Summon Use at Dartmouth College USERS’ RESPONSE. Dartmouth College Library

Summon Use at Dartmouth CollegeUSERS’ RESPONSE

Dartmouth College Library

Triennial SurveySummary of results

o undergrad = 65% use Summon at least once a term (64% use Google Scholar at least once a term)

o grad = 25% once a term (61% Google Scholar)

o faculty = 25% once a term (74% Google Scholar)

o Undergraduate students feel it is important to their research, but it is not important to graduate students or faculty.

o When compared with other resources such as the Library Catalog, Library website, and the Research Guides all three groups ranked it last for meeting their research needs.

Importance: Comparison of Search Tools

o Library OPACo Summono Research Guideso Library Websiteo Course Web Pageso RefWorkso Endnote

Criteria for responses

How important are the following to your research?

4: Very important

3: Important

2: Somewhat important

1: Not important

0: Do not use

Undergraduates

Graduate Students

Faculty

Meets Needs: Comparison of Search Tools

To what extent do the following resources meet your needs?

4: Completely meet needs

3: Mostly meet needs

2: Somewhat meet needs

1: Rarely/never meet needs

0: Do not use

Undergraduates

Graduate Students

Faculty

How often do you use a resource?

oLibrary catalogoLibrary databasesoLibrary website oResearch GuidesoAsk Library staff

oSummonoGoogle ScholaroCourse Web PagesoCourse ReservesoWeb search engines

Undergraduates

Web

searc

h engin

es

Librar

y cata

log

Librar

y data

bases

Librar

y web

site

Summon

Google Sc

holar

Ask Lib

rary s

taff

Researc

h guides

Course w

eb pag

es

Course re

serve

s

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

76%

17%13%

24%

8% 9%

0%4%

19%

11%

More than once a week About once a week Two to three times a monthTwo to three times a term About once a term Rarely / never

Graduate Students

Web

searc

h engin

es

Google Sc

holar

Librar

y cata

log

Librar

y data

bases

Librar

y web

site

Summon

Ask Lib

rary s

taff

Course re

serve

s

Researc

h guides

Course w

eb pag

es

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

69%

25%

12%

19%23%

4%1% 3% 5%

24%

More than once a week About once a week Two to three times a month Two to three times a termAbout once a term Rarely / never

Faculty

Web search engines

Google Scholar Library catalog Library databases

Library website Summon Ask Library staff

Research Guides

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

81%

27%

48%53% 54%

10%4% 5%

More than once a week About once a week Two to three times a monthTwo to three times a term About once a term Rarely / never

Librarians on the Street:

What are our users telling us?

ObservationsSummon

Pros

Cons

Current Library Search Box

New Directions for Searching

Results from three sources:

To Sum Up:

To Sum Up:

• There is no doubt Summon has become an important tool in our arsenal of resources.• Provides results in a variety of formats, sources, etc.• Often provides sources to beginning researchers that would have taken much longer to

find otherwise• When the stars are aligned, and everything works as it should, it’s a miracle and users

go happily on their way• Users want ease of use, they want tools to be easy to figure out and they want them to work• Facets are wonderful in concept and librarians and “power users” get them (and sometimes

want more!)• Most users are overwhelmed by the list, don’t know how to use it or, with many students,

never even see it.• When a new tool fails, it is hard to regain enthusiasm. The request for full text fails over and

over. • The reason for the hue and cry when we changed the primary search to Summon was due to

this lack of confidence in the results and the ability to obtain them easily. • When compared with other resources such as the Library Catalog, Library website, and the

Research Guides all three groups ranked it last for meeting their research needs.• Confusion was the term most used in comments

Questions?

Ridie Wilson Ghezziridie.w.ghezzi@dartmouth.edu