Library project – literature review

 

The literature review I wrote below, was incorporated into the final report…

  1. INTRODUCTION

Research into the use and accessibility of online resources via a library’s online offerings has proliferated in recent years in parallel with the advancement in online technology and the increase in internet accessibility amongst students and academics. This is of particular importance for Unisa which is the largest distance-learning institute in the southern hemisphere and caters for more than [fill in the number of students here] students and a large number of academics. In keeping with the importance of Unisa’s position, the library at Unisa bears the responsibility of providing access to information for the students and staff who rely on the library to provide them with relevant information in pursuit of learning and teaching. The Unisa library is the largest academic library in Africa(“About the Library,” n.d.) and as such has an obligation to make their information resources accessible.

In view of this, the Bureau of Market Research was tasked by the Unisa library, to investigate the use of the Unisa library website in terms of the ease of use for finding specific information sources, how users navigate the website to find these information sources and how users feel about the accessibility of the website. To do this, a preliminary study was conducted on 15 current users of the library. These 15 respondents comprised five undergraduates, five academic staff and five postgraduate students (Masters and doctorates). The study was undertaken in a controlled environment where access to the Unisa library website was made available to complete specific tasks. The completion of these tasks was monitored using various psychophysiological measurements namely eye-tracking, galvanic skin response (GSR), facial emotion recognition, heart-rate and pupillometry as well as a self-reporting questionnaire.

  1. LITERATURE REVIEW

Electronic resources (e-resources) in the context of a university library, refer to sources of information that can be accessed digitally and are often web-based. The pervasive presence of the web has led to a surge in available information, so much so that it is claimed that the web has resulted in an “information explosion” (Kitsuregawa & Nishida, 2010). The higher-education library environment has not escaped this information explosion and with the benefits of being able to provide an expanded offering to its clients in terms of information through the use of e-resources, there is the danger that the wealth of information on offer will ultimately limit its use if it cannot be adequately accessed. The importance of effective information seeking in a digital and complex environment is therefore seen as essential  (Matusiak, 2006, p. 480) and in the academic context it is of particular importance.

Digital information seeking and accessing of information, is indispensible in the field of academia where the concepts of ‘information overload’ and ‘information anxiety’ have been suggested as creating a barrier to academic information use (Ojo, 2016). Information overload can be defined as a negative situation where the amount of relevant and potentially relevant information, hampers rather than helps an individual to gain knowledge. Understanding how digital information is searched for and is selected amongst the wealth of information available, should go part of the way to addressing the problem of information overload.

To  address  this  problem  and  emanating  from  the  more  traditional  means  of  organising  information  as  found  in  library  databases,  search  mechanisms  have  evolved. Google Scholar has repeatedly been cited as a source for searching of e-resources (Bates, Best, McQuilkin, & Taylor, 2017; Camacho & Spackman, 2011; Neuhaus, Neuhaus, & Asher, 2008; Niu & Hemminger, 2012) often in preference to library websites  as the usability and functionality of library search engines are not always appropriate (Camacho & Spackman, 2011; Dinkelman & Stacy-Bates, 2007). Some studies also suggest that a library’s website and the library catalogue were the least used means for academic users to discover e-books (Dinkelman & Stacy-Bates, 2007) and the use of web-based search engines such as Google Scholar were preferred, especially when initial browsing for information occurs.

The problems discussed above are recognised globally as concerns for libraries as is evinced by the proliferation of research dealing specifically with aspects of e-resources in libraries. Many of the problems that the Unisa library has expressed are common to other university websites that have incorporated e-resources into their library’s offerings.

Globally, in the last 20 years research has been undertaken that addressed the use of e-resources by students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) as well as by academics with the common finding that lack of training in use of the library’s protocols as well as connectivity and technological constraints reduced the accessibility to the needed e-resources. In research conducted by Shuling (2007, p. 87) that analysed the university readers’ awareness of use of electronic resources and their ability to acquire document information at the Shaanxi University of Science and Technology in China, it was found that computer restrictions and connectivity were the main obstacles to the use of electronic resources.  Fang, Cui, and Lian (2010) found that training should be incorporated as part of the library’s offerings. Another study whose objective, among others, was to ascertain the abilities of University of Karachi (UOK) academics to use electronic resources found that networking problems and lack of user training hindered the effective use of e-resources (Ansari & Zuberi, 2010). Also in India, Sethi and Panda (2012, p. 13) found that lack of training was considered the main reason why e-resources were not used effectively. A recent study in China by (Wang & Bai, 2016) found that, particularly among first and second year undergraduate students, awareness of e-books was low and that to remedy this, they suggested that the libraries provide students with guidance for improving usage.

