Rod Aiken & Tom Kistell

Sheffield Hallam University

Draw your own library: cognitive mapping of physical

and online libraries

Cognitive mapping

• Basis in ethnography

• Used in ERIAL project Illinois

• Demonstrated and applied at UX Lib

Mapping the physical library -6 minute activity

• Work individually

• 0-2 minutes start drawing your library in red pen

• 2-4 minutes continue drawing in blue pen

• 4-6 minutes switch to drawing in black pen

We don't expect you to finish drawing the whole thing and we won't ask you to show your picture to the whole group - unless you really want to!

Look at your red drawing. What have you drawn?

Case study - Cambridge

SPS Library (ground floor)

SPS Library (upper floor)

• Both students drew in the helpdesk but

mentioned they didn't use it much

• Were very aware of the bookshelves

containing the books they used

• Had favourite workspaces & knew the

library based on the view from there

• Knew library PCs were there but preferred

to work on paper or own laptop

Common themes

• Students had a good relationship with staff but didn't ask them for help much

• They didn't have a very complete view of the library

• Seemed to feel no need to explore

Learning points

User Experience (UX) at SHU

• Library Gateway usability testing

• Working face to face

• Showcases with staff

• Benefits and limitations

• Work individually

• 0-2 minutes start drawing your library website red pen

• 2-4 minutes continue drawing in blue pen

• 4-6 minutes switch to drawing in black pen

We don't expect you to finish drawing the whole thing and we won't ask you to show your picture to the whole group - unless you really want to!

Mapping the online library(6 minute activity)

Look at your red drawing. What have you drawn?

Case study - Sheffield Hallam

Library Gateway front page

Common themes

• Most students drew the search box first

• None of them drew anything from the bottom half of the page

• A couple noticed Google Scholar, the image carousel, subject guides

Library Search results page

• Search box at the top of the results page

• Filters, especially content type (so books, journal articles)

• List of results

• Didn't draw links at the top of the page

• Mixed up/conflated pages

Common themes

• People don't spend long on the Library Gateway front page

• All students saw the Gateway as a place to search

• Lack of exploration

• They didn't know what 'the Library Gateway' encompassed

Learning points

• Look for patterns across the different maps –what is always drawn, what is missing (often the blank spaces can be more informative)

• When were things drawn? This suggests what the student considers important

• Gather extra information from what the students say

• How can we use what we've learned?

Analysis

Thoughts about the process

• Choose a time of year when the University is busy

• Beware of leading questions/wording

• Do go outside the library to find student volunteers, e.g. cafes and social spaces

• Carry staff ID - you may well be challenged!

• Doesn't have to be a silent exercise

• Can tell students what you're doing and why

Any questions?

• UX Lib conference website - uxlib.org

• The ERIAL Project (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) -www.erialproject.org

• Article summarising the ERIAL Project methodology and findings -http://goo.gl/LTh2Z6

Links

Stay in touch

Email us at vlc@shu.ac.uk if you'd like to join our cognitive mapping network to share methods and findings