Know Thy Users
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.53n1.13Abstract
At the 2012 Computers in Libraries conference I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Amanda Etches where she outlined, in concise but comprehensive form, many methods of user research. The presentation struck me as something every librarian, no matter what department they work in, should be aware of. Sure, we’ve heard of usability testing, we’ve conducted a few surveys, but what do we really know of numerous methodologies for collecting data directly from the people who matter most? I hope that this column will enlighten readers as it surveys the field and offers specific examples of how libraries benefit from user research. —Editor
References
Judi Briden, “Photo Surveys: Eliciting More Than You Knew to Ask For, ” in
Studying Students, The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester
, ed. Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons (Chicago: ACRL, 2007), 47nSusan Gibbons and Nancy Fried Foster, “Library Design and Ethnography, ” in
Studying Students, The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester
, ed. Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons (Chicago: ACRL, 2007), 22nJesse James Garrett,
The Elements of User Experience
(New York: AIGA New Riders, 2002), 51n
