CIL2007: Student's World - Photo Diary Study

Nicole Hennig, MIT Libraries

Presentation available online

Usability testing only tells you how well stuff works

contextural research - figure out what people want and how they work

cultural probe: can't follow all day - students user cameras to record what they're doing

students kept diary of info seeking behavior over a week, follow-up interviews

photos jog memory of what they did

wikipedia used often as basic starting point for research

in general both grad (86%) and undergrad (93%) thought they were successful, librarians thought grads successful 77% of time and undergrads 85% {interesting that this is higher for undergrads}, less effective in searching for info on specific topic

rely on sources recommended from trusted network (librarians not included in this)

librarians don't always think of all the tools that people use outside lib sources: use topical discovery in non-lib tools (amazon to find books, then search opac to see if in lib)

students had trouble knowing where to look and using lib sources effectively

users want search simplified, too many starting points {huge issue in general! how to consolidate search in way that works}

worldcat local project - upcoming, has faceted browsing features

bookmarking/ tagging: students want to know what others are using, don't necessarily have to know who reviewers are specifically, just general info about them is OK

LibX firefox extension: puts catalog links in things like amazon, makes isbn etc live links to catalog from websites, highlight text on website to search google scholar or library catalog

mit libraries beta - place to experiment with technology like google labs

"successful systems extend the users' work practice" - ? {missed name}

"design works best when it models user behavior" - joshua porter

Q: did you compensate?
A: yes, $50 amazon gift card

Q: have to get permission to do?
A: yes, had to have training on doing human studies. had to get permission to use photos outside study