Bibliography

TTT bibliography

Olsen, H.K., 2019. What are they doing? And where? Tracking the Traffic as one of the instruments in an evidence-based redesign of a university library. LIBER Quarterly, 29(1), p.None. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10276


List from Tord Høivik, updated July 2015:

This ongoing list from the TTT project contains documents about systematic observation in libraries. The emphasis is on "seating sweeps" and related forms of traffic counting, but the detailed list includes occasional references to more qualitative methods. The compilation is a rough-and-ready working tool., not a formal bibliography. For a more finished product, see the literature survey.

Traffic counts, in the form of sweeps or TTT, have been carried out in many public and academic libraries. The two bulleted lists below relate institutions and bibliographic entries.


Academic libraries

2010-

  • University of Oslo Humanities and Social Science Library (2015) - TTT method
  • La bibliothèque de Sciences Po Paris. Saada and Touitou (2014/15)
  • Osijek University [Croatia] Tanackovic et al. (2014)
  • East Carolina University James (2013) - TTT
  • Clark University [Massachusetts] Mott (2013)
  • Mykolas Romeris University [Lithuania] Olechnovičius (2013) - TTT
  • Tampere University [Finland] Lehto et al. (2012) - TTT
  • Fourteen academic libraries [Norway] Høivik (2012) - TTT
  • Five academic libraries [Canada] May (2012)
  • Linköping University [Sweden] Brage et al. (2012)
  • Universidad Nacional del Santa [Peru] Condori Soncco (2011)
  • East Carolina University Hurst (2011)
  • University of Alberta [Canada] Wakaruk (2010)

2003-2009

  • Amherst University [US] Moorea & Wells (2009)
  • York University [Canada] Wakaruk (2009)
  • Singapore Management University Pin Pin & bin Ramli (2008)
  • Vanderbilt University [Tennessee] Blagojevich (2008)
  • Bryant University [Rhode Island] Silver (2007)
  • Randolph-Macon College [Virginia] Young (2003)

Public libraries

2010-

  • Aalborg Hovedbibliotek [Denmark] Møjen (2013) - TTT method
  • Edmonton Public Library [Canada] MacDonald (2012)
  • Stadtbibliothek Ulm [Germany] Heintz et al. (2011) - TTT
  • Stadtbibliothek Winterthür [Switzerland] Heintz et al. (2011) - TTT
  • Twenty public libraries [Norway] Høivik (2010) - TTT
  • Six public libraries [Nova Scotia, Canada] May & Black (2010)

2003-2009

  • Gadsden County Public Library System [Florida] Most (2009)
  • Toronto Public Library [Canada] Leckie & Hopkins (2002); Given & Leckie (2003)
  • Vancouver Public Library [Canada] Leckie & Hopkins (2002); Given & Leckie (2003)

2015

Given, Lisa M. ; Heather Archibald. Visual traffic sweeps (VTS): A research method for mapping useractivities in the library space, Library & Information Science Research, 37 (2015), pp. 100-108.


Earlier version won paper award


Tverrgående trafikktellinger (TTT)i HumSam-biblioteket i Georg Sverdrups hus

Very large TTT-study of the University of Oslo Humanities and Social Science Library carried in January-May 2015. See also the project web site. [In Norwegian].

Saada, Helène; Cécile Touitou. Sweeping the library. La bibliothèque de Sciences Po Paris passe les usages de ses lecteurs au tamis de l’observation. Bulletin des bibliotheques du France

Dans ce contexte de diminution des prêts et de baisse de la consultation sur place, plusieurs bibliothèques, à l'instar de Sciences Po, ont constaté que leur fréquentation ne suivait pas cette pente descendante, mais, au contraire, avait tendance à croître. Elles ont souhaité savoir quels étaient les « nouveaux » usages des lieux, la difficulté étant, qu’à la différence du prêt et du retour des documents, ces nouveaux usages sont difficiles d’une part à identifier et d’autre part à quantifier.

L’objectif général de cette méthodologie d’enquête appelée « Sweeping the library » (littéralement « balayer la bibliothèque »), que l'on pourrait traduire par « la bibliothèque au tamis », est de cartographier l’organisation physique de la bibliothèque et l’utilisation des espaces au moyen d'une grille d'observation des profils, matériels et activités des usagers installés dans la bibliothèque. ... Les résultats de ce type d’étude peuvent être employés comme aide à la décision pour l’aménagement à court et à long terme des espaces, pour une meilleure adéquation des services aux attentes des usagers de la bibliothèque, ou pour remodeler l'espace des interactions sociales au sein de la bibliothèque selon les comportements d'utilisation des différents types d’usagers.

Weis, Julia. Aufenthalt in Bibliotheken. Berlin : Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2015. - 85 pp. (=Berliner Handreichungen zur Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschat. Heft 390).

Ramsden, Mark ; Cathy Carey. Spaces for learning? Studentdiary mapping. SCONUL Focus 62, pp. 7-10.

The quantitative data is important and does give us some interesting information about both volume and types of activity that students are undertaking in our libraries. For a number of years we have conducted seating sweeps and activity counts (under the umbrella term ‘roving observations’) and in the academic year 2013–14 we were able to complete 71 observations [rounds] at different times throughout the day.

In the main university library, at the Ormskirk campus, the learning spaces team conducted the 71 roving observations in key zones of the library: • ground floor social learning space • quiet study spaces • silent study room • PC zones • book stock • group rooms The team recorded activity in a number of ways, one of which was to use a heat map. (Fig. 1)

The team was looking for a range of indicators to record: numbers of students in the space, students working individually / in groups, the use of technology and whether this was at a fixed PC or via a mobile device, the use of books / print journals, average group sizes. This type of exercise generates a lot of data (and spreadsheets!) and so an important part of the process was for the team to unpick the data and begin to tell some meaningful stories. A good way to do this is to use infographics, which help visualise statistics and data for easy understanding. The image in Fig. 2 formed part of a larger set of infographics that the team produced to enable wider discussion and to aid decision-making and planning for future changes to the spaces. (Fig. 2)

Tanackovic, Sanjica Faletar; Lacović, Darco & Gordana Gašo (2014). Student Use of Library Physical Spaces: Unobtrusive Observation of Study Spaces in an Academic Library. .Libraries in the digital age (LIDA) Proceedings, vol. 13 (2014)

In order to understand the role of the 'library as a place' and to gather valuable data on behaviour of students in library spaces, that would facilitate the redesign process of the existing library and the planning process of the new library building at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Osijek University, Croatia, a large study has been launched in 2013.

The study used a mixed-method approach, combinig extensive patron survey (for students and academics) with unobtrusive participant observation to answer the following research questions:

    1. How are the library spaces, collections and services being perceived and used?
    2. What factors facilitate/impede library use?
    3. How could the existing library spaces be rennovated and the new library spaces designed in order to serve the patrons better? ...

