This paper reports on a case study research conducted at a Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) from 2009 to 2012. Over these four years data was collected through a survey from over 6000 participants regarding their access and use of the self facility and resources. The article reports on various on-site learning environments and the influence this…

This report is based on a series of presentations at the second CLIR Seminar on "Participatory Design of Academic Libraries," held at the University of Rochester's River Campus June 5-7, 2013. Participatory design is a relatively recent approach to understanding library user behavior. It is based on techniques used in anthropological 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,…

Public library users made judgments about the competence of reference librarians whom they observed in videotaped interviews. Two social factors were varied in the interviews: the gender of the librarian, patron, and observers; and the communication behavior exhibited by the reference librarian toward the patron. Nineteen references are cited.…

Discusses concerns at the Arizona State University library regarding inappropriate uses of their public workstations, including Web surfing, personal email, and accessing pornography. Describe data collection techniques, including observation and electronic data collection software, which investigated use and availability data for workstations.…