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© 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
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, [email protected]
Dubravka Kapa, [email protected]
© Concordia University, Records Management and Archives