Observation data was collected in print sheets – one sheet was used for each time period for each library area. Students observed specific library areas and recorded their observations of patrons' activities and behaviors and interaction patterns.

In most cases students noted activities such as study engaging or supporting activities (reading, writing etc.), library computer user, (smart)phone/tablet/iPod etc. use, independent study, group work/discussion, chatting, and eating and drinking.

The observation protocol was the following: when student observers arrived to the designated library area they would sit and pretend to work (read and take notes) while at the same time observing the patrons' behavior and recording their general observations on patrons' activities and anything else that caught their attention. Researchers also tried to interpret what they observed, often based on their own experience.

At the end of their observation period the researchers took photographs of the studied library area to obtain the visual evidence of the actual situation in the room

2013

  • East Carolina University (James, 2013)
  • Clark University Mott (2013)
  • Aalborg Hovedbibliotek Møjen (2013)
  • Mykolas Romeris University Olechnovičius (2013)

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  • Bedwell, L:inda & Banks, Caitlin (2013). Seeing Through the Eyes of Students: Participant Observation in an Academic Library. Partnership: The Canadian Joural of Library and Information Practice and research. 8(1).
    • Participant observation of study spaces in the Killam Memorial Library at Dalhousie University revealed significant insight into the study behaviors of individual students and groups, the impact of building design on these behaviors, and the research methodology itself. The effect of unintentional panoptical design (on adherence to quiet study rules) and ambient noise (on productivity and popularity of spaces) were both observed, as were the blending of social and academic activities and the choices of students to work individually and collaboratively within a community environment rather than in solitude.
    • As an ethnographic methodology, participant observation is rarely conducted in library spaces. This study proves the value of this methodology when students observe fellow students. Their complete membership in the culture under observation permits unobtrusive access and a richness of collected data that is enhanced by observer insight into student life.
  • James, Robert. Culture War in the Collaborative Learning Center, Journal of Learning Spaces, Volume 2, Number 1. 2013
    • The transformation of the first floor of Joyner Library into the Collaborative Learning Center produced significant changes to collection and user spaces. Collaboration, in this context, refers to students engaged in teamwork with technology and support services.
    • A Culture War emerged when some faculty, displeased with the loss of the traditional library ethos, voiced their concerns about the future of the library at East Carolina University. This study is an analysis of the implementation of a collaborative commons in an academic research library with a focus on faculty criticism and lessons learned from the experience.
    • At ECU, there are two opposing armies engaged in the Culture War for the future of Joyner Library. One army seeks to transform the library into a place for innovative technology and spaces that foster student collaborative team work. The other army longs for a return to traditional library spaces with quiet reading rooms that enable faculty and students to concentrate on solitary scholarship. This Culture War encompasses battles over print collections, technology, and the pedagogy of teaching and learning.
    • Since the focus of this research involved known behaviors, working alone or collaboratively in an academic library, etic methodology was an acceptable choice. The categories of observable library user behavior employed by Tord Høivik (2008) for a study of two Norwegian public libraries were selected and modified for this research. Høivik refers to his methodology as “transversal traffic counting” and notes that it is called “seating sweeps” in English speaking nations.
  • Mott, Linn. Seating Sweeps: An Innovative Research Method to Learn About How Our Patrons Use the Library. Paper for ACRL 2013, April 11-12.
    • (In 2004) Clark University’s Goddard Library began preparing for an expansion of the thirty-five year old building. The librarians knew that they needed to understand how their clients were using the current facilities.
    • (A) method for assessing how patrons use the library is a technique called seating sweeps, which has a librarian make systematic observations to chronicle how patrons use the building’s space and equipment.
  • Møjen, Samuel. Seating Sweeps: Kortlægning af social aktivitet på folkebiblioteket. [Seating Sweeps: Mapping of social activity in the public library]. Bachelor thesis. - 31 pp.
    • Aalborg Hovedbibliotek. Includes many tables.
    • Ved min observation observerer jeg tre dage, tre gange dagligt. Dagene jeg observere er alle i maj måned med datoerne onsdag d.15, torsdag d.16 og fredag d.17. Disse tre dage går jeg en runde på biblioteket om morgenen kl. 10.00-11.30, eftermiddagen kl. 13.00-14.30 og aftenen kl. 16.00-17.30.
    • De specificerede aldersgrupper er under 30 år, imellem 30-60 år og over 60 år. Lidt over halvdelen af brugerne af Aalborg Hovedbibliotek var af hunkøn (54% kvinder), mens børnebibliotekets brugere oftest var mænd. På Aalborg Hovedbibliotek har jeg noteret 1136 besøgene, hvoraf de fleste var under 60 år (88% <60).
  • Olechnovičius,
  • Albertas. User behaviour analysis in Mykols Romeris University Library using TTT method. Vilnius: MRU, 2013. - 36 pp.
  • Paretta, L. T., & Catalano, A. (2013). What students really do in the library: An observational study. The Reference Librarian, 54(2), 157-167. doi:10.1080/02763877.2013.755033
  • Young, Virginia E. "Can We Encourage Learning by Shaping Environment? Patterns of Seating Behavior in Undergraduates." Learning to Make a Difference: Proceedings of the Eleventh National Conference of the Association of College & Research Libraries, April 10–13, 2003, Charlotte, NC. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/pdf/young.PDF

2012

  • Several academic libraries in Norway Høivik (2012)
  • Tampere University Library Lehto (2012)
  • Edmonton Public Library MacDonald 2012)
  • Five academic libraries in Canada May (2012)
  • Amherst University

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  • Brage, Christina; Marie-Louise Axelsson, Kajsa Gustafsson Åman, Mikael Rosell, Joakim Westerlund & Magdalena Öström (Linköpings universitetsbibliotek). (2012). Vad gör våra användare på LiUB? En observations- och intervjustudie. Våren 2010. In Stiwne, Elinor Edvardsson (red.) Utbildning - Undervisning - Utmaning - Utveckling. En rapport från LiU:s utvecklingskonferens 10 mars 2011. Linköping: Linköpings universitet, 2012 (pp. 33-41)
    • Bidraget är en presentation av en studie genomförd via dolda observationer och promenadrundor kompletterade med intervjuer. Studiens syfte var att kartlägga användarnas naturliga beteende i de fysiska bibliotekslokalerna för att på så sätt få kunskap om deras olika behov och hur lokalerna utnyttjas. Vi ville ta reda på vilka aktiviteter som pågick och när de pågick för att få en bild av hur vi kan bemöta och tillgodose användarnas behov. Studien ledde till ett antal förändringsförslag av den fysiska miljön.
    • Vi observerade och räknade besökare och deras aktiviteter tre gånger per dag i biblioteken. Det första observationspasset gjordes en timme efter öppnandet, det andra passet gjordes mitt på dagen och det sista passet i slutet av arbetsdagen.


