1. The document summarizes a workshop hosted by Danielle Cooper of Ithaka S+R for staff at Trinity College Dublin Library to teach qualitative user research methods. 2. The goals of the workshop were to learn about user-centered research approaches, gain experience in methods like interviews and observation, and understand how to apply research to strategic decision making. 3. Participants practiced methods including observation, interviews and coding, and reflected on building research skills and applying insights to improve student experiences.

1. Siobhán Dunne
Trinity College Dublin
Senior Researcher,
Libraries and Scholarly Communications
@dm_cooper
danielle.cooper@ithaka.org
Danielle Cooper
Ithaka S+R
Head of Teaching, Research & User Experience
@dunnesiobhan
siobhan.dunne@tcd.ie
Engaging Staff in Evidence Based
Approaches to User Centred
Library Services

2. 1. Why a User Experience Strategy?
2. Ithaka S+R and Trinity partnership
3. Grounding the user-centred library in
research
4. Reflections on librarians as researchers &
cultural change
Presentation
Outline

3. Why a User
Experience
approach for
TCD Library ?

4. We will “think like our
users and understand our
users’ changing
expectations and
behaviours”

5. Living our Strategy
Summer 2017:
Reader Services strategy workshops
Reduce complexity
Increase sense of agency
Image Source: http://cakta.com/assets/download.php?file=/data/out/96/403294902-peeling-wallpapers.jpg

6. Engagement with Ithaka S+R
Approach
• One-on-one work with Danielle Cooper to develop Trinity College Dublin’s
user-centred research programme
• Two-day workshop with library staff on the user-centred library research
landscape with an emphasis on qualitative approaches

7. Workshop Goals
• Include TCD library staff in a variety of capacities
• Learn about the broader landscape of user-centered research methods and their
appropriate use-cases, including mixed methods approaches
• Become acquainted with landscape of qualitative research and its applicability to
libraries
• Gain in-depth knowledge and practice in three methodological areas: ethnography,
interviewing, and self-elicitation methods
• Explore and practices approaches to analyzing data and sharing results
• Understand how research fits into the broader cycle of strategic decision-making

8. At ITHAKA, our passion drives us to make the world smarter. Our mission comes
to life in four service areas.
JSTOR One of the world's
leading academic
databases, JSTOR powers
the research and learning
of 6 million users each
month.
Ithaka S+R Ithaka S+R
provides research and
strategic guidance to help
the academic and cultural
communities serve the public
good and navigate
economic, technological, and
demographic change.
Portico Portico, a
community-supported digital
archive, preserves over
564,000 e-books and
e-journals for future
scholars.
Artstor Artstor provides 2+
million high-quality images
and digital asset
management software to
enhance scholarship and
teaching.

9. Danielle Cooper
Senior Researcher, Libraries and Scholarly
Communications, Ithaka S+R
MI (2011), PhD (2017)
Areas of Focus
• Fielding large-scale collaborative research
projects with libraries on faculty’s teaching
and research support needs
• Teaching qualitative research methods to
librarians

10. User research provides a holistic,
evidence-based perspective on
stakeholders’ experiences and needs.

12. Library User Research
Dominant Frameworks
Assessment
Activities that seek to measure the library’s impact on teaching, learning and research and/or using
data-driven approaches to the continuous improvement of library services.
E.g. research featured at ARL Library Assessment Conference
User-Experience
Part of a “user-centred design” approach; research focused on optimizing products for frictionless use.
E.g. research featured at the UXLibs conference
Participatory Design
Procedures that actively involve all stakeholders in the design process to ensure that their needs are met.
E.g. Foster& Gibbons (2007), Studying students: The undergraduate research project at the University of
Rochester.

13. Structuring the
Trinity College
Dublin Library
Engagement

14. Workshop
Approach
Methods practiced
• Ethnography (observation)
• Interviewing
• Cultural Probing
• Mapping
• Coding and analysis
Strategies explored
• Designing research projects
• Leveraging data

15. Examples of
Workshop
Activities
Unobtrusive Observation
Participants were assigned a
different area of the library to
observe and record the spatial
characteristics and activities
undertaken in the space.
The activity concluded with
group reflection about what was
observed, how it felt to observe,
and any challenges
encountered.
Love or Break-Up Letter
Participants were invited to
write a love letter or a break-up
letter to a service, space or tool
at TCD Library as if it were an
actual person.
The activity concluded with an
examination of the themes that
emerged and discussion what
was learnt by sharing the
letters.
Interview Coding
Participants were giving a
transcript to code manually
following a step-by-step process
based on a grounded theory
approach.

