UW Libraries  Personas Development

EXPERIENCED RESEARCHER

• Publish innovative research
• Keep current on all new work in the field
• Obtain grant funding
• Easy way of sharing materials with students and colleagues

• Organizing materials and data 
• Clunky transitions and inconsistencies between online tools

• Frequent user of email and powerpoint 
• Usually works from home using a high speed internet connection

 Research Goals

• use mostly journals
• how to manage research
• help with files management*
• data-intense, either creating data sets or using them
• research needs intense - very different than for teaching
• want free electronic delivery of articles
• love ILL pilot for desktop delivery , are inconvenienced by coming into library for one thing
• researchers*
• concerned with publication
• need help with source management and software
• heavy users of citation tools and alert services
• how to keep current on research areas
• need easier ways to identify new resources on their areas of interest
  

• Our key finding seems obvious in retrospect: what faculty members and university researchers want is to do their research, read and write about it, share it with others, and keep up in their fields. Many of our faculty members are outstanding teachers and some are skilled administrators; they provide service to their departments and fields. But even those who are most committed to the role of professor, broadly defined, complain of overwork, resist clerical responsibility, and resent any additional activity that cuts into their research and writing time.[35]
• Time is the issue. I have to stay current on my specific research topic and do the research work —get the grant money, do the work, publish, etc. Those are the priorities at a research institution.” [34]
  
•  60-70% of science and engineering faculty cited online journal articles as primary reason for using library [1]
• 48% of Social Science and Humanities faculty cited catalog as primary reason for using library [1]
  
• Researchers generate vast amounts of data and are having difficulty managing it; Great need for personal information management [24]
• the most common tasks selected by faculty involved “Managing versions of files,” which was selected by 63.3% of respondents. Other common tasks included “tracking progress toward project milestones” (45.6%) and “archiving files” (43.6%). Several of the communication related tasks were towards the bottom of the list, with only 8.7% of faculty “enabling synchronous online
  communication” and 13.1% “recording/archiving online communication produced by project.” [14]
• "I've got about 12 different research projects ranging from data oriented, large databases (I teach data mining). I'm also doing some cross cultural research, I'm doing surveys in China and Japan and the US to look at the impact of different organizational structures and activities on the success of new product development activities. I'm working on an NIH sponsored group health research project on how we might employ marketing strategies to encourage people to continue treatment for depression. And longitudinal ways to capture information on customer satisfaction, with HOlland America. " [7]
• "When I'm not teaching I'll use search the UW libraries and beyond, and order something through ILL if we don't have it. But when I'm teaching I want to know if something's here, for the students to use it." [7]
•  scan on demand for articles was top service expansion request by 70% of faculty [1]
• want to: Keep up in their fields[35]
•  "I research ancient art and Architecture. I read a number of periodicals, some online like Jstor articles and some are not. I use some non-library resources. I use a lot of print books. I come to the library alot and I use Interlibrary loan alot. When I'm using it I usually come in about once a week. I work at home. I use some of the reference materials very heavily. I would say I'm split between using the resources in the art library and the resources here [in Suzzallo].  Sometimes even Architecture and Urban Planning. [Do you contact the librarians?] I'm pretty self-sufficient. Sometimes I go to the Art Librarian if I can't find something, she's great. And I request that she purchase 20-30 books per year. I use the library website very often...    When I come to the library home page, what I really most want to do is find books and journal articles, for my teaching and research. I just want to get in there. " [7]
  
• First stop: Google or Pub Med Central; Subject databases are greatly underused [24]
• Most with grant support buy what books they need from Amazon [24]
• The transaction cost (largely in time and attention) from discovery to delivery is too high [24]
• There is a need to integrate fragmented systems and processes [24]
• Researchers suffer from an overwhelming amount of information, demands of immediacy, and management of expectations; Users are experiencing information overload [24]
• Faculty used very few technologies to support their research management and collaboration activities (e.g.  email and teleconferencing;  90% used email, but only 30% used web based file storage or file sharing software) [4] 
• want to: Organize their materials according to their own scheme[35]
• want to: Control ownership, security, and access[35]

Change

• dislike change**
• wishes libraries website looked just like the first library website they ever saw, circa 1997
• prefers if website was all text - 'none of those flashy pictures or colors'
• may remember old ways of doing it (defunct resources, changed policies)*
• overwhelmed by how many ways to ask questions
• fuddy-duddy
• really attached to look and feel of publishers websites
• have known paths that they always use for getting to things (not happy with learning new ones)**
• not fans of UW worldcat
• don't often use the catalog
• easy access to online content regardless of approach path
• easy link from references to full text online
• off-campus faculty want access to manuscript collections

• " The new library home page is incredibly littered with non-essential junk.  Please go back to the kind of clean, accessible site you had before!" [28]
  

EXPERTISE

• sophisticated knowledge in specialty areas
• only comfortable/familiar with information types in their field/discipline
• are hooked into their disciplinary research networks
  interdisciplinary scholars - where do they fit?
• are increasingly interdisciplinary
  