  • Høivik, Tord. Students at work: Traffic observation in academic libraries. Paper for SCECSAL in Nairobi. Focus on academic libraries.
  • TTT is a simple, but highly structured method to collect, process and present data on user behavior inside libraries. Data are collected by rapid tours of observation through the library, at fixed times during the day, usually for one full week. The tours can be carried out by library staff. The whole library is divided into functional zones, such as the periodicals area, the main desk, the reference section, reading rooms, etc. A fixed observation path and a standardized list of activities is used.
  • In Norway, the TTT method has been tried out in about one hundred libraries, including more than twenty academic libraries, during the last five years. Most of these studies have been carried out by library students during their practice periods, which is part of their second year of studies. But several academic libraries have continued to carry out such data collection on their own for management purposes, notably the university college libraries in Østfold, Gjøvik and in my own institution, Oslo and Akershus University College.
  • Lehto, Anne; Leena Toivonen & Mirja Iivonen, University library premises: The evaluation of customer satisfaction and usage. In Lau, Jesús; Tammaro, Anna Maria & Bothma, Theo J. D. (eds.) Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge. De Gruyter Saur. P. 289-314. Includes TTT study.
  • See also Impact of University Library as Space and Place: Best Practices in Tampere University Library. Paper for
  • IFLA Satellite Meeting, Turin, Italy, August 20
  • th
  • , 2009. Slide presentation.
  • Mac Donald, Valerie. & Carla Haug. Seating sweeps report. Edmonton Public Library.
  • Behavioural mapping, also known as “seating sweeps,” is an observational method intended to document use of a space by the people in it.
  • [We] conducted seating sweeps at 16 EPL branches. One intern visited one branch for three days per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday), conducting three sweeps per day, for a total of nine sweeps per branch and 162 sweeps overall. For each customer encountered during a sweep the following data was recorded: Date and time / Location / Basic demographic information / Whether or not customer was in a group and the size of that group / Type of furniture being used by the customer / Possessions they had with them / Activities the customer was engaged in.
  • We recorded 9834 customers who were engaged in 13567 activities
  • This 32 page report is similar to typical TTT reports in several ways. It contains a very detailed analysis of empirical data. It uses presentation graphics. It also includes and discusses photographs.
  • See also the slide presentation
  • May, Francine & Alice Swabey. Libraries as learning spaces: Exploring how students make use of the physical space in academic libraries. In Hall, Ian, Stephen Thornton and Stephen Town (eds.). Proving value in challenging times. Proceedings of the 9th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services [2011]. York: University of York, 2012. P. 263-270. Slide presentation
  • This study examines student use of 5 small academic libraries in Canada. Size of institution varied from 4 – 12 thousand students and included 2 community colleges, [Lethbridge (LC) and Red Deer (RD)], two universities, [Grant MacEwan (GM) and Mount Royal (MR)] and a technical college [Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (ST)]. S
  • Answers to the research questions were developed using information gathered via seating sweeps and student questionnaires. Data was gathered during the 2009-2010 academic year.
  • Rounds of seating sweeps were conducted twice at each library, once in the middle of the fall semester and once midwinter. Each round of seating sweeps involved four separate sweeps of the library (morning, mid-day, afternoon and evening).
  • University of Amherst Libraries. Learning Commons Assessment. Impressive collection of traffic data and assessments.
  • An initial observational survey was conducted in 2001 and then annually periodically since fall semester 2005 (when the Learning Commons was opened). Includes extensive data sets in Excel.
  • For more information about Library assessment contact Rachel Lewellen, Assessment Librarian 545-3343
  • Aberl, Valerie & Wortman, Beth. Getting the picture: Interviews and photo elicitation at Edmonton Public Library. LIBRES ISSN 1058-6768 Volume 22, Issue 2, September 2012
  • As part of its Library Spaces Business Plan initiative, Edmonton Public Library (EPL) conducted interviews paired with photo elicitation to explore customers’ perceptions of their library spaces and to better understand how customers use those spaces. Sixteen interviews were conducted with participants at 5 branches of the EPL with participants taking photographs used during the interview. Findings revealed the comprehensive views participants’ hold about the library; the library’s spaces are not distinct from the collections and services offered within them.

2011

  • Universidad Nacional del Santa [Peru] Condori Soncco (2011)
  • Stadtbibliothek Ulm [Germany] Heintz et al. (2011)
  • Stadtbibliothek Winterthür [Switzerland] Heintz et al. (2011)
  • East Carolina University Hurst (2011)

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  • Condori Soncco, José G. (2011). Uso de los espacios físicos en la Biblioteca Central de la Universidad Nacional del Santa aplicando el método de observación seating sweeps. Lima: Universidad Mayor de San Marcos. See summary
    • [Studying the use of physical space in the Central Library of the National University of Santa by using the observation method seating sweeps] Luego de realizar el análisis de los resultados, se ha determinado que las principales actividades son: usuario sentado leyendo/escribiendo solo (1 516), usuario solo con la computadora de la biblioteca (1 405), grupo de usuarios con la computadora de la biblioteca (968), buscando solo (336), conversando (286), esperando (152), interactuando con el personal y buscando en grupo (177), mientras que el resto de actividades tienen entre 2 y 45 observaciones.
    • Las observaciones han permitido demostrar que la mayor parte de usuarios prefiere realizar actividades de manera individual (72%), pero también se ha observado un importante 28% de usuarios que prefieren trabajar en grupos, a pesar que ninguna área cuenta con las instalaciones adecuadas para grupos de usuarios. En el caso de la sala de lectura, se ha observado que los usuarios siempre modifican la organización de las mesas y sillas para poder agruparse, generalmente en grupos de 2 a 4 personas.
  • Heintz, Rebecca et al. Count the Traffic.
  • Semesterarbeit im Projektkurs
  • „Kundenorientierte Bibliothek“.
  • Projekt im Sommersemester 2011 .
  • Hochschule der Medien (HdM), Stuttgart,
  • Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW), Chur
    • Stadtbibliothek Ulm, Germany. 122 thousand inhabitants (2009). About 600 thousand visits (2010). 36 employees.
    • Stadtbibliothek Winterthür, Switzerland. 100 thousand inhabitants. About 370 thousand visits. 47 employees.
    • Tuesday April 26; Saturday April 30 (10-15 hours)
    • Tuesday May 3; Saturday May 7 (10-14 hours)
  • http://www.kundenorientiertebibliothek.de/themen/2
  • Hursh, David. What do patrons really do in music libraries?[PPT]. Presentation at SEMLA 2011
    • Ethnographic studies of library user behavior have attracted attention in the last decade or so. David Hursh of East Carolina reported on the first such study conducted in a music library. ECU’s music library staff collaborated with a resident ethnologist to design a study using “seating sweep” and “timecard” methods to collect data on such factors as group vs. solo study, social activity, time spent in the library, use of technology, and volume and type of activity in various areas of the library. The timecards were short questionnaires handed to users as they entered the library; staff recorded the time of entry, asked the user to return the card when they left, and recorded the time of departure. Because “people often say one thing but do another,” library staff also did unobtrusive visual sweeps of the premises at designated time intervals, recording their own observations of user activities. As expected, there was some variance between the self-reported and observed data. Results from both, however, suggested that users spent most of their time working alone; spent up to a quarter of their time socializing; and used the tech lab (which included the music listening stations) more heavily than the study carrols, reference collection, or the stacks. Multi-tasking was not quite as ubiquitous as might be expected: some 30% of users were observed spending more than 20 minutes on a single task, but when technology was in use, there was a strong correlation with multi-tasking.
    • Source: Leslie at SEMLA 2011
  • Wakaruk, Amanda. Video lecture: http://www.sfu.ca/tlcvan/clients/library/2011-03-02_SFU_Library_BCRLG_59435/
  • Roselli, Mariangela. La bibliothèque, un monde de femmes. Déterminations et conséquences sur la segmentation des publics jeunes dans les bibliothèques. Réseaux 2011/4 (n° 168-169)


