What are students doing in our library? Ethnography as a method of exploring library user behaviour

摘要

Summarises an ethnographic study conducted at Loughborough University in 2007 which investigated user behaviour in a new open-plan learning environment. Seeks to encourage wider use of ethnography within library and information science research. Recommends the method as a particularly effective way to explore how library space is used. Encourages both practitioner-researchers and academics to consider using the methodology more frequently.