User-Framed Library Services At Arizona State University West

摘要

Academic libraries need to be agile - to redefine services and restructure investments in response to changing academic programs, technology, resources and user needs. Librarians are skilled at monitoring their institutional and professional environments and conducting surveys to measure satisfaction with current services. But, in the case of informing decisions on new services, we need methods for obtaining systematic data from users to validate fundamental shifts in priorities and resource investments. Carefully structured focus groups have been used successfully by Arizona State University West Library to reveal user behaviors and to design services that are congruent with their behaviors. Interview questions were derived from an examination of external forces and trends and are designed to elicit quantitative, qualitative, impressionistic and behavioral data. Focus group participants discussed how they obtain and use information and how technology has changed the way they communicate and collaborate with others. The interviews are about them and not about the library or how the library is performing. The result is a collection of powerful stories that were energizing to staff in the consideration of possible new service models. Analysis of the stories entailed indexing responses to generate quantitative data regarding information-gathering strategies and use of library resources and facilities.The qualitative and quantitative data were clustered into categories of users for which tailored services could be designed. The strengths and weaknesses of this data-rich but resource-intense methodology are outlined. In addition, the use of this data for program planning is explored.