2010

  • About twenty public libraries in Norway Høivik (2010)
  • Six public libraries in Nova Scotia May & Black (2010)
  • University of Alberta Wakaruk (2010)

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  • Høivik, Tord. Count The Traffic. A new approach to user behavior. Unpublished. General introduction with illustrative data from public libraries.
    • TTT was designed for practical use. It show how – and to what extent – the various parts of the library are used, throughout the day and through a typical week. Using traffic counts, libraries are able to document the type and intensity of use. This is useful for allocating resources and – not least – for reorganizing the library space.
    • In a municipal setting, TTTs generates new types of data that are likely to be of interest to politicians and senior administrators. Some data will also be useful in contacts with parents and other stakeholders among the general public.
    • At the regional and national level, reliable data on user behavior make “life in the library” visible in a new way. Loans and visits are rather abstract categories. TTT is closer to real life. Reading, talking, browsing the shelves and using computers provide more vivid images of what the physical library actually offers.
    • The method provides important new data on user behavior in the physical library. The method can be applied in all types of libraries – and indeed in all types of public spaces.
    • It is cheap enough to be repeated on a regular basis, and simple enough to be carried out by library staff or young students. The observation categories are standardized, but easy to use, since they are based on normal social concepts.
    • We publish our data on the open web – and encourage others to do so as well. In that way libraries that choose the TTT approach will be able to compare their results with others
    • Note: in the 2010 paper CTT is used instead of TTT
  • Mandel, Lauren H. Geographic Information Systems: Tools for Displaying In-Library Use Data , Information Technology and Libraries, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 47-52, Mar 2010
    • … The “seating sweeps” method allows researchers and librarians to collect in-library use data regarding where patrons are locating themselves within the library and what they are doing at those locations, such as sitting and reading, studying in a group, or socializing.
    • This paper proposes a GIS as a tool to visually display in-library use data collected via “seating sweeps” of a library.
    • By using a GIS to store, manage, and display the data, researchers and librarians can create visually appealing maps that show areas of heavy use and evidence of the use and value of the library for a community.
  • May, Francine & Black, Fiona. The Life of the Space: Evidence from Nova Scotia Public Libraries. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, Vol 5, No 2 (2010)
    • Objectives – To describe aspects of the 21st century role of the public library as a physical space by observing the actual use of a selection of public libraries.
    • This study seeks to reveal how patrons are using and experiencing these institutions as spaces and how patrons and staff characterize the role of public libraries in communities.
    • Methods – A multiple case study design was used to examine three urban and three small town public libraries within Nova Scotia, Canada.
    • A triangulated set of methods including patron interviews and questionnaires, staff interviews, and seating sweeps was used to develop answers to the research questions.
    • Results – These public libraries are functioning as successful public places in that they are community spaces used in a multitude of ways and where patrons feel welcome.
    • These libraries play important roles in the lives of respondents and, while respondents were willing to give critical feedback, they generally described the spaces positively.
    • Patron use and experience of these library spaces can be broken into three themes that describe the roles of public libraries in communities. These include the role of provider of books and information, provider of access to technology and provider of a social space where members of the public are welcome.
    • Conclusions – Patron experiences in Nova Scotia public libraries show that libraries are vibrant places that are highly valued by their communities.
    • A number of common themes about the use and perception of these spaces emerged, yet when examined individually each library was also revealed to be a unique place, reflecting the particular qualities of the community and the physical space of the library building itself. It is clear that public libraries are complex institutions which play a variety of valuable roles in the community.
  • Wakaruk, Amanda (Government Documents Librarian, University of Alberta). What if We Closed the Library? Lecture, Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2010.
    • This was just one of the provocative questions asked of university students in an attempt to better understand the role of the physical library within their broader academic experience. Hear what they had to say: their suggestions might surprise you!
    • Drawing on data gathered through semi-structured interviews, observational seating sweeps, and stories about memorable library experiences, the results of this project will help us consider the future of the library as place.
    • Session Presentation (.pdf)
    • Bibliograhies (.pdf)
    • Comment by Erin Fields

2009


  • Oslo University College Arango et al. (2009)
  • Public libraries in Norway Høivik (2009)
  • XXXXX Most (2009)
  • Amherst University Moorea & Wells (2009)
  • Scvott Library [York] Wakaruk (2009)


