Information Behaviour and Perceptions of Library and Information Resources: A

challenge for future skille and competencies in the library sector

Niels Ole Pors

Promoting Professional Practices

Thursday 27 April 2006

Outline of the lecture

• Different perspectives on IL – activities

• Students information behaviour

• Management and cultural differences

• The competion with search engines

• What needs to be done

OCLC’s report on Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources

• Data from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore og India

• Online survey

• 3348 respondents

New information resources: knowledge of and evaluation

• Knowledge:– Friends 61%, links 59%, Library webside 15%,

Librarian 8%.

• Evaluation – Search engines are valued as better than libraries

and they are the medium people first will turn to when they experience an information need

– 84% states that their searching starts with a general search engine. Only 1 % starts with a library web. Google is dominant.

Search engines vs libraries

• Libraries: – Thrustworthy and Quality

• Search engines:– High accessibility, efficient, easy to use, fast

and convenient

• Most people find libraries and search engines equal in relation to thrustworthiness

Validation of information

• Other web-sites with similar information 82%. Libraries 16%

• Ranking of quality validation ”institutions”:– Experts 19%, other web sites 17%, printed

material 14%, colleguaes, friends, teachers, relatives, library materials 5% and finally librarians 2%

Rationality and information literacy

• The focus in information literacy is the accomplishment of a predetermined set of skills that constitutes the information literate person.

• These skills seems in many ways to be based on the idea of human rational behaviour.

• Rationality plays a central role in western ideology.

• It is a normative theory of human decision-making

Rationality in students study- and information behaviour

• The survey reveals that pedagogical requirements influences the students information behaviour.

• It means that students seems to do what they have to do according to pedagogical requirements and to pass their examinations

• It results in a situational and individual perception and interpretation of these requirements into (rational) information behaviour’.

Perspectives• In the overall perspective students information

behaviour seems in many ways to be difficult to capture in the idea of the information literate person.

• Students information behaviour depend on their individual perception of what might be a rational and efficient approach to information according to the requirements that they have to meet.

• Instead of normative standards information literacy should be conceptualised in a way that takes into account the contextual and situational factors that influences, in this case, students information behaviour.

Topics in the study of 1700 students in DenmarkK

• Demographic factors• Use patterns in relation to both academic and

public libraries• Use of electronic resources, search machines,

formalised databases, specialised electronic services

• Study styles and information behaviour and preferences

• Information literacy related questions• Satisfaction with services

The students information behaviour is closely connected to their study subject and the number of years they have studied (Kerins, G., Madden, R. & Fulton, C. (2004)) (Franklin, B. & Plum, T. (2004) (Waldman, Micaela (2003))

It is very important for the students use of information how teachers recommends and how they put forward requirements and demands (Baruchson-Arbib, S. & Schor, F. (2002))

•Students use digital resources and they also like to access them from home

•Students prefer general search machines and it seems that they have difficulties distinguishing between internet resources and library resources

•It is difficult for students to evaluate the quality of resources found on the internet. (Grimes,D. and Boening,C.H.(2001))

•students devlops more or less rational strategies to reduce their information anxiety in relation to their feeling of information overload.

•The information the students select is often randomly chosen and the choice is based on a least effort principle. In connection with this we often see that students employ an cut and paste culture or they redefine their assignments to fit the information found (Markland, M. (2005))

•Increasingly, students download full text papers – just in case

•Students tend to avoid the library based resources like guides, portals and the like (Crawford, J., DeVicinte, A. & Clink,S. 2004))

•Students have difficulties in distinguishing different databases and information tools from each other. From time to time they use library resources without any idea of the library system behind (D’Esposito, J. and Gardner, R. (1999)

•The immediate availability of information – in printed or digital form – can not be overestimated

•Students sometimes demonstrate an individual rational behaviour like reserving the same documents at different libraries with the unintended consequence that the overall availability decrease

•Libraries and information resources are means and not ends for students

•Students want simple and common interfaces and they don’t want to go to different vendors with different search requirements and interfaces. They want ease of use and simplicity (Vilar, P. & Zumer, M. (2005))

Results 1•Overall the survey confirmed previous research results.•Subject and study year plays a significant role in students use of both academic and public libraries.•10% does not use libraries at all.•The physical library is very popular among the students. 75% visits an academic library at least monthly.

Results 2•A majority of all students use Google to seek information for study purposes.•55% of the students prefer to use Google.•Students do only to a limited degree use web-based library resources (e.g. catalogues, databases and subject-portals).•Use of Google on a regular basis correlates strongly with the use of web-based library resources

– Information intensive users– Information moderate users

Results 3• Both the information intensive and the information

moderate students seems to have received library introductions.

• Both the information intensive and the information moderate students seems to have received introduction to electronic library resources.

• Both segments only have vague ideas about whether there exists any cooperation between their teachers and the library.

• A small but significant difference can be identified among the two segments concerning requirements for using additional literature during their study.

