campuswide quantitative survey to supplement these longitudinal qualitative findings. While students are increasingly…

As the availability of digital resources increased exponentially over the last two decades, academic libraries have heavily invested in electronic resources and made them accessible via library Web portals. Yet, underutilization of library Web portals is a common concern among academic libraries. According to the information systems (IS)…

How do college students "really" conduct research for classroom assignments? In 2008, five large Illinois universities were awarded a Library Services and Technology Act Grant to try to answer that question. The resulting ongoing study has already yielded some eye-opening results. The findings suggest changes ranging from simple…

Summarizes a study of the use of reference service at Sterling Memorial Library, the central research library of Yale University. (PF)

This discussion of online public access catalog (OPAC) user assistance includes results of focused-group interviews of 70 OPAC users at six libraries. Importance of printed materials, library staff assistance, users' problems relearning OPAC searching, computer-assisted instruction, multiple-dialog modes, informative system error messages, and…

Most institutions of higher education have a mission that specifically addresses three areas: instruction, research, and service. The repertoire of activities and the complexity of the goals of the University Library mirror the goals of the institution, the academic units, and the faculty. The clients of the library are the students, the faculty,…

Reports study of communication patterns of students and faculty in Psychology department at Georgia State University. Topics covered include pertinence of Garvey's model of information dissemination, methods of information exchange, practicing clinicians and research, research requirements for students, library use among graduate students, and…

Discussion of online instructional design by academic librarians focuses on a study at the University of Minnesota that compared mental models of librarians and students as they relate to online library tutorials. Reports on a review of existing library tutorials, usability studies, and student interviews about the research and writing process.…

The uses being made of the OCLC system in the area of public or reader's services was investigated in this study. Topics dealt with include the training of librarians and patrons in on-line searching, specific benefits of the data base to the public, disadvantages of the present OCLC system in public services, costs, and the motivation behind…

The case study method (employing direct observation and interviews) has become the primary means of investigating how secondary school and undergraduate students locate and use information in the library. This article examines and illustrates the shift from survey to case study with examples from dissertations and field studies of secondary school…