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  • Arango, Ana Maria; Clara Escobar, András Molnár (2009) Students in action: An observation study of the Oslo University College Learning Centre.
    • Large-scale traffic count during the spring 2009.
  • Bayley, Liz; Shelley Ferrell & Jennifer Mckinnell (2009). Practicing What We Preach: A case Study on the Application of Evidence-Based Practice to Inform Decision Making for Public Services Staffing in an Academic Health Sciences Library New Review of Academic Librarianship 01/2009; 15(2):235-252. McMaster
  • Høivik, Tord. Private lives and public libraries.
    • Paper for the 8th Northumbria conference in Florence in August 2009
  • Most, Linda R. The rural public library as place in North Florida: A case study. [Ph.D. Thesis] - 318 pp.
    • Research into the library as place investigates the role of public library buildings as destinations, physical places where people go for various reasons ranging from making use of the library’s resources and services or seeking to fulfill an information or reading need to less easily identified reasons that may include using the library’s building as a place to make social or business contacts, to build or reinforce community or political ties, or to create or reinforce a personal identity.
    • This study asks: How are one rural U.S. county’s public library buildings functioning as places? The answer is derived from answers to sub-questions about adult library users, user and staff perceptions of library use, and observed use of library facilities.
    • The findings are contextualized using a framework built of theories from human geography, philosophy, sociology, and information studies.
    • This case study replicates a mixed-methods case study conducted at the main public libraries in Toronto and Vancouver in the late1990s and first reproduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2006.
    • It tests methods used in large urban settings in a rural, small-town environment. This study also expands on its antecedents by using thematic analysis to determine which conceptualizations of the role of the public library as place are most relevant to understanding this community’s use of its public library buildings as places
    • The study relies on quantitative and qualitative data collected via surveys and interviews of adult library users, interviews of library public service staff members, structured observations – seating sweeps – of people using the libraries, and analysis of selected documents.
    • The five sets of data are triangulated to answer the research subquestions. Thematic analysis derived from the conceptual framework finds that public realm theory informs the relationships that develop between library staff members and adult library users over time.
    • The study finds that the libraries serve their communities as informational places and as familiarized locales rather than as third places, and that the libraries support the generation of social capital for their users.
  • Moorea, Anne Cooper & Wells, Kimberly A., Connecting 24/5 to Millennials: Providing Academic Support Services from a Learning Commons. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. Volume 35, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 75-85
    • [Abstract] This study investigates user preferences for reference and technical support, services, and facilities featured in an academic library and Learning Commons through a 23-item questionnaire distributed to building entrants during one 24-hour period on March 14, 2006. Results revealed a strong preference for face-to-face assistance (including roving), suggested enhancements, and documented user demographics.
    • [Quote] Gordon Fretwell, a retired administrator at UMass Amherst Libraries, conducted a seating sweeps study of where people were in the Library building prior to renovation and then comparative studies each year beginning in 2005 when the Learning Commons opened.
    • On a late semester Monday in 2001, 1600 people used the Lower Level while on a comparable Monday in 2005, 5400 people used the same area — hence usage more than tripled after the Learning Commons installation.
    • Mr. Fretwell also found that 15% of people in the Library during the week of May 17–23, 2006, had laptops with them. By fall 2007, 25% of the people brought laptops with them to the Library.
  • Bryant, Joanna; Graham Matthews and Graham Walton. Academic libraries and social and learning space : A case study of Loughborough University Library, UK. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 2009 41: 7
    • A key area of debate within the public and academic library sectors across the world is use of physical space.
    • Changing ideas about what a library should be, coupled with the growth of digital collections, has raised fundamental questions about how library buildings are used and the role of space in library services. Alongside these drivers is the need for libraries to produce data on services to inform their future development and design.
    • This article is a case study from Loughborough University in the UK to evaluate the use of a large open learning/social space in the library. The investigation employs an ethnographic approach to gather data, a method little used in the field.
    • Findings are explored under the following themes: collaborative study, individual study, social space, intrusions and interruptions, use of technology, diversity, library staff/library materials and spatial organization. The role of ethnographic studies within the library context is considered alongside the broader theoretical considerations of the use of physical space.
  • van Beynen, Kaya; Patricia Pettijohn, Patricia & Marcy Carrel, Marcy (2009). Using Pedestrian Choice Research to Facilitate Resource Engagement in a Midsized Academic Library [Nelson Poynter Memorial Library University of South Florida, St. Petersburg] Used shadowing ...
  • http://bit.ly/1l353vg
  • http://dspace.nelson.usf.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10806/413/vanBeynen%2cPettijohn%26Carrel2010.pdf
  • Wakaruk, Amanda.
  • Life of the Library: An Exploration of
  • Public Space Use and Meaning.
  • July 31, 2009
    • Nineteen observational sweeps were conducted in the Scott Library [York] following the resumption of classes after the CUPE strike. An observational sweep is a procedure where data collectors “sweep” all areas of the library during a specific time period. Nineteen sweeps were conducted between March 15 – 28, 2009 in the morning, afternoon, and evening of two consecutive Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
    • "I find that if you’re in a big room full of people and most of them are studying, it makes you study too."
    • Observational data indicates a 7% increase in the level of talking from morning to evening hours across all areas of the library. That is, more library users were engaged in talking in the library at night than in the morning. However, this figure only tells part of the story as it was repeatedly observed that library space use became more differentiated, and strongly regulated, at night.
  • Wakaruk, Amanda.
  • Dissecting
  • the
  • disconnect.
  • Thinking about public space in academic libraries . C&RL News

Henry D. Delcore, Henry D. et al. The Library Study at Fresno State. Fresno, CA: California State University.

2008

  • Singapore Management University Pin Pin & bin Ramli (2008)
  • Vanderbilt University [Tennessee] Blagojevich (2008)

************************************************************************

  • Høivik, Tord. Count the traffic. Paper for IFLA, Quebec 2008
  • Yeo Pin Pin & Rindra Mokhtar bin Ramli. Social Learning Spaces in the Li Ka Shing Library. Singapore Journal of Library & Information Management, Volume 37 (2008), pp. 48-60
    • This paper describes the efforts made by the Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University, in the design, creation and continual improvements of its spaces to meet the needs of its community.
    • The Collaborative Study Area is presented as an example of introducing social learning spaces into the Library. We conducted a survey to measure the satisfaction with our spaces and the activities carried out in the Library. In striving to become a research, social and event space for its community, the Library is also used as an event and training space.
  • Source. Female Announcer: [0:08] Hello and welcome to this addition of GSLIS Cast. On Saturday, March 15, 2008 at the Simmons College GSLIS West Campus, Anne C. Moore discussed the phenomena of Learning Commons at UMass and the changing role of the specialist librarian. Moore is associate director of user services at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    • [25:03] Now, another thing that we have been trying to get at is how many people are using laptops. We found in '07 that 25% of the people who were in the Learning Commons when we were doing a seating sweeps had their own laptops with them. Now, we're finding that it's about a 10% increase per year of those who actually own them.
    • [25:28] That doesn't mean these folks don't have an actual desktop machine in their dorm room as well. We've done a survey of those who borrow our laptops in the library and many of them have a desktop as well as their own laptop. But they still want to borrow ours when they're in the library because they don't want to show up theirs around. So they're using many, many devices. That is fascinating
  • "Panel Discussion on Ethical Issues in Educational Research":
    • Dr Given's presentation will examine ethics issues related to data collection in her current, SSHRC-funded project - The University as Information Space: Exploring Undergraduates’ Information Behaviours.
    • The project explores undergraduates’ experiences in the information spaces available to them on a university campus, using various methods: qualitative interviews with faculty, librarians and undergraduates; campus “walk-throughs” of students’ favourite (and not so favourite) spaces; discourse analysis of university texts; and, covert, observational “seating sweeps” of on-campus study spaces.
    • Ethics theory and practice, the ethics review process, and other ethics issues relevant to the use of covert observation (e.g., digital photos) will be discussed.
  • Eva-Lisa Holm Granath, Linköpings universitetsbibliotek. Rapport från IFLA-konferensen i Quebec city 10-14 Augusti 2008
  • ABM-utvikling. Hvem er de og hvor går de? Oslo, The Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority, 2008 (= ABM-skrift 46) [In Norwegian]
    • Major observation based study of five metropolitan libraries in Norway. The method combines unobtrusive observation of random visitors ("shadowing") with brief exit interviews. Data were collected in the central libraries of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Kristiansand in 2007.
  • Julie Blagojevich. Results of our 2008 Sweeps
    • Team, here are some system-wide results from our February and April seating sweeps:
    • In 2007, the seating capacity in our libraries was 1,983 seats.
    • In 2008, that number increased to 2,010 seats, a net gain of 27 seats. (Both figures exclude random chairs.)
    • Divinity Library added 12 seats, Peabody Library reduced their capacity by 12 seats, and S&E Library added 27 seats.
    • In 2007, we counted 4,848 occupied seats in one week. In February, 2008, we counted 5,835, a 20% increase over last year.
    • In April, 2008, we counted 5,668, a 17% increase over last year. (These totals exclude occupancy counts in random chairs.)
    • We identified 120 clusters (patrons who appeared to want to sit together) in February. Those clusters represented 282 patrons or 4% of the number of occupied seats for the week.
    • In April, we identified 106 clusters. There were 253 patrons in those clusters, and they also represented 4% of our occupied seats for the week.
    • Highest seat occupancy occurred in the afternoons, just as it did in 2007.
    • Evening use of libraries was higher Sundays through Wednesdays, just as it was in 2007. No individual library consistently held the highest percentage of seats occupied. This was also true in 2007.
    • In 2007, only one library had a seat occupancy level of 50% or better. This was S&E Library, and it happened one time. In 2008, only S&E Library again had a seat occupancy level of 50% or better, and this occurred 9 times in 42 sweeps.
    • On average, 68% of patrons across the system were either at workstations or carrying laptops in 2007. In 2008, these percentages were 66% in February and 74% in April.

