Invisible user dubravka

© Concordia University, Records Management and Archives, 1973 Photo by Andrew Dobrowolskyj

2012

1966

Vanier Library:

Then & Now

© Concordia University, Records Management and Archives

And the times are

changing…

The University plans to invest in renovating and

expanding library study spaces

Major changes for Webster, the downtown library

Opportunity for improving spaces at Vanier, the

Loyola campus library

Project goals

Collect data to inform space planning

Involve library users

Connect with the campus community

Connect library staff with users

Collecting data

Phase I: Quantitative Data

Survey (students)

Phase II: Qualitative Data

Focus groups

Survey comments

LibQual comments

Phase 1: Survey

Target population: students enrolled in

departments at Loyola

Questions: about use of the library spaces

Method: online questionnaire (SurveyMonkey)

When: October 2012

Designing questions

Identified ‘themes’

collections, information, services, study space, research and technology

All librarians contributed questions

Trimming down

Revising, reviewing, revising, reviewing …

Consulted with professor on campus in research methodologies

Pre-test with select students

Questions Total of 26 questions

Demographics - 9

Library use - 3

Improvements - 1

Services - 2

Equipment -1

Study spaces

Preferences

Satisfaction

Importance of

Special Collections - 1

Group work - 5

‘Extras’ - 1

Survey structure

Question type

Likert scale, open ended, “check all that apply”

Survey Monkey

Question skipping

Easy analysis

Advice: Take every survey that

comes your way for

two months

Qu

estio

n E

xa

mp

les

3,811 e-mails sent

275 responses

6,000 students registered in Loyola depts.

15,000 student e-mails received from registrar

What did we learn

about our students?

Demographics are different

LibQual

2013

Loyola

Survey

Undergraduates 78% 91%

Aged 18-23 40% 62%

Female Students 56% 75%

Of interest . . .

80% are full-time students

77% don’t live near Loyola campus

60% use the library several times a week

36% study in a group several times a

week

What do they do in

the library?

84% Use quiet study space

57% Use a printer

50% Use a computer

42% Find books or articles

40% Use a study room

16% Ask a question at the

Reference Desk

Other: “Sleep on a table when I

am so tired”

© Concordia University

Lighting

Quiet environment

Comfortable seating

They are reasonably satisfied with:

Not enough group study rooms

Not enough study spaces

Not enough computers

But…

Please indicate how

important the following

study space/equipment is

in your academic work

Quiet study space

Individual study space

Group study rooms

Computers

Power Outlets

Missing: Ambiance

If there was one thing you

could improve about the

Vanier Library what would

it be?

“More silent study halls WITH OUTLETS”

“More individual desks”

“More study rooms!”

“More computers. More study areas”

“More plugs for charging electronics near study spaces”

“More chill atmosphere”

“The carpet”

Now we know what they want

But, how do they want it?

The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library,

University of Chicago

Delft University of Technology , Netherlands

University of Edinburgh, Scotland

York University Learning Commons, Ontario

University of Glasgow, Scotland

Maranello Library, Italy

What does it actually

mean?

I prefer to study in an area with small

clusters of tables

53% agree or strongly agree

Space to use and consult print journals

and books

55% rate as important or very important

Individual study space

Does that mean a carrel? A table? A room

of their own?

Sullivant Learning Commons, Ohio State University. Photo by dieverdog (flickr.com)

Phase II: Qualitative data

Focus groups, individual interviews, survey

comments, LibQual comments

Partnered with Concordia graduate students in Human Systems Intervention

Design questions from survey issues

Focus on individual study space needs, furniture and

ambiance

Staff involved in focus group

Note takers, co-moderators, silent observers

Inviting students

Email

Handouts on tables

Bulletin board at the entrance

Library’s PA systems

Approached students in the library

Timing is important!

3 Focus Groups, overall 12 students

End of the semester is not the best time

They don’t have 90 minutes to talk to us

Constraints of our partners

Think back to when you

physically entered the

library. How does the library

make you feel?

Ambiance

“Loyola especially seems pretty drab”

LibQual comment from 1st year student

“Studying space looks like communist horror, never studying there, always going to McGill”

LibQual comment from doctoral student

“The library on SGW campus is way more attractive. The one in Loyola depresses me and

does not make me want to study. Like seriously,

there is no roof.”

Survey comment from 1st year student

Light

“There’s a light pipe. I don’t know if you have heard. It’s a kind of big pipe, but it’s a light one. It’s a kind of transparent pipe. It’s not narrow, it’s very big, diameter is one meter, it’s located on the roof, it transmits natural light of the sun during the day into the building. It’s efficient, you’re not wasting heat or energy of the building and it makes it possible to put it in the roof with considerable thickness. If you have a roof with thickness of 2 or 3 meters, it’s not possible to make a window. But using this technique, you are inserting natural light, and it is very beautiful. It’s really nice. It has too many advantages. At first it will cost you, but it works.”

Image from http://www.stylepark.com

Furniture

“We prefer to go horizontal,

not vertical”

Furniture

“If the chairs in the individual

study desks on the 2nd and 3rd

floor of the Vanier library were a

bit higher, that would be great”

Power Outlets

“The electric plug panels

are too tight, someone

with a Mac uses up two

sections. If you put them in a row, you could have

converters for laptops not

made in Canada and it

takes two spaces.”

What is the ideal study space?

Inviting ambiance

Well lit

Quiet

Comfortable temperature

Big table for one student only (space to spread material)

Comfortable chairs

Well spaced power plugs; more than one per person

Group study room

For 4-6 people

Big table

White board/Presentation screen

Sound proof

Easy booking system

Can be used by one person (to interact over

Skype, watch a video, etc.)

Taylor Family Digital Library, University of Calgary

Lessons learned

Timing

Language and communication – ours and theirs

What is a study carrel? What is “chill atmosphere”?

Worthwhile to involve staff

Partners with experience

Next Steps

More focus groups

Graduate and faculty

Questions?

Katharine Hall, katharine.hall@concordia.ca

Dubravka Kapa, dubravka.kapa@concordia.ca

© Concordia University, Records Management and Archives