THE ERIAL PROJECT: FINDINGS, IDEAS
AND TOOLS TO ADVANCE YOUR
LIBRARY
The ERIAL Project4/11/2013
ACRL Indianapolis 2013 Dave Green
Dave Green Project Director, ERIAL
Associate University Librarian
Northeastern Illinois University
Question2
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ERIAL: Many Parts
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Source: http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v62/n5/fig_tab/4493262f1.html#figure-title
ERIAL: background
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Funding: LSTA grant from the Illinois State Library totaling $337,000
Funding period: two years (2008-2010)
Some participants are doing new research
Participants: five Illinois academic libraries
About 25 librarians
Two full time anthropologists
Applied research project
Improve services to patrons at the five libraries
Create a free toolkit for other libraries to use
www.ERIALproject.org
ERIAL: background
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Goals:
1. to gain a better understanding of undergraduates’ research processes based on firsthand accounts of how they obtained, evaluated, and managed information for their assignments;
2. to explore how relationships between teaching faculty, librarians, and students shaped these processes;
3. to assess the roles of academic libraries and librarians within students’ research practices;
4. and finally, to adjust library services to address students’ needs more effectively.
ERIAL: background
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ERIAL organizational structure
ERIAL: background
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ERIAL research question
ERIAL: background
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ERIAL research question
Investigating user needs: methods
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Ethnography: the art and science of describing a
group, culture, or social process
Ethnography involves:
Study of a local culture
Fieldwork
Multiple methods and data sources to develop a full
picture of a process and its context
Investigating user needs: methods
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Ethnography: “What people do”
Market research: “What people say”
Participatory design: “What people make”*
source: Sanders, E. (2002). Ethnography in NPD Research—How “Applied Ethnography” Can Improve Your NPD Research Process.
PDMA Visions Magazine, October 2002.
Investigating user needs: methods
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Source: Sanders, E. (2006, September). Design Research in 2006. Design Research Quarterly vol 1, no 1 p. 6 (Design Research Society). Retrieved February 16, 2013, from http://www.drsq.org/.
Investigating user needs: ERIAL
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ERIAL methods 9 Data Collection Methods
719 Research Contacts (over 600 unique participants)
280 Semi-structured Ethnographic Interviews
49 Librarians
75 Teaching Faculty
156 Students
60 Research Process Interviews
Investigating user needs: ERIAL
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ERIAL methodsDePaul IWU NEIU UIC UIS Total
Librarian Interviews 9 9 13 13 5 49
Librarian Photo Journals 7 5 6 N/A 3 21
Librarians/Staff in Web Design Workshops N/A 15 9 N/A N/A 24
Faculty Interviews 14 15 16 15 15 75
Faculty in Web Design Workshops N/A 4 8 N/A N/A 12
Student Interviews 32 30 27 32 35 156
Student Photo Journals 11 13 11 11 10 56
Student Mapping Diaries N/A 24 10 N/A N/A 34
Students in Web Design Workshops N/A 30 20 N/A N/A 50
Student Research Process 10 30 10 10 N/A 60
Student Cognitive Mapping 37 44 33 N/A 23 137
Student Research Journals N/A 17 N/A N/A N/A 17
Student Retrospective Research Paper Interview N/A 9 N/A N/A N/A 9
Student Space Design Workshops N/A N/A N/A N/A 19 19
Total 120 245 163 81 110 719
Investigating user needs: ERIAL
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ERIAL methods: research process interviews
(Example of first-year student)
Attempted to locate video as a source for a research
assignment
Research process interview:
example
Step 1: Identifies item
in the catalog
Misinterprets call
Number as “Video
Room 315.”
“RM” shelving is
located on the fourth
floor.
Not sure about where
to go, the student goes
to the reference desk
for help.
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Step 2: At the reference desk
The reference desk is unattended
at the moment, leaving no one to
help.
The student consults a bookmark
giving call number locations,
decides that the item is on the
fourth floor based on where “V”
call numbers are shelved.
“I’m guessing--it starts with VID so
that’s on the fourth floor.”
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Research process interview:
example
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Step 3: At the circ desk
Decides to ask at the
circulation desk.
Is given incorrect
information: “Videos are on
the third floor.”
Videos are shelved in the
stacks by call number.
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Research process interview:
example
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Step 4: At the media center
The student goes to the third floor, but is confused because she can’t find “Room 315.”
Asks for help at the media center, but the student tells her that she should ask at circulation.
“The circulation desk downstairs deals with where things are. We’re mainly to check out equipment. . .things like laptops. I’m sorry.”
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Research process interview:
example
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Step 5: The floor plan
The student consults the
third floor signage, but
can’t find the call number
on the map because it
shows only one floor.
“This is not helping me. . .”
