Assessment:User Studies

What are the best methods for assessing user needs with regards to digital libraries?

The User Studies Working Group will be compiling resources, conducting research, and drafting literature to assist those who are interesting in evaluating users of digital repositories and their needs.

The User Studies Working Group white paper

Participants identified four assessment topics to explore during the Assessment Breakout Session at the 2014 DLF Forum:

1. User/Usability studies
2. Identifying users and uses
3. Return On Investment (ROI)
4. Reuse of content/what do users do with content

These four groups will make up the focus of a white paper on assessing users and user needs. The working group will complete a series of tasks to generate the white paper:

1. Compile a bibliography
2. Develop a literature review -- Completed
3. Draft of Surveying the Landscape: Use and Usability Assessment of Digital Libraries for public comment

The final draft of the white paper will be released in December 2015.

White Paper Participants

White Paper Team

• Joyce Chapman, Duke University
• Megan Hurst, Athenaeum21 Consulting
• Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Loyola University New Orleans
• Caroline Muglia, University of Southern California
• Genya O’Gara, Virtual Library of Virginia
• Ayla Stein, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Santi Thompson, University of Houston (Co-Leader)
• Liz Woolcott, Utah State University (Co-Leader)
• Tao Zhang, Purdue University

Literature Review Team

• Joyce Chapman, Duke University
• Jody DeRidder, University of Alabama
• Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Loyola University New Orleans
• Martha Kyrillidou, Association of Research Libraries
• Caroline Muglia, University of Southern California
• Genya O’Gara, Virtual Library of Virginia
• Ayla Stein, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Santi Thompson, University of Houston (Leader)
• Rachel Trent, State Library of North Carolina
• Liz Woolcott, Utah State University

Bibliography Team

• Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Loyola University New Orleans
• Santi Thompson, University of Houston (Leader)
• Rachel Trent, George Washington University
• Liz Woolcott, Utah State University
• Tao Zhang, Purdue University

Possible Next Steps

Future efforts from the group may include generating complementary content, such as:

1. Templates/guides
2. Toolkits
3. Original Research

Get Involved

The working group maintains a Google Drive folder, which contains meeting notes and drafts of working documents.

If you have any questions, or are interested in participating in the working group, please contact Santi Thompson. You can also fill out our User Studies Participant spreadsheet.