UW Libraries  Personas Development

ALUMNI

• Find authoritative materials about a  personal or work-related issue

• Confused by inability to access restricted resources 

Alumni

• used to having access to all
• "I assume my alumni association membership gets me access to online resources remotely"
• public - especially alumni - thinking libray card entitles them to use UW restricted materials from off-campus
• want services we can't / don't provide
• alumni confused by options and access
• alumni - want summit & ILL privilieges
• alumni users confused by changes
• alumni user: why can't I get online articles from home? confused and entitled

• Students’ use of online databases and full-text journals is a relatively new occurrence. Students graduating 10 or even 5 years ago would not have felt the absence of this type of resource so acutely. Today’s information-savvy graduates will miss the seamless access to quality resources, full-text articles and reports, and the research support and advice provided by their library alma maters. [38]
• 51% of library development personnel have had alumni request remote access to e-resources, especially licensed databases [39]
• alumni working in professional/technical fields (business, engineering, medicine) most frequently requested access and international students also requested access. [39]
• some concern that individual alumni access to remote databases would be misused in a corporate or organizational setting [39]
• "access to electronic resources that have become ubiquitous for students...has not been developed for alumni. This absence enlarges the sense of loss that many alumni must feel when they leave campus and it misses an opportunity to better engage alumni with their campus" [39]
• "alumni neither want nor need access to all the library's licensed electronic databases, so then the question becomes one of fit. Community portals that are tailored to different user groups or portals that allow access to  significant menu of full-text resources for all alumni are appearing as options" [39]
• Of the 102 places surveyed, only 18 currently have off-campus alumni access [38]
• Johns Hopkins began service to alumni in March 2004. After an initial breaking-in period, they marketed their service aggressively and have, in their opinion, a very successful program. At this time they have about 300 subscribers...they attribute much of their success to the fact that they are closely tied to the alumni association. They were able to piggyback on the resources and channels of communication already established by the association, greatly increasing awareness of the program.

• Rice University began its program in May 2005...it has been very well received. The office gets positive comments at least once a week. [38]

• Rochester Institute of Technology just began service in fall 2005..because they "constantly got requests" from alumni for such a service...approximately 5,500 searches have been carried out between September 2005 and January 2006. [38]

• Case Western: We have had many requests from graduates over the years for off-campus access to online resources. These requests have increased in the last five years as recent grads have become more familiar with and reliant on these types of resources. Our primary stumbling block was lack of funds to supply this service. [38]

 Public

• expectation of immediate online help /answer
• not our primary user, but can take a lot of our time
• need more hand-holding
• non-UW need lots of help
• Quick to ask for help - possibly before looking themselves
• needs support for "____________" software product
• public - want immediate access to my 1950's recital recording
• unrealistic expectations for what we can do
• off-campus person requests we do genealogical research
• older non-affiliated users who love telephone reference and having libraians find everything online and read it aloud to them
• public (_common problem_) emailing or downloading a PDF file from a database
• I just want to make a photocopy why can't i pay with cash?*
• Want the hire librarians to do research
• just wants the answer - not interested in learning the process
• once-shot use -- come in, go out
• not invested in learning our systems

•  22% of 'other' category came to the library for help (vs. ~ 10% of affiliated patrons [5]
• higher percentage want to make copies (18% vs. 7% of affiliated patrons) [5] 
• "Longer hours, more computers. Explanation or clear signage on computer wait line ( where to wait ). Staff has been very helpful and polite."[6]
• "Maybe provide easy borrowing priveleges for non-students, and allow remote access to your online periodicals for a fee to those
  same non-students. Thanks."[6]
  
  

 Challenges

•  may know nothing about computers
• confused by plethora of choices and resources
• don't know which category to look under to find answer to questions
• users want to be self-sufficient, find info ASAP on web
• need a lot of help navigating our system/spaces
• "how do I get a book delivered to __________?"
• need assistance using internet, basic programs, figuring out how to print
• struggles with understanding all options for obtaining resources
• "where to start researching??"  confusing
• "I just want an article about my topic, I don't want to refine it"
• Returning student whose frame of reference with 'libraries' means card catalog, 'closed' reference services - totally overwhelmed by options on lib.washington.edu
• "how do I put a hold on a book?"
• multiple links to ejournals is confusing - inevitably user chooses 'wrong' link and gets lost
• how to find a journal article can be mystifying
• some users only want to ask questions via chat - no face to face
• printing out info from catalog and web pages - a lot of excess pages - not enough 'print friendly" links
• confused by catalog - why show items we don't own?
• used to UW only catalog - can't find it
• public & new students: easy to get confused by UW worldcat, a lot come in person due to having reached dead ends - links not working - not clear where to go next or what alternatives are
• public: want to search for books only in UW libraries
• off campus :  longer hours, access to licensed resources, access to UW collections, all for free