Dotson, Daniel S. and Joshua B. Garris.

Counting More Than the Gate: Developing Building Use Statistics to Create Better Facilities for Today's Academic Library Users.

Library Philosophy and Practice 2008.

ISSN 1522-0222


  • Use of facilities is an issue of great importance to academic libraries. As the academic library is increasingly called upon to justify its existence through performance measures that are linked not only to their own strategic planning process, but that of their parent institutions (Hiller and Self, 2004), the need to acquire the necessary tools and/or methodologies to effectively and efficiently evaluate library functions is becoming a top priority. With an increasing amount of information available remotely, users do not have to come into the physical library to meet many of their information gathering needs. Whether the gate count is decreasing or increasing, what are academic library patrons using while they are in the building? In 2002, the University of South Carolina's main library, Thomas Cooper Library (TCL), began examining use patterns within the facility by conducting a detailed and systematic count of patrons in all public areas.
  • Many academic libraries use door count data to determine building use. However, door count is only a measure of patron entrances and exits, not where they went or what they used in the building. TCL has used a manual door count of people exiting the building since the mid-1990s. A person at the exit gate clicks a counter for each person who leaves. The library added an electronic counter to obtain an entrance count in July 2002; however, the counter was not always accurate. In one instance, a wastebasket was placed in front of the counter, which led to a period of missing data.
  • In order to make the collection of building use statistics more cost effective, TCL decided to sample during the same weeks as reference statistics. Data collected during these building surveys are not replacements for a daily door count, but are a means to measure use of physical resources. The building survey is a count of persons located in the library. Library staff are assigned various sections to survey at the beginning of each hour. Surveyors are asked to follow the same path from hour to hour, which encourages them to count each area at approximately the same interval during their scheduled counting period.
  • Group tables also showed a high use in the building. Looking at the data collected from the first three years of statistics (2002-2006), it was clear that many people were using group tables. These findings were used to facilitate a move towards the addition of more group tables in the library. Additional group tables were added to the Main floor in Fall 2005. From the data collected, the usage of group tables has dramatically increased with the addition of these tables, showing that the group tables were indeed warranted.
  • There are over 800 small carrels distributed over the lower four levels of TCL. These carrels occupy approximately 20,000 square feet of space. Carrels were designed to be study spaces for faculty and graduate students. Patrons in possession of carrels have the option of checking out circulating materials to their carrel, so that the items will be available when they are needed. Carrels have shown to be of extremely low use. These surveys have supported previous assumptions that these areas were being seriously underused. While these spaces are being used by some, they are definitely in surplus.

Bailey, D. Russell; Barbara Gunter Tierney.. Transforming library service through information commons : case studies for the digital age. Chicago: Smerican Library Association.


