Users’ Impressions of LibGuides: Feedback from a Student Focus Group Rebecca Payne, University of Wisconsin Madison LOEX Conference, 5/9/14 University

Users’ Impressions of LibGuides: Feedback from a Student Focus Group

Rebecca Payne, University of Wisconsin Madison

LOEX Conference, 5/9/14

University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries • Madison, WI 53706Phone: (608) 262-3193 • www.library.wisc.edu

Overview• Context & Background • Methods• Findings & Recommendations• Outcomes• Sharing & Questions


Context & Background


University of Wisconsin-Madison


UW-Madison Academic Programs


Program Type Number of Programs

Undergraduate Majors

132

Master’s Degree

Programs149

Doctoral Programs 120

UW-Madison Students


Enrollment, Fall 2013

Undergraduate Students

29,504

Graduate Students

9,430

Professional Students

2,526

Special Students

1,815

Total 43,275

UW-Madison Libraries• 40 libraries including

subject, professional , and special purpose

• 202 FTE librarians & professional staff

• 11th largest research library collection in North America (ARL survey)

• Collections developed & managed by subject specialists/bibliographers


LibGuides• Available from Springshare since early 2007 http://www.springshare.com/libguides • Web-publishing platform for libraries• Content management system used by

academic, public, school, and special libraries • Types of guides: course, topic, subject, & how-

to guides; library Web sites; etc.


http://www.springshare.com/libguides

LibGuides @ UW-Madison• Subscription since 2008• Administered by LibGuides Team• Use for subject and topic guides• Branded as “Research Guides”• 421 published guides as of April

2014


Research Guides Homepage


Background• Project of LibGuides Team and Romance

Languages Bibliographer

• “Library Usability Funding Pilot” program to provide incentives and compensation for participants in library focus groups and usability studies


Purpose• Gain feedback on

French and Italian literature guides in particular, and research guides in general, concerning: – usefulness– content– usability– discoverability – marketing


Study Timeline – Spring 2013

Date Activity

Early February Submitted funding proposal

February to mid-March Study planning

Mid-March Recruitment via “interest form” survey

Late March Online questionnaire distributed

March 23-31 Spring Recess

Early April Online questionnaire responses duePreparation for focus groupFocus group meeting

April-May Data analysis, report writing

June-July Reporting to library staff


Study Team• Paloma Celis Carbajal, Bibliographer• Erin Carrillo, LibGuides Team member• Rebecca Payne, LibGuides Team chair

with assistance from: • Giso Broman, Bibliographer's student assistant• Phyllis Holman Weisbard, LibGuides Team member• Steve Frye, Web Services Management Team Liaison • Nola Walker, Assessment Librarian


Study Team


Recruitment8 graduate students via Graduate Association of French and Italian Students’ Listserv and Qualtrics survey


Methods


Two-Part Study1. Online questionnaire

2. One-hour focus group


Online Questionnaire1. View three

research guides of other libraries

2. Rank research guides in order of preference

3. Explain ranking of research guides


Focus Group Preparation• Consulted Assessment Librarian– Simplify questions– Use space to facilitate exchange– Develop rapport – Listen, paraphrase, and summarize

• Conducted practice run– Get feedback on questions– Test recording devices


One-Hour Focus Group• Examine French &

Italian Literature guides and provide feedback as a group


Facilitation


Space


Recording


Analysis• Transcribed audio and compared to

notes• Identified emerging themes• Developed codes for themes• Independently coded, then

compared and came to consensus


Findings and Recommendations


Findings: Lack of Awareness

• None of the participants familiar with research guides


Findings: Usefulness• Good starting point for beginning

graduate students


Findings: Content• Especially useful: search boxes,

electronic resources, reading lists, reference works

• Additional content suggested: academic career information; subject areas

• Appropriate amount of content


Findings: Usability• Easy to navigate• Clear naming of

tabs and boxes • Limited page

length and content


Findings: Discoverability


Findings: Marketing• Tell faculty and ask them to add to

syllabi and course sites• Introduce in library orientations and

instruction sessions• Use library news and marketing

resources such as social media and posters


Study Limitations• Based on small group of students• From one department• Group self-selective• Possible influence of group and

presence of bibliographer


Recommendations


Recommendations• When creating a guide for novices to the

subject area, include such content as search boxes, electronic resources, program reading lists, and reference works.

• When creating a guide for advanced graduate students, add writing and career advice.


Recommendations• To prevent the guide from becoming

overwhelming, limit the number of resources included and minimize the explanatory text.

• Use tab and section headings that clearly and accurately reflect content.


Recommendations• To aid in discoverability, add a link for research

guides to the Library homepage and department Web sites.

• To promote research guides, advertise through faculty, encouraging them to add research guides to syllabi and course sites, and highlight guides in orientations and instruction sessions. Also, use existing library marketing resources such as social media and posters in the library.


Outcomes• Introduced

research guides as a resource

• Changes to specific guides


Outcomes• Stronger relationship with the

Department • Recommendations for best practices

• Developed a model for future user studies


Next Steps• LibGuides Team will continue

assessment efforts to include feedback about research guides from undergraduate students.


Sharing & Questions


Your Turn!Discuss with your neighbor:• What are you doing at your institution?• How do you get feedback from your users?• What would you like to learn from your users?• How might you apply the methods we used?


Questions?


Contact Information

Rebecca PayneReference & Instruction LibrarianUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Users’ Impressions of LibGuides: Feedback from a Student Focus Group Rebecca Payne, University of Wisconsin Madison LOEX Conference, 5/9/14 University