 Distance

• use library website from home**
• can't come to library to research; online, phone only
• living in portland, taking classes at UW, using both libraries websites - confused about why they aren't completely the same
• distance students who are frustrated that e-books are so challenging (different vendors, rules, etc.)
• distance learners: far away but want to checkout UW items. Shipping?
• adult
• believes that all materials are or should be online
• multitasking tech nerd frustrated at libraries website UI and "buried" resources, i.e. "Where are all the free online O'Reilly Books?!?!"
• visiting scholars/students who are not connected to a department
• outside researchers don't have full access and/or know how /where to get resources
• visitors: want to see lots of material in short time
• care providers - not in physical library
• off-campus users - unaware what we have
• working adult students taking extension class used to finding and using for-pay information .com websites happens to come to our website and gets lost with non-customer friendly databases
• Graduate Students  - different learning modes
• Graduate Students  - may be studying overseas
• Graduate Students  - commuter
• Graduate students - off campus -- need help in setting up study sessions, getting direction to campus, having material placed on hold prior to arrival, etc

• why distance education?: to accommodate work schedules (72.6%),family obligations (42.3%), live too far (42.1%), prefer distance education (24.7%),
  when do you visit campus?  never (40.9%), once or twice a semester ( 31.8%), monthly (18.2%)
  90% connect to internet from home
  Distance students felt that having a connection to their instructor was important, but in comparison with residential students rated other campus connections (to the school and other students) as less important. Distance students were more satisfied with their level of connection than residential students. [15]
• Data... predict large increases in online enrollments nationally with little evidence of a plateau... expected average growth rate is more than 20 percent, which far exceeds the rate of overall growth in the overall student body. institutions can expect growth in the traditional distance education population, including older students who live at a distance and students sponsored by industry and the military. Likewise, students who fit the traditional on-campus profile are increasingly interested in distance education opportunities as an alternative to traditional on-campus courses. In addition, students in the traditional range of eighteen to twenty-two years old will increasingly be exposed to precollege distance education offerings. 36% of public school districts had students enrolled in distance education courses in 2002–2003, and 72% of those districts plan to expand offerings in the future. [15]
• distance learners are a somewhat invisible population, they are not physically on campus and have limited in-person interaction with faculty, staff, and other students. Though there is an expected shift as more degree programs are developed, most of these students at NC State University are not matriculated into a degree program and enroll on a part-time basis. [15]
• the "periodic distance learner" is "the student in a residence hall or at home ten miles away from campus." Although this student has the option of visiting the physical library, this student's library needs are not dissimilar to those of a more geographically distant student. This broader definition of the remote user or distance student lends an even greater importance to addressing the challenges of providing and communicating remote services and resources. [14]
• There appears to be little interest among traditional college students (those 18 to 22 years old) to abandon the classroom and take courses online. Only 6% of students took online courses for college credit, and of those only half (52%) thought the online course was worth their time. Half of the students who took an online course said they believed they learned less from the online course than they would have from an on-campus one. Based on these findings, it is clear that for students already enrolled in traditional college courses, online education has a long way to go before it might challenge the traditional classroom. [16]
• 56 percent of all degree-granting institutions offered at least one distance education course in 2000–2001; among these institutions, 34 percent offered degree programs designed to be completed totally through distance education. Distance education now has significant alliances with industry and the military and is viewed as one important solution to overall enrollment growth in higher education. The impact is a shift in higher education from a campus-centric model, which is constrained by place and time, with control in the hands of administrators and faculty, to a consumercentric model, where control is shared with the student and without the time and place constraints [15]
• the provision of student services is reported to be a  significant but underdeveloped component of distance education programs. [15]
• most institutions do not offer the full array of student affairs programs and activities to the distance learning population (such as student health, student government, personal counseling, orientation, and virtual communities). There is some evidence that distance learners, who tend to be older and have work and family commitments, do not desire these services. However, the distance learner population will see growth in the traditional college demographic group as higher education enrollments grow overall and institutions continue to use distance education as a means to meet enrollment projections.[15]
• The services rated highest in terms of importance to distance learners include registration and records, faculty advising, and libraries. In comparison, on-campus students rated registration and records, libraries, and student health services highest in terms of importance. [15]

External Students

• Bastyr student - referred to UW by faculty, needs articles, worried
• student from  other institution: what are my borrowing privileges? can I use databases? do I have to pay for using the library?
• cascadia student: confused about access privileges (and library staff are too!)
• community college transfers and current students
• access students over 65 years old in area
• k-12 students - need lots of help
• teachers k-12
• student (HS, need report info)
• high school students - future UW?
• History day students: remote user (off campus), demanding, excited, young!, using chat
  

NetID / Non UW

•  too many Net ID options and categories
• retired faculty /staff without net ID - how to log in off campus
• no NetID*
• confused by UW restricted
• may not have/want an email address
• "I want to check my email for legitimate purposes - why is it blocked?"
• non-UW wants specific health information
• I am not a student and want to know if I an access your research databases
• I am not affiliated with the university but would like access...(ejournal, from home, checkouts, computers, locked out of building at night)
• non-UW high expectations
• non-UW
• want more access to our materials
• non-UW want to access internet
• non-UW "what is free"
  

 External Professionals

•  Professionals (engineers) from off-campus
• "I work for the Department of Health and I'm looking for _____(articles, book protocol)."
• professionals without University affility. know the field. want services.

 Directions

•  "where are you located?" street address, mailing address, map
• want tours of library
• may need directions to library
• finding stuff in suzzallo/allen (can website help with that?)
• Directions! where is x? why can't I locate it?
• where are the books?