2007


  • Buschman, John E. and Gloria J. Leckie (eds.) The library as place: history, community, and culture. Westport, Conn. : Libraries Unlimited, 2007. 260 pages
  • Bryant University Silver (2007). Silver, Howard (2007). Use of Collaborative Spaces in an Academic Library
  • . Dissertation, 2007.
    • With the design of new libraries increasingly emphasizing support for collaborative activity, librarians need to understand how and why their users are working together in library spaces.
    • No published studies quantify the impact of collaborative spaces in academic libraries on student learning behaviors.
    • The objective of this study was to determine how and why the collaborative spaces in an academic library were used, and how well the observed use matched the intent of the people who designed and managed the spaces.
    • Based on a traffic study at Bryant University Library in 2005
    • Transcription of podcast
    • See also http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/38491?show=full
  • Behind the Program-Room Door: The Creation of Parochial and Private Women’s Realms in a Canadian Public Library
    • Pamela J. McKenzie. Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario—London, Ontario
    • Elena M. Prigoda. Instruction and Liaison Librarian, Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
    • Kirsten Moffatt. Educational Outreach and Young Adult Librarian, Brantford Public Library, Brantford, Ontario
    • Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western. Ontario—London, Ontario
    • [Introduction] Much has been written recently on the role of the public library as a commons where members of the public may gather (Nelson) or as a site for the building of “social capital” (Goulding). However, the research into public library use tends to focus on the use of collections, services, and specific resources (e.g., Zweizig and Dervin, Shoham, Gross, Dresang, and Holt) without considering the ways that the library as a place is used:
    • “Although there have been hundreds of studies of library users and their informationrelated behaviors, relatively little of this research has focused on libraries as a type of social activity space” (Given and Leckie 372).
    • This chapter describes the use of public space in two programs, a knitters’ group and a young child/caregiver storytime, attended by women in a single branch of a large (>100,000) Ontario public library system.We analyze the ways that these women transformed the space of a public library program room into semiprivate or private realms, and discuss the implications of those transformations.
    • We therefore build on the research of Leckie and Hopkins by extending observation and analysis from central to branch libraries and to less visible but still publicly owned areas of the public library. We consider the social spaces located within the library as a physical space (Leckie and
  • Fisher, K.E., Saxton, M.L., Edwards, P.M. & Mai, J. (2007). Seattle Public Library as place: reconceptualizing space, community, and information at the Central Library. In: Buschman, J.E. and Leckie, G.J. The Library as Place: History, Community, and Culture. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
  • Public libraries, social capital, and low intensive meeting places. Information research. Vol. 12 No. 4, October, 2007
    • Ragnar Audunson. Oslo University college, Dept. of Journalism, Library and Information Studies, Oslo, Norway
    • Andreas Vårheim. University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
    • Svanhild Aabø. Norwegian National Library, Oslo, Norway
    • Erling Dokk Holm. The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway
    • Introduction. This paper presents a research project aiming at eliciting the potential of public libraries in building social capital, and promoting generalized trust in today's multicultural society.
    • Method. Two approaches to research, the societal approach and the institutional approach are identified. The concept of low intensive versus high intensive meeting places is presented.
    • A survey among inhabitants in four different metropolitan communities varying according to demographic characteristics in general, and the percentage of the population with a non-Western background in particular was undertaken. Initial results from a survey on how the public library is taken into use as a meeting place are presented and analysed.
    • Analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the research question.
    • Results. The survey results indicate that the library is a complex meeting place with a range of meetings along a continuum from high intensive to low intensive meetings.
    • Conclusions. The library's potential role as a promoter of social capital by functioning as a low intensive meeting place seems to offer a promising research agenda.
  • “Focusing on Undergraduates” Self-Study Team. Initial Report. February 22, 2007. UMass Amherst.
    • For the first time, the Libraries are examining how their services, collections, and facilities meet current needs and future expectations of undergraduates.
    • The Team conducted an environmental scan of comparable schools (13 respondents), visited 2 local, academic libraries with information literacy programs, analyzed existing assessment data, and conducted 4 focus groups to listen to undergraduate library needs from the perspectives of academic and student life service providers, faculty, and students themselves.
    • The Team recommends the UMass Amherst Libraries pay equal attention to undergraduate needs as we do to those of faculty and graduate students. We aim to:
      • Contribute to the retention of undergraduates to graduation
      • Prepare undergraduates to succeed at both UMass Amherst and in adult life
      • Help undergraduates learn about and embrace cultural differences
      • Respond to undergraduates’ academic and social modes of interacting and learning
    • It is important to make sure that evaluation of undergraduate services is included in ongoing assessment activities. ...
    • Such a program would employ a gamut of assessment activities. They should include statistics analysis, questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, usability testing, seating sweeps, question logging, observation, and ethnographic studies.
  • Suarez, Doug. What Students Do When They Study in the Library: Using Ethnographic Methods to Observe Student Behavior. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, v.8 no.3 (Winter 2007).
    • This paper reports on a study that used qualitative methods to assess what students were doing during the winter term at Brock University. The goals were to try and establish if they were engaged in their studies when using the library and to see if the library nurtured academic engagement in its study areas.
    • Before gathering data with methods like questionnaires, intensive interviews, and counts of the behaviors that are being assessed, I thought it would be more prudent to do preliminary diagnostic explorations. Good survey results depend on data that is collected using viable and reliable measuring instruments, and these in turn depend on developing concepts based on empirical research. In this instance we need to know something about study behaviors, as observed and expressed by students, before we can realistically quantify the extent of these behaviors and if these support academic engagement.
    • The two primary techniques used in the study to gather data were participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Environmental behavior observation of student activities in study areas and individual student interviews were employed with some additional informal interviews of selected library staff to get staff perspectives of what they observed students doing in study areas while they were doing their jobs in the library.
  • Bryant, Joanna E.. An ethnographic study of user behaviour in Open3 at the Pilkington Library, Loughborough University. Master’s Dissertation, 2007.
  • This study uses ethnography, an observation-based methodology, to investigate the use of Open3, an open-plan learning environment in the Pilkington Library at Loughborough University. Over 40 hours of fieldwork was undertaken with observations recorded in a field diary. A thematic analysis of the field diary was subsequently undertaken, and key themes identified. These findings were triangulated with data from other sources, including a major survey of library users undertaken in 2006. The project demonstrated the value, flexibility and efficacy of ethnography as a LIS research methodology. The study concluded that the open-plan learning space was highly popular, especially with undergraduate students who were observed conducting academic work and social activities simultaneously.
  • Downey, Greg. Human geography and information studies. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • Winding, Laura. Brugerne i DUS – en adfærdsbaseret brugerundersøgelse med fokus på folkebibliotekets samlede ressourcer. Copenhagen: Royal School of Library and Information Science, 2007. [In Danish]

2006


Whitmire (2006)


***********************

  • Whitmire, Ethelene. African American Undergraduates and the University Academic Library, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Winter, 2006),, pp. 60-66
    • Abstract: This study examines the academic library experiences of African American undergraduates attending a research university in the Midwest. Data collection techniques included questionnaires and ethnographic observations [incl. seating sweeps]. The results indicated that African American undergraduates are using the academic library primarily to read and to study with their own materials. Additional data include information about what days and time periods they normally visited the library and their library activities. Although the undergraduates primarily used the library as an academic space, there was some evidence suggesting that these undergraduates also viewed the library as a social space.
  • Baker, Lynda M. Observation: a complex research method. Library trends, Summer 2006.
    • [Thorough discussion of observation methods, with a focus on participative methods]

2005


Koontz et al. (2005)