•  "I've got about 12 different research projects ranging from data oriented, large databases (I teach data mining). I'm also doing some cross cultural research, I'm doing surveys in China and Japan and the US to look at the impact of different organizational structures and activities on the success of new product development activities. I'm working on an NIH sponsored group health research project on how we might employ marketing strategies to encourage people to continue treatment for depression. And longitudinal ways to capture information on customer satisfaction, with HOlland America. " [7]

KNOWN ITEMS

• already know what they want*
• only come to library to pick up items*
• pick up materials: personal ie DVDS; book requested from outside HSL
  
  
  

•  40% were at library for materials (compare to 12% undergrads and 20% grads, as high as unaffiliated patrons) [5]
• specific destinations:  Circulation (38%) much higher than undergrad or grad use.  [5]
• The use of interlibrary loan services is much more widespread among faculty members than students. [31]
• searching the library’s home catalog and searching for journal articles via online databases – were very popular with both students and faculty participants in the ALIS (Charts 3 and 4). Faculty members, however, appear to more regularly expand their information searches to include the collections of other libraries, something their students are less apt tend to do. Additionally, surveyed faculty reported requesting interlibrary loans through their library’s website more than twice as often as undergrads. [31]
  

TEACHING

• overestimate research skills of their students
• enthusiastic about library class web pages
• need help with copyright, class materials*
• "why can't i stream my entire CD on audio reserves?"
• limited time - lack of dept'l support for class development
• research for courses
• request instruction sessions
• some aren't aware of what library can offer for class support
• tell students "reserves are ready" without dropping off materials
• intensive use of certain resources short period of time for classes
• reserve materials for course support -- easy and quick to make available at the last minute (ie 2nd day of class)
• tell students they will find item "online" or in library with no specific info
  
• want e-reserves, copyright and proxying articles to be easy and straightforward

• rated student research skills as necessary but underdeveloped in every area (knowing about plagiarism, citing sources, evaluating resources, finding info at library) except open internet searching [1]
• "When I'm not teaching I'll use search the UW libraries and beyond, and order something through ILL if we don't have it. But when I'm teaching I want to know if something's here, for the students to use it." [7]
• 85% of students felt they did not have enough information from professors to begin assignments [12]

Interaction with others

• some have surrogate (eg staff, grad student) deal w/library**
• have a librarian 'point person' (a subject specialist)
  prefer in person help*
• young & new faculty: collaborative with librarians, students, etc.
• older faculty: not collaborative in their research 'silos'
• collaborate with non-UW colleagues
• build relationship with librarian, institution (invested)
• want to find direct phone number for a unit's reference desk on contact pages - frustrated to get transferred

• "[do you go through the libraries for data for your research?] Primarily. Although frankly I get my doctoral students to do that. I just had one hand me a disk with abstracts of 50 articles relating to one of our studies. " [7]
  
• 80% ask a person when they need help with the library, only 8% used website or print documentation [32]
  
• "have you ever used 'ask us' on the current site?] No. It's conceivable I could use it, but I haven't found any real opportunity to." [7]
• "I often get one of the [business] librarians to come and talk to my marketing research class, telling them how to do secondary market research." [7]
  
• Researchers believe that graduate students are self-sufficient in seeking information [24]
• Faculty and librarians have, unknowingly and inaccurately, assumed the students’ research process is similar to their own (Leckie, 1996). [12]
•  Most faculty (54.9%) have engaged in collaborative research over the past year (UW departmental, interdepartmental, or interinstitutional; 26.7% had done a solo project [14]
• want to: Work with co-authors, [35]

TIME

• time constrained**
• quick visits
• want efficient services that preserve their scholarly time*

•  "It's like, I never have time to just browse the library website, or really any website." [7]
• lack of time to learn about them  is the biggest barrier to faculty members using new technologies [4]
• want to: Not be any busier[35]

Awareness of Services

• How to alert to new library services?
• tend to find info about the library from word of mouth (from librarians?)
• don't necessarily know what we can do for them
  

•  when asked how they find out about what's happening at the library, 60% chose email, 24% friend/colleague [32]
• faculty, TAs, and students all reported a similar level of technical expertise, so faculty skill was likely not as significant a barrier to technology use as conventional wisdom would suggest.  faculty used a narrow range of technologies to meet their teaching and research goals. The technologies they primarily used had a strong content-delivery focus, so integrating more interactive and participatory technologies (i.e., “Web 2.0” tools) is likely to require different practices. The main challenge going forward in supporting faculty in their use of learning and scholarly technologies is not how to help faculty use more technology, which on its own may not be beneficial, but how to help faculty better understand their options and opportunities with the technologies available to them. Since one of the obstacles faculty faced, particularly those with lower technical expertise, was lack of knowledge of how to apply technologies to achieve their goals, it is important for technology support efforts to focus on the application of technology. It would also be beneficial, as focus group data suggest, to provide more opportunities for faculty to learn strategies for using technology from each other. This pattern connects directly with the emphasis on support at the point-of-need, which can address disciplinary and context differences. [4]

Technology

• level of IT knowledge/comfort is unpredictable ( young vs. "seasoned")

• "smart phone" users
• many are very sophisticated users of technology

• not as tech savvy as undergrads

• can struggle with new technology

• want technology to be simple/accessible/work for _them_

• help with clickers

• printer help

• can't get PDF to open/save/download

• need help w/production software

• some dept.s are tech-rich, others tech-poor

• need access to technology their department doesn't have

• can't connect to a database to get a specific article

• adjuncts: how do I access databases from off-campus?

