Stepping out from behind the reference desk and taking on the roles of information seekers, UIC librarians are asking the question “What do students do when they are assigned research projects for class?”
During April, librarians and anthropologists will be interviewing students, faculty members, and librarians to investigate the assumptions faculty and librarians make about students’ use of information resources. How do their expectations of students compare with the actual behaviors of students? Other ethnographic research methods to be used are students’ photo journals and observations of librarians. The research will yield practical data that will be used to improve library services.
The research project includes the UIC Library as well as the libraries of Northeastern Illinois University, DePaul University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and the University of Illinois at Springfield. Librarians from each institution are leading this project in concert with two anthropologists, one in central Illinois and one in Chicago. Nancy Foster, an anthropologist from the University of Rochester, who specializes in applied research in libraries, is a consultant on the project.
The first year of the project began in fall 2008, and was funded with a $170,000 grant from the Illinois State Library with funds from the federal Library Services and Technology Act. A second year of funding is anticipated.
Please direct questions about the project to Susan Miller, the Resident Anthropologist for the Chicago libraries, at (773) 442-4413; or to Elizabeth Pickard or Fifi Logan, Daley Library, at (312) 996-2726.