*******************************

  • ACRL. Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space
    • What is the role of a library when users can obtain information from any location? And what does this role change mean for the creation and design of library space? Six authors—an architect, four librarians, and a professor of art history and classics—explore these questions in Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space. In their essays, the authors challenge us to think about new potential for the place we call the library and underscore the growing importance of the library as a place for teaching, learning, and research in the digital age.
  • Bennett, Scott. Righting the balance. In ACRL (above)
    • In its briefest form, the paradigm that has [traditionally] governed our colleges is this: A college is an institution that exists to provide instruction. Subtly but profoundly we are shifting to a new paradigm: A college is an institution that exists to produce learning.
    • Librarians and library designers need to join faculty in this paradigm shift. We need to understand that the success of the academic library is best measured not by the frequency and ease of library use but by the learning that results from that use. Our purpose is not to circulate books, but to ensure that the circulation of knowledge produces learning.
    • Reconceiving our purposes involves a fundamental shift for librarians trained in a service culture—one that is comparable to the shift that faculty are making as they move from a teaching to a learning culture. Academic librarians need to make a paradigm shift from a service to a learning culture.
    • The knowledge base that guides library space planning is thus poorly balanced, tilted heavily toward library operations and away from systematic knowledge of how students learn.
  • Koontz, C. M. ; Jue, D. K. & Lance, Keith C., (2005). Neighborhood-Based In-Library Use Performance Measures for Public Libraries: A Nationwide Study of Majority Minority White/Low Income Markets Using Personal Digital Data Collectors. Library and Information Science Research., v. 27, pp. 28-50. Results from Koontz et al. (1999)
    • Abstract: The practice of aggregating public library use data to a system-wide level (central library andbranches) can mask the library needs of more specific groups of users. This article introduces a study that addressed this need, by identifying libraries serving majority White/low income and majority–minority markets, and surveying those populations to identify types and levels of use. The study is critical for current library research and practices for these reasons: (1) the increasing diversity in race/ ethnicity and languages spoken in U.S. communities; (2) low circulation rates exacerbated by increased Internet use; (3) mere existence of a library is critical to optimize use by populations without the library and reading experience; and (4) the recent release of the U.S. Public Library Geographic Database (http://www.geolib.org/PLGDB.cfm) with neighborhood level census and library use data for all U.S. library jurisdictions. The methodologies developed offer potential for the collection of critical data for the public librarian of today
    • Data Category 3: Observed library user activity data:
    • 1. Library location of activity (e.g., adult area, homework center);
    • 2. User activity (e.g., reading, browsing, using computer, library program);
    • 3. Computer software used (if applicable);
    • 4. Number of users in activity;
    • 5. Age of user (e.g., preschool)
  • Xia, Jingfeng. Visualizing occupancy of library study space with GIS map. New Library World 106, no. 1212–13 (2005): 219–33

2004

  • Gross, Melissa, Eliza T. Dresang, and Leslie E. Holt. “Children’s in-Library Use of Computers in an Urban Public Library.” Library & Information Science Research 26.4 (2004): 311–57.
  • McNicol, Sarah. “Investigating Non-Use of Libraries in the UK Using the Mass- Observation Archive.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 36.2 (2004): 79–87.
  • Kommunernes Landsforbund. Brugernes adfærd på folkebibliotekerne. KL’s trafiktælling 2004. [User behavior in public libraries. The KL traffic count 2004]. Copenhagen: Kommunernes Landsforbund, 2004. - 19 pp. [In Danish]
    • Observation of individual behavior, from a fixed position, in relatively small public libraries

2003


XXX Young (2003)

Toronto Public Library Leckie & Hopkins (2002); Given & Leckie (2003)

Vancouver Public Library


*****************************

  • Given, Lisa M. and Gloria J. Leckie (2003). “Sweeping” the library: Mapping the social activity space of the public library. Library & Information Science Research. Vol. 25, Issue 4, Winter 2003, pp. 365-385.
    • Although libraries are public spaces in which individuals engage in a range of social and informational activities, few researchers in library and information science use ethnographic approaches to study users' experiences in these settings.
    • This article describes spatial analysis techniques used by geographers and other researchers of social space. It examines the ways in which these techniques may be used to map the physical layout of libraries and information centers, and patrons' uses of those spaces.
    • The article focuses on one observational approach (the ''seating sweeps'' method) used to study individuals' use of central public libraries in two large Canadian cities.
    • In addition to a description of the design and implementation of the method, the article presents some of the study's findings that support the utility of this method for facilities redesign or planning to accommodate patrons' information behaviors and usage patterns and to emphasize the central library as a vibrant and vital public space.
  • Young, Virginia E. (2003). Can We Encourage Learning by Shaping Environment? Patterns of Seating Behavior in Undergraduates. Paper presented at the Eleventh National Conference of the ACRL, Charlotte, NC
    • The library was surveyed mid-spring semester (March 18–21, 2002) by spot sampling every two hours it was open, Monday through Wednesday, from 8:00 A.M. until 1:00 in the morning. Spot sampling, which records “the behavior of individuals at random times throughout the period of research (Bernard and Killworth 1993, 207) was used instead of continuous monitoring, as is appropriate with small numbers of coded behaviors (214).
    • Bernard, H. Russell, and Peter D. Killworth. 1993. “Sampling in Time Allocation Research.” Ethnology 32: 207–15.
    • Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia,

2002

2001

  • Shoham, Snunith. “Users and Uses of the Public Library Reading Room.” Public Library Quarterly 20.4 (2001): 33–48.

1999

  • Koontz, Christie M. ; Jue, Dean K. & Lance, Keith Curry. “Collecting Detailed In-Library Usage Data in the U.S. Public Libraries:The Methodology, the Results and the Impact,” in Proceedings of the Third Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services (Newcastle, UK: University of Northumbria, 2001): 175–79. Important survey.
    • The United States Department of Educatoion provided this paper's authors with a three-year grant beginning in September 1996 that allowed the development of a methodology to collect detailed in-library use data. Our study encompassed 47 public library systems with over 100 public library branch market areas. ...
    • Participating libraries were provided with portable data collectors (PDCs) with a built in bar-cpde scanner. This allowed the researchers to pre-define in-library use categories and answers through bar codes. ...
    • Participating libraries were asked to collect one sample week per quarter for the 1998 calendar year. The collected data were then uploaded to a standard desktop computer and sent to the researchers either through a diskettwe or via e-mail. The three categories of in-library use collected by this study are in-library material usage, library assistance, and library user activities.
    • For in-library material use, the librarians collected data on the format (eg. magazine, book), language, type of material (eg. juvenile, adult), and classification (eg. Dewey decimal, Library of Congress) for each item used within the library but not checked out. For library assistance, the librarians recorded the age of the library user, the subject of the question, and the approximate time to answer the question for every instance of user assistance during the sampling period. For library user activities, the librarians recorded on an hourly basis the approximate library location, user activity, computer software being used (if applicable), and the age of all library users during the same sampling period each quarter.
  • Smith, Ian M. “What Do We Know about Public Library Use?” ASLIB Proceedings 51.9 (1999): 302–14.

1993

  • Bernard, H. Russell, and Peter D. Killworth. 1993. “Sampling in Time Allocation Research.” Ethnology 32: 207–15.
    • Sampling behavior by direct observation is a common technique in field studies of behavior (Lehner 1979; Martin and Bateson 1986). There are two ways to sample behavior: (1) focus on individuals and monitor them continuously for a period of time; (2) record the behavior of individuals at random times throughout the period of research. The former technique is called focal-animal sampling; the latter is known as spot sampling.
    • Spot sampling is based on a simple, appealing axiom: if you sample a representative number of moments in, say, a week or a year, and if you note what people are doing at those moments, then the percentage of times that people are seen doing things (eating, working, cooking, playing) is the percentage of time they spend doing those things (Erasmus 1955; Johnson 1975;Gross 1984).

1977

  • Zweizig, Douglas, and Brenda Dervin. “Public Library Use, Users, Uses: Advances in the Knowledge of the Characteristics and Needs of the Adult Clientele of American Public Libraries.” Advances in Librarianship 7 (1977): 231–55.

TO BE EVALUATED