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Research process interview:
example and exercise
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Step 6: At the circ desk again
The student returns to circulation
desk, and is finally given correct
information
Finds video in the stacks
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Research process interview:
example and exercise
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Power of the users’ experience
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Very powerful and persuasive: hard to ignore
Changed mindset of (some) observers
Precipitated organizational changes
Invigorated the relationship with teaching faculty
Strong supportive response from the university
administration and community at large
The process itself builds strategic relationships
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Power of the users’ experience
Students
University Administration
Teaching Faculty
Library staffTi
me
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the observer (library staff)
“I came to understand that if we are less judgmental about our
students' desire to dig into their research the way we think they
should, and understand what it is they are coping with, we could be
much more effective service providers.”
Fifi Logan, Head of Reference Services,
University of Illinois at Chicago
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the observer (library staff) “The biggest value is that the reflection on practice is lost in the day-
to-day, and doing a study like this is showing the librarians the importance of reflecting on their practice.
Just the fact that we had a forced engagement and had to sit down and ask ‘what are we doing, what are students doing, what are we doing for the students, and how can we be doing it better has inherent value.
It honestly made me a much better librarian.”
Dr. Paula Dempsey, Coordinator of Reference Services, DePaul University
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the observer (library staff)
“The ERIAL Project has had a lasting impact on how I view my work
and the collective work of the library. Employing a range of
ethnographic methodologies led to a much deeper understanding of
our students and their needs, and did so in a way that I could not
have envisioned before this project.
The ERIAL experience has transformed how I teach in the classroom
and work with individual students…”
Lynda Duke, Academic Outreach Librarian,
Illinois Wesleyan University
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the teaching faculty
“…Moreover, our findings dramatically changed the conversation
with teaching faculty and administrators on why, and how, to
incorporate information literacy into the curriculum. ”
Lynda Duke, Academic Outreach Librarian,
Illinois Wesleyan University
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the teaching faculty
“When we go to the empirical, we are going into their (the teaching
faculty) territory and it raises their interest. They are much more
interested in hearing what we found empirically, and that is what we
are seeing.
To the extent that faculty are passionate about teaching, and I know
that faculty at DePaul are, they are very interested in what we are
finding out about the students and they want to relate to that.”
Dr. Paula Dempsey, Coordinator of Reference Services,
DePaul University
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the teaching faculty
When faculty at NEIU learned the degree that students were
struggling with understanding and using information sources, they
responded with an overwhelming surge in library instruction requests.
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the teaching faculty
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Number of Class Instruction Sessions by NEIU Librarians
Power of the users’ experience
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Impact on the teaching faculty & administration
Changes in orientation requirements
Changes in instruction requirements
Changes in the curriculum
ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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General institutional profiles
ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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General institutional profiles
ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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General institutional profiles
ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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ERIAL: same elephant, different part
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them46
The sections of the toolkit follow the chronology of a
project:
1. Pre-Project Planning – Logistics
2. Pre-Project Planning – Research Design
3. Collecting Data
4. Analyzing Data
5. Generating Action Items & Presenting Conclusions
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them47
Comments on:
1. Pre-Project Planning – Logistics
2. Pre-Project Planning – Research Design
3. Collecting Data
4. Analyzing Data
5. Generating Action Items & Presenting Conclusions
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them48
Comments on:
1. Pre-Project Planning – Logistics
2. Pre-Project Planning – Research Design
3. Collecting Data
4. Analyzing Data
5. Generating Action Items & Presenting Conclusions
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them49
Comments on:
1. Pre-Project Planning – Logistics
2. Pre-Project Planning – Research Design
3. Collecting Data
4. Analyzing Data
5. Generating Action Items & Presenting Conclusions
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Ethnographic tools and how to use them50
Comments on:
1. Pre-Project Planning – Logistics
2. Pre-Project Planning – Research Design
3. Collecting Data
4. Analyzing Data
5. Generating Action Items & Presenting Conclusions
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Questions?51
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Some general findings52
A significant number of students do not know who librarians are, what they do or how they are relevant to their studies.
Critical thinking skills are generally lacking.
All search boxes are expected to work like Google and there is tremendous over reliance on Google.
Many students spend much time and put great effort into their search for sources and information, but simply don’t know how to do it effectively
Relationships are key in all aspects of a student’s research process
Students have a strong compelling relationship with faculty; teaching faculty are the key in brokering the connection/relationship between students and librarians
Many students were happy or satisfied when they worked with a librarian
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Questions?53
Many students appreciated library instruction and thought is it was important that all students be exposed to library instruction
When students learned a tool or strategy that worked once for them, they continued to use that tool or strategy for future research endeavors, even when the tool/strategy was ineffective and inappropriate. The problem of once getting a hammer, suddenly everything becomes a nail…
When students hit an obstacle, it means the library does not have the information/material and it is time to pick a new topic…
Students return to the familiar even when not appropriate
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