Background
The Library of the Law and Administration Faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow is currently preparing a complex reform of its website and profiles in social media in order to comply with the best benchmarks in this domain. This operation has been preceded by a two-stage study of Library’s users’ information needs and expectations concerning the website’s future architecture and design. We purposefully limited the target group to active scholars and academic teachers only. The paper exposes the results of the study and possible practical implementations of its empirical findings. The research project discussed herein is the first large scale mixed-method survey conducted in our Library.
Objectives
We defined the objectives as follows:
1) discover, with the utmost precision achievable, actual needs of faculty members staff regarding the offer of resources and services displayed by the Library via its website and social media profiles;
2) assess the concordance of discovered user’s needs with the best benchmarks as recognized optimal models of law libraries website design and organization;
3) compare obtained findings with similar studies (e.g. McAllister & Brown, 2020; Uwaechina & Eze-Onwuzuruike, 2019) and identify potential particularities of local law scholars; and
4) assess the feasibility of implementing modifications recommended by faculty members.
Methodology
The study is a mixed-method research relying on the application of: 1) a large scale online survey addressed to the whole community of the faculty members and 2) a focus group interview with 10 scholars, fully transcribed and explored via discourse analysis conducted according to the principles of the cognitive imaging method.
Outcomes
The main outcome generated by the study is an accurate panorama of information needs and expectations expressed by the faculty members with respect to the Library’s website and social media profiles. Indications emerging from this first-of-this-kind research will guide modifications and extensions introduced in the Library’s website so as to better address and anticipate scholars’ requests. The study is in line with current research trends that stress the utility of improving libraries’ communication via digital media in order to sustain users’ satisfaction (McCaffrey, 2019; Indrák & Pokorná, 2021; Fu, 2021; Mărginean & Kifor, 2021).
References
- Fu, Y. (2021). Experiencing the academic library in the digital age: From information seeking and user experience to human information interaction. [Doctoral dissertation]. UCL (University College London).
- Indrák, M., & Pokorná, L. (2021). Analysis of digital transformation of services in a research library. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 70(1/2), 154–172.
- McAllister, C., & Brown, M. (2020). Wrangling weirdness: Lessons learned from academic law library collections. Retrieved December 19, 2022 from https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/charleston/2019/collectiondevelopment/21/
- Mărginean, E., & Kifor, C. V. (2021). Academic libraries as user-centered organizations. Case study: Quality of services provided by LBUS Library. In MATEC Web of Conferences, 342, (p. 09002). EDP Sciences.
- McCaffrey, C. (2019). Transforming the university library one step at a time: A ten year LibQUAL+ review. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 25(1), 59–75.
- Uwaechina, C. G., & Eze-Onwuzuruike, J. (2019). The role academic law libraries in meeting information needs of legal clientele. Library Research Journal, 4, 133–137.
Paloma Korycińska, Małgorzata Stanula
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland