Research in academic libraries has recently seen an increase in the use of ethnographic-based methods to collect data. Primarily used to learn about library users and their interaction with spaces and resources, the methods are proving particularly useful to academic libraries. The data ethnographic methods retrieve is rich, context specific, and…

The University of Michigan Library wanted to learn more about the kinds of searches its users were conducting through the "one search" search box on the Library Web site. Library staff conducted two investigations. A preliminary investigation in 2011 involved the manual review of the 100 most frequently occurring queries conducted…

A traditional mixed methods research model of citation analysis, a survey, and interviews was selected to determine if the Bruce T. Halle Library at Eastern Michigan University owned the content that faculty cited in their research, if the collection was being utilized, and what library services the faculty used. The combination of objective data…

A survey on the use of journals at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center Library was conducted to determine whether the allocation of the largest share of the total library budget to journal subscriptions is justified, and which journals are in low use and could thus be discontinued. The findings, including criteria developed for defining core…

This report is a part of Phase I of the Detroit Metropolitan Library Project and contains suggestions for methods and procedures for Phases II and III of the Project in which patron use and costs of patron services at the Main Library are to be measured. The report includes recommendations for new instruments for measuring patron use and…

This article provides an overview of a new project for a long-range program of research to improve the quality of Federal technical library and information services. (MF)

Discusses the discrepancies in results from library utilization studies which preclude comparison of data, and recommends the standardization of definitions and methodology to enable valuable comparisons across libraries. (JVP)

Review of research methodologies used in studies of online public access catalog (OPAC) users finds that a variety of research methodologies--e.g., surveys, transaction log analysis, interviews--have been used with varying degrees of expertise. It is concluded that poor research methodology resulting from limited training and resources limits the…

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a method to provide facts about the clientele and use of one type of health science library, the hospital medical library. The method was tested in two hospital libraries, Harper Hospital, Detroit, and Hurley Hospital, Flint. The study was divided into four levels of data collecting and…

Based on data from two experiments, this article attempts to assess degree to which people differ in interpretations of questions referring to library services and the implications for interpreting survey results. Sources of error in questionnaire research--sampling, response (question interpretation, response decision, category choices)--are…

The main concern is with identifying exemplar user need studies and discussing the possible value of their methodology for a broader range of library services. (Author/MF)

Library use and user studies (1973-1981) indexed in ERIC database were analyzed to ascertain areas in need of research as characterized by Tobin. Since 1972, most research conducted has been in large-scale studies and use of nonprint materials; use of government documents and library staff needs remain unresearched areas. (35 references) (EJS)

The findings of a bibliometric survey of research papers published in 39 core journals of librarianship provide information on study methodologies, growth of the research literature, organizations studied, computer-based operations, users, and major themes of library research. (CHC)

Reviews research and writing on reference services in archives. Topics discussed include user studies of archives; the accuracy and efficiency of archival reference; the impact of technology on research in archives; interaction between researchers and reference archivists; and research needs in archival reference. (48 references) (LRW)

Based on the concept that library use measurement should have as its basic starting point the individual patron, a method of data collection and analysis has been developed that explores individual patterns of borrowing over time. The method accounts for the number of visits on which borrowing takes place, number of items borrowed per visit, and…