16. Putting it to the test:
dipping our toes

17. Ethics approval
15 researchers 3 data points each
Data collection + coding completed by
each researcher
Methodology

18. Oh I definitely have found it [library] to be really like,
probably a cornerstone of my course definitely. I’d say
probably the library would be the place that I’ve spent
most time in even more than the Arts Block
Preliminary Findings
I's one of the fundamental things you know… you need to
be in the library. Also it gives you a sense of belonging

19. I have anxiety, so like em I’d be just
sitting there and be like oh that person
to my left just moved that means maybe
they’ll want to get up in a minute.
Should I move, I can’t move in any
further? The woman behind me has her
back pack on her chair. Why does she
have, is that a culture thing?
I can’t work from home because of
the dog and the brothers and the
washing machine and the… if I’m at
home it’s like oh the floor is dirty so I
have to clean the floor before I can
work. All this stuff

20. Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/fq7ou5
you know the staff are very, they’re willing to help if you
go up and ask, but say, I’d be worried like about if I was
an international student, my English probably, maybe
wasn’t fantastic and I didn’t know what was going on
and I don’t know what Stacks is … Stacks! What would
that mean?!
My two main spots are the Berkeley Pit
because it’s where [my] books are, and I
also like it because there’s loads of natural
light coming in from above. There’s an
atmosphere in the Pit where people are
serious about doing work
Atmosphere is very important; I couldn’t study in the Lecky
because it’s like a motorway for people. Settled and
subdued. Cosy but not too cosy. Anything that will
minimise distractions.
The low hanging fruit

21. Acquiring new skills, working with colleagues from
different departments and putting my own experience to
use in a new environment. Its all been a real eye
opener
This has turned out to be quite an introspective experience for me
as it has sometimes taken me out of my comfort zone and given me
an opportunity to test and develop research skills which were
unfamiliar to me
It is quite an intimate journey that we take with them
Researcher Reflections
the more time I spent with them the
more they opened up about their
opinions
Sometimes I was translating what she was saying into
the language we typically use in the library
I’ve found this [research] so useful
for working on the desk. I want to go
the extra mile… to look after the
student and ask ‘Did you know about
X or Y?

22. Keep on:
Listening
Learning
Reducing complexity
Increasing sense of agency
Longitudinal Study:
What does a student’s research
journey look like throughout
their time in university?
What does this look like before
and after uni?
Next Steps

23. Thank You
@dunnesiobhan
siobhan.dunne@tcd.ie
@dm_cooper
Danielle.cooper@ithaka.org

24. Further Reading
Cooper, D., Daniel, K., Bakker, C., Blanck, J., Childs, C., Gleason, A., ...Woodson, S. (2018). Supporting the
Changing Practices of Public Health Scholars. New York: Ithaka S+R. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.305867
Cooper, D., Bankston, S., Bracke, M.S., Callahan, B., Chang, H., Delserone, L.M., … Young, S. (2017). Supporting
the Changing Practices of Agriculture Scholars. New York: Ithaka S+R. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.303663
Cooper, D., Schonfeld, R.C., Adams, R., Baker, M., Bakkalbasi, N., Bales, J.G., … Weiss, N. (2017). Supporting the
Changing Practices of Religious Studies Scholars. New York: Ithaka S+R. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.294119
Dunne, S. (2016). How Do They Research? An Ethnographic Study of Final Year Undergraduate Research
Behaviour in an Irish University. New Review of Academic Librarianship.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13614533.2016.1168747
Dunne, S. and Sheridan, V. (2012). The Bigger Picture: Undergraduate Voices Reflecting on Academic Transition in
an Irish University. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 49(3), pp. 237-247.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14703297.2012.703019

25. Image Credits
Ithaka S+R Indigenous Studies Project Workshop, photos by Nikkole Kaylene Pirch,
University of Kansas Libraries (2017).

26. Image Credits
https://blatryk.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/handheld-coding-thoughts-on-the-science-of-design-research/
https://futurelib.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/the-snapshot-project.pdf