• can't connect o proxy from off-campus

• faculty, TAs, and students have strikingly similar levels of self-reported technical expertise, when measured against defined technical skills (Figure 8). On the other hand, faculty self-reported expertise decreased for faculty with more years of teaching experience (Figure 10). Data on faculty age followed a similar pattern: those 26 to 40 years of age had a mean of 3.52 (n=95), compared to 3.14 for those 56 and older (n=196). Overall, the lowest means for faculty were comparable to the lowest means for students. These data suggest that the general belief in students’ higher level of technical expertise may be largely a myth. [4 p. 17]
• students reported using a greater array of technologies to support their academic activities than faculty. This pattern suggests that faculty may have less exposure to some of the technologies that students use. [4]
• We found that every one of the people we interviewed used digital tools. Minimally these included email, word-processing programs for authoring, spreadsheets for data storage and manipulation, networks for organizing and storing digital output, online library catalogs and databases for finding and accessing publications, and websites for keeping up and conducting professional activities. However, most interviewees only cared that these tools did work; they had little interest in how the tools worked or what the tools were.[35]
• tech expertise inversely correlated to teaching experience [4]
• Pervasively used technologies: email, course web pages, word processing, powerpoint [4]
• "Endnote, that's become popular. I've never used it, my doctoral students are using it now. It looks like a timesaver. It'd be a good thing to turn over to my doctoral students." [7]
• only about 10% of students/faculty/staff have accessed web pages from mobile devices [33]
• use of text messaging is a major dividing line between students and faculty.  Most students use it and most faculty don't. [33]
• want to: Keep everything related to computers easy and flawless[35]
• Keep track of different versions of the same document, [35]
  
• want to: Make their own work available to others,Have easy access to other people's work[35]

Communication with Students

• don't want students using google and wikipedia
• want to use technology and social web to enhance student learning in & out of classroom 
• send students to resources that not longer exist
  has preferred way of finding sources -- may instruct students to do it 'their way'
• don't always update info to students - miss changes
  

•  Many of the research assignment handouts we analyzed lacked necessary guidance and details to conducting quality research. As a whole, the handouts offered little direction about three stages essential to the research process: (1) Plotting the course for research, (2) crafting the quality research paper, and (3) preparing the paper, adhering to a certain grading criteria and citation standards.[12]
• 87% of the assignment handouts offered no guidelines for consulting the Web or the campus library’s Web site (73%) for research. [12]
• 83% of the handouts made no mention of consulting with a reference librarian or using library resources from the shelves (70%) [12]
• "The professor...was actually the one who suggested that I go to wikipedia, read it, and then look at the bibliography..it's not something I'm allowed to cite directly, but the sources they use, I can read those and cite those." [7]
  

Space

• work from offices*
• work from office/home
• most don't come into physical library
• need conference spaces 
• orientated to physical space

•  77% use library remotely at least twice a week [1]
• work from office 74% of the time [30]
  
• increase in off campus access from 18% (1998) to 53% (2007) and on campus remote access from 39% (1998) to 68% (2007). [1]
• Top library destinations: Suzzallo-Allen, then Health Sciences. specific destinations:  Circulation (38%) much higher than undergrad or grad use.  [5]
• 
  
• 33% used library computer, only 6% used their own computer however use of their own computer tripled since 2005[5]
• 70% use the library at least once a week or more [5]
• access to on-site collections & online collections rated as equally (in an in-library survey). other items rated less important (place to work, computers, help) [5]
• Branch libraries may be a hindrance to multidisciplinary research [24]
• travel to remote locations to consult rare primary materials [17]
• Work from different computers and locations, Mac and PC [35]

More

• keep CV up to date
• rarely consider donating their publications
• also do personal research
• user wants access to departmental archives
• want films to use for class
• overestimate their own research skills
• a few old school faculty still need to be made aware of alternative resources as well as how to search databases
• diva; high expectations; very opinionated
• don't respond to library surveys
• how do I find grants? (need help with grants process)
  

•  36% faculty response rate to 2007 Triennial survey (higher than grad student (33% or undergrad (20%) response rate) [1]
• faculty ranked library contributions highly (4/5) for helping them be a productive researcher, keep current in their field, find information in new areas, and use time efficiently. [1]
• 18.2% were 40 or younger; 45.1% were 41-55; and 36.7% were 56 or older. [4]
• Professional programs had more part-time
  faculty (51.0%), other disciplines had 80-90% full time [4]
• more male faculty in engineering (81%) and natural science (64%)
• more female in professional programs (64%), humanities and health sciences
• most faculty have long teaching experience (only 13% have been teaching 5 years or less)[4]
• "[do you use the libraries website] Yes [do you go straight to foster libraries?] Yes, it's linked from our Business school intranet."[7]