About the Book
Modern library services can be incredibly complex. Much more so than their forebears, modern librarians must grapple daily with questions of how best to implement innovative new services, while also maintaining and updating the old. The efforts undertaken are immense, but how best to evaluate their success?
In this groundbreaking new book from Routledge, library practitioners, anthropologists, and design experts combine to advocate a new focus on User Experience (or ‘UX’) research methods. Through a combination of theoretical discussion and applied case studies, they argue that this ethnographic and human-centred design approach enables library professionals to gather rich evidence-based insights into what is really going on in their libraries, allowing them to look beyond what library users say they do to what they actually do.
Edited by the team behind the international UX in Libraries conference, User Experience in Libraries will ignite new interest in a rapidly emerging and game-changing area of research. Clearly written and passionately argued, it is essential reading for all library professionals and students of Library and Information Science. It will also be welcomed by anthropologists and design professionals working in related fields.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Uncovering complexity and detail, Andy Priestner, Matt Borg; Chapter 2 Using ethnographic methods to study library use, Bryony Ramsden; Chapter 3 Embracing an ethnographic agenda, Donna M. Lanclos; Chapter 4 Holistic UX, Matt Borg, Matthew Reidsma; Chapter 5 Applying human-centred design to the library experience, Paul-Jervis Heath; Chapter 6 The why, what and how of using ethnography for designing user experience in libraries (and a few pitfalls to avoid), Leah Emary; Chapter 7 Identifying the barriers, Andrew D. Asher; Chapter 8 Illuminating study spaces at Cambridge University with spacefinder, Andy Priestner; Chapter 9 WhoHas?, Helen Murphy; Chapter 10 User experience beyond ramps, Penny Andrews; Chapter 11 Changing the dialogue, Rosie Jones, Nicola Grayson; Chapter 12 UX and a small academic library, Margaret Westbury; Chapter 13 Understanding our students and ourselves, Michael Courtney, Carrie Donovan; Chapter 14 What makes an informal learning space?, Bea Turpin, Deborah Harrop, Edward Oyston, Maurice Teasdale, David Jenkin, John McNamara; Chapter 15 Spaces for learning? using ethnographic techniques, Helen Jamieson; Chapter 16 Are you sitting comfortably…?, Elizabeth Tilley; Chapter 17 UX in libraries, Andy Priestner, Matt Borg;
About the Author :
Andy Priestner is a freelance trainer and consultant specialising in user experience, social media, marketing, communications and teambuilding, working with libraries, universities and the private sector in the UK and mainland Europe. He originated the UX in Libraries conference and is currently managing Cambridge University Library's Futurelib innovation programme which employs ethnography and human-centred design. Matt Borg is a librarian, trainer, geek and troublemaker. An academic librarian for over 14 years, he is currently working with libraries across Europe on library technologies such as discovery systems and library services platforms. He is also a freelance trainer. He likes fonts, coffee, LEGO and books.
Review :
"The question becomes how to get this book, these powerful chapters, into the right hands...There are no answers offered in this review, other than for practitioners to keep talking and sharing. If we’re lucky, with its honesty and rational approach, User Experience in Libraries: Applying Ethnography and Human-Centered Design can break through."— Heidi Steiner Burkhardt, University of Michigan Library, Weave: Journal of Library User Experience
"This book serves as a guide, and inspiration, for anyone who is engaged in public service in a library setting and interested in designing a research project that evaluates library space and services, from one shot instructional sessions to reference to remodeling the library space itself. While the focus of the book is academic libraries, and the user group that the studies considers are primarily student users, this book describes user experience research methodologies with enough detail and references that any library could design a user experience research project that examines any user population. User Experience in Libraries provides novice researchers and experienced researchers alike with the tools to apply this methodology and use the resulting data to create impactful services and spaces, demonstrating the value that libraries continue to bring." -Ariel A. E. Scotese, Cornell University Law Library, Journal of New Librarianship