Cooperation teacher and library

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Long

Medium

YesNoDont know

The teacher points to the importance of the library as part of the program

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Long

Medium

YesNoDont know

Information behaviour information intensive/moderate

statement intensive moderate

Read only required -1 20

Syste searches in lib base -16 -49

Prefer electronic texts -27 -49

Prefer using google 48 15

Find most on the web 6 -20

Often need additional inf 60 25

Difficult to use lib. Elec.res -40 -32

Download a lot -15 -48

22 14 3 5 44

3,8% 2,8% 1,8% 3,6% 3,2%

203 198 46 46 493

34,7% 39,8% 26,9% 33,1% 35,4%

250 196 81 46 573

42,7% 39,4% 47,4% 33,1% 41,2%

94 70 33 30 227

16,1% 14,1% 19,3% 21,6% 16,3%

16 19 8 12 55

2,7% 3,8% 4,7% 8,6% 4,0%

585 497 171 139 1392

100,0% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%

daily

weekly

monthly

seldom

seldom

How often doyou visit thisacademiclibrary

Total

daily weekly monthlyseldom or

never

How often do you use Google for study purposes

Total

(Some of) the Findings

• Field of study and subjects are important factors

• The persistence of a relative traditional use patterns

• Especially the professional educations are rather library oriented

• Study year is an important factor• Ignorance of electronic services

Perspectives

• Marketing of resources and services• Subjects and field of study• Co-operation between different types of

libraries in acquisition• Target groups and prioritising• Integrating the library into the teaching• Need for outreach programmes in relation

to elctronic services, students groups underusing library resources, contacts with educational institutions and so on…

British and Scandinavian Cultural Characteristics

• Power distance small• Strong individualistic orientation• Feministic Culture/// In UK Masculine

High tolerance towards uncertainty

Tool employment in libraires in %

• UKDK– User survey 93 34

Quality indicators 7517

• Process times 61 23• Benchmarking 78 16• Complaints system 88 11• Traffic count 93 63• Analysis of remote use 30 41• Collection evaluation 46 18• ethical guidelines for staff 29 20

INSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVES

• The relationship between New Public Manangement and Value based manangement

• The need for documentation of services seems to differ according to nationality

• The culture of assessment• Bidding for funding• Effectiveness vs The attractive workplace

Managerial profiles: Stress

• UK

• NO stress 19 %• Some stress 45

%• Much stress 36

%

• DK

• NO stress 41 %• SOME stress 43

%• MUCH stress 17

%

Managerial profiles: freedom in the job

• UK• Degree of freedom

• Little 28 %• Some 40

%• Much 32

%

• DK• Degree of freedom

• Little 26 %• Some 40

%• Much 41

%

Job satisfaction and management styleTotal Hard

styleMedium style

Soft style

Very satisfied

35 % 9 % 29 % 42 %

Satisfied

52 % 48 % 57 % 49 %

Dissatisfied

12 % 44 % 14 % 9 %

Total N 638 23 254 361

Managerial profiles and job satisfaction

• 66 % of Danish Managers experience a soft style and only 44 % of the British managers do the same.

• In relation to job satisfaction we find that • 38 % of the Danes are very satisfied• 54 % of the Danes are satisfied• 8 % of the Danes are dissatisfied

• 30 % of the UK are very satisfied• 51 % are satisfied and• 19 % are dissatisfied

Constant Continuing Professional Development

• relationship to basic education

• uneven development in Europe

• delivery modes and supply

• technological basis in schools

• constant life long learning

• staff attitudes

• centralised consortium in EU

Staff development

• Motivate

• give opportunities

• conference participations

• research or research - like activities

• international activities

• competency development

• Teaching load

The end of the story

• Hofstede’s theories are partly confirmed• The existence of hard and soft cultures influence the

choice of tools and the knowledge pattern• NPM and Value-based management take different forms• The generic approach is questioned• The organisational culture is pertinent• Freedom influence tools selection• The case of job satisfaction is extremely important

• Is measurement most of all a symbolic expression? Taking different forms in different countries

Challenges

• Academic libraries compete with search engines

• Their ressource efficiency could be better• Lack of interest in and knowledge of

search facilities• Integration of digital catalogue and

websites• Lack of knowledge about the competences

of library staff

Google and library databases

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

google 1 Library 1 google 2 Library 2

RelevantPartial relevantNot relevant

Quality of relevant documents

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Google Library

Good qualityallright qualityBad quality

Accessibility

010

2030

4050

6070

8090

100

Google Library

yesyes with difficultiesno

Retrieval performance (mean %)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Google Library

precisioncoverageuniqueness

Google and library databases

• Google– Many relevant

documents– Precision– Good quality– Many unique

documents– no problems with

accessibility

• Library– Moderate number of

documents– Precision– High quality– Many unique

documents– Some problems with

accessibility

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Librarians have a different discourse than users

• Librarians ”construct” the user and her information needs

• Librarians use many resources creating services no one really wants or use

• Librarians are invisible both in the physical and digital library

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Librarians need to ”sleep with the enemy”• Librarians need to segment user groups• Librarians need to be much more

proactive involving themselves in academic life

• Librarians need to be active partners in education and research

• Libraries need a much more flexible management culture

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Librarians need to personalise services for academic staff and students

• Librarians need to market their services• Librarians need to expose their

qualifications and competencies• Librarians need to recognize that they are

in a very tough competition• Libraries need to form partnerships with eg

Google

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Libraries need to cooperate creating the ”seamless” library system

• Libraries need to acknowledge that library skills are means and not ends.

• Librarians should think about the relationsship between user satisfaction, perceptions and importance of services

• Libraries should do everything to create immediate access to fulltext documents

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Libraries need to employ the communication channels students use

• Librarians need a sceptical approach to the content of ”positive” fashion concepts like IL, lifelong learning and so on

Conclusion: lessons to be learned

• Talmud:

We do not see the world as it is

We see it as we are.

Thank you for your attention