Through searching through many articles using Emerald Insight, I had found a vast amount of information relating to the progression of the modern academic libraries, in contrast with the inevitable evolution of technological changes and advancements. I identified many factors which occupy this controversial debate of the modern academic library.
Books can be leather bound, old or new. They are records of fact or fiction, and can hold memories of past events. They usually live on library shelves, but eventually will be electronically stored on a vast worldwide database, no longer will customers have to search through rows of library shelves to find their chosen loan. The availability of the requested text, will be as fast and easy as one click of the mouse. The invention of a new Microsoft operating system - Windows Vista, which will be released on the market later this year, offers the user an online library. It will store vast amounts of information, allowing the users to turn pages of even the oldest treasures of British national collection, such as Da Vinci’s codex, Mozart etc. on their computers within seconds, whenever they need to access it.
A detailed review of the literature
Key themes identified
Models that are currently being proposed in the literature
Analysis of data and conclusions drawn
Questionnaire design & preliminary findings
Analysis of data. Statistical findings
Conclusions drawn from analysis
Problems encountered whe
Detailed explanation of how you administrated the data
As part of our preliminary research and in order to understand the area of study better, we have conducted a questionnaire. We were required to get 300 samples for students and 50 samples for staff, in order to get a variety of feedback and views from both the outside and within of the organisation. The results are intended to help us understand the possible issues of concern, popular views and opinions, possible areas for further investigation and give us a wider knowledge and a solid base for designing the final questionnaire.
In order to complete the research efficiently, the sample questionnaires were split equally between each member of our group. Questionnaires were administered at the Leeds Met University premises, mainly at the library, some in student halls and houses. In order to avoid biased results, each potential sample candidate was approached at random, depending mainly on their availability to complete the questions and cooperation. While we found most potential respondents to be helpful, others showed little cooperation, as they had no interest in our
Student Questionnaire
The student questionnaire consists of 7 open answer questions. A brief reasoning why each question was selected as follows:
1. What kind of facilities do you think are useful in the library?
This question will help the most useful facilities and perhaps understand which facilities have outdated themselves or are in need of further improvement.
2. Why do you use the library?
This will help us understand the main reasoning for choosing library as opposed to other study services.
3. What other information resources do you use besides the library?
This question is useful when establishing other popular study services and possible competitors.
4. Does the library meet your needs? If yes, why? If no, why not?
This question is crucial for understanding the students view on the library in general and the areas of it for further reconsideration.
5. How could the library facilities at Leeds Met be improved?
The information gained will help to collect the most popular views on the improvement, in order to meet the needs of a modern student, which is the core purpose of this project.
6. What advantages, if any, are there in using the Internet to find information?
This could give clues as to why the modern student body prefers the Internet over academic library.
7. Do you prefer to study at home or at the library? Reasons why.
The findings to this question will determine alternative ways of improving the library in order to achieve the possible advantages of studying at home.
For each question we gained a variety of answers, however some answers proved to be more dominant than others.
The first question concerns the facilities, which students find useful in the library and 170 students agree on computers, which makes it the most popular answer and shows the impact that technology has on the library. Other popular answers include quiet study areas, printers/photocopiers, internet access, access to databases, group rooms, audiovisual, self loan service and staff with helpful knowledge. This is valuable information, which can later be used to make a final closed questionnaire, using the most popular answers as available options for a related question.
Question two asks why students use the library and as the results are varied, it is hard to establish one dominant answer, however a few varied answers seem consistent, such as to study, to access books, to use internet/search for information, to do research etc.
Question 3 asks what other information resources are found useful and is dominated by one main answer – Internet. This also shows that the Internet is the main competitor for the modern academic library, as it offers such a variety of information, which can be accessed simultaneously by multiple students as opposed to a single printed document. Other popular results are newspapers, online journals, newspapers, other people and books. 21 students prefer not to use other resources at all.
Question 4 gives option of a yes or no answer and further explanation. The majority of answers agree that the library does meet their needs, mainly because it provides access to literature, the ability to always find the needed information, great facilities, helps the studying progress and offers good opening hours. The majority of students, who didn’t think the library meets their need, agree that this is due to lack of study books and computers. This is valuable information when evaluating what could be done to improve the library.
Question 5 is concerned with improving facilities and has the most varied feedback out of all the questions. More computers is the dominant answer, which shows that question 4 and 5 are interlinked, as the answers are similar. This could be telling us, that these questions result in a similar response, and therefore both of them are not needed.
Question 6 has proved that many students find the Internet a faster and easier option for conducting their research and agree that it offers a vaster variety of up-to-date information and a more convenient access.
Question 7 shows that more students prefer to study at the library, as there are more specified resources available and students are able to focus more. However most find studying at home more relaxed and are able to reflect more
Staff questionnaire
Staff questionnaire consists of 5 open answer questions:
1. What facilities do you believe the students find useful in the library?
This question will help us understand about the awareness of the staff on the student views in this area.
2. What kind of investments do you think are necessary, for the library to make , in order to meet the needs of the 21st century student?
We believe this will give the staff an opportunity to express their opinions and help us understand the area of future investments in the academic library better.
3. How could the library improve services for students?
This question is also similar to one on the student questionnaire, and therefore will show the difference between the staff and student views.
4. How could the learning environment for students be improved (such as lighting, seating etc)?
This question could prove to be contradictive, as some staff may feel that it should be aimed at students, however we feel this could help us learn of the understanding between the staff and students, which is crucial for the successful running of today’s library.
5. How has your job in the library changed in the last five years?
The purpose of this project is to learn of the changes the library has undergone and is facing in the future. The response will give a clear idea of the direction in which the modern academic library is moving towards.
We were required to collect 50 samples. As the only possible hours for the questionnaires to have been administered were during the work hours, we were asked to leave them at the helpdesk, in order for staff to find time for the completion of all questions. When the results were collected, this proved to be a problem as many questionnaires were not filled out properly. Many staff complained that the questions included, were too open and required a lot of time for thorough completion. This is a vital factor which will affect the design of the final questionnaire, as it shows that our questions needed to be more specific.
For question one, many agreed that the most useful facilities include designated study areas, It facilities and helpful staff. This corresponds with the student questionnaire and shows that staff have a good awareness of the useful facilities.
The response to question 2 is dominated by 2 main answers, which suggest that more investment is needed in IT facilities and books. However the student response to this question more varied and therefore allows for a more thorough examination of the subject of investments in the library.
The popular answers to question 3 are similar to question 2 and therefore it is obvious that these could have been incorporated into one.
Fewer feedback was received to question 4, which could be due to misunderstanding and therefore this question should be reconsidered for the final questionnaire.
Few staff agree that IT support is in higher demand. This proves that technological change has a direct impact on the library. As technology evolves at a fast pace, more inquiries arise and direct communication is becoming vital for providing a better service.
Conclusions and recommendations
What have you learnt from this assignment
Conclusions drawn
Presentation of findings in graphic or numeric form
Although no comparible institution exists, the modern library today faces many competitors.
The population served by any library authority is not homogenous but comprises numerous
large and small minority interest groups. In order to “provide a comprehensive and efficient
library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof”, it is necessary to undertake a
community profiling exercise; to identify the different market segments; and to adapt or
develop existing services to better meet the needs of the different segments
Adequate opening hours
Total number of electronic workstations, which allow access to online catalogues, available to users per thousand population
- The official British Library website.