Closer to home, a number of studies have been taken which look at e-resources in an academic library’s context. Nigeria has been particularly prolific on this subject. By focusing specifically on postgraduate students, Edem  found that “Lack of computer skills, slow network, inconsistent internet connectivity, power outage and irrelevant electronic information resources” (Edem, 2016, p. 60) were the main determiners of non-effective e-resources use. The University of Lagos was also the focus of a study in 2011 which revealed that infrastructure and training were the main obstacles to e-resource use. Investigating the use of e-resources by undergraduate students, Ferdinand, Ruth, and Paul (2015) also came to the conclusion that lack of skills in the use of e-resources needed to be addressed. At the University of Ghana “lack of guidance, lack of appropriate search skills, and internet connectivity problems were the major reasons that impeded the use of electronic resources.” (Anane, 2016, p. 4).In South Africa  in a  2013 study detailing e-resource use at the library of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) (Dolo-ndlwana, 2013) it was found that similar problems were encountered such as internet connection problems, slow downloading of articles and a need for training on how to make effective use of the library’s e-resources. The overall message is that, particularly in Africa, internet connectivity and skills training are the main barriers to effective e-resource use.

Most research on the subject approaches the gathering of the necessary data from a traditional survey instrument approach. The approach the BMR is taking is novel. Three categories of users namely postgraduate students, undergraduate students and academic staff members use the library website to access e-resources when undertaking specific tasks. By utilising eye-tracking technology, navigation to reach the specific goal required by the task can accurately be determined and eye gaze and areas of interest[1] can help infer possible decision-making processes. Emotional reaction to the website can be inferred from galvanic skin response, pupillometry and facial emotion recognition which is provided by the software which records and synchronises the data. Heart rate can record arousal. Combining these measures, an indication of subconscious emotional reaction to the library website can be obtained. Furthermore, the AdSam manikin question can further triangulate the study. The aim is to provide an objective appraisal of reactions to the library website, moving away from the survey paradigm.

  1. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Problem-statement

In keeping with their mandate to make their information resources accessible to its users, the Unisa library would like to investigate the usability and accessibility of its website. It has found that library users find it challenging to access the library webpage, choosing another route to access it, for example through MyUnisa. It is not understood why library users use different search options and why they find it difficult to access e-resources, especially when at home.

3.2 Research question

The research question to be answered can be given as:

What are the characteristics library users access to the library’s e-resources offerings?

3.3 Research objectives

Linked to the above research question the following primary objective can be specified, namely how usable is the navigation structure of the Unisa website when searching for specific information?

Secondary objectives can be stated as

  1. What navigation paths do users use when they are searching for specific information?
  2. How do users feel about the use of the library website when searching for information?

3.4 Methodology to be followed

Sample and sampling method

A total of 15 subjects took part in the study. These subjects were chosen on the basis of convenience sampling and comprised the following:

  • 5 undergraduate students
  • 5 postgraduate students (defined as Masters or Doctorate students)
  • 5 academics (defined as staff members of Unisa)

Using an experimental environment, subjects were required to complete three tasks related to common academic searches on the library website. A controlled laboratory environment (specifically the neuroscience laboratory at the Bureau of Market Research at Unisa) was used to test participants. This environment ensured a degree of consistency and lessened external distractions, thus reducing the variables that might have affected the results. Use was made of eye tracking soft- and hardware, emotient facial recognition software, measurements of pupil dilation as well as GSR, heart rate measurements.

These psychophysiological measures yielded useful information on the navigation paths taken by the participant (using eye tracking), their emotional reaction to the website (using galvanic skin response, pupillometry, heart rate and facial expression). By way of specialised software, synchronisation of measurements related to the session (ie. the clicking or non-clicking of a link) was enabled. The software used for capture and analysis of the data was the iMotions software suite.

The searches undertook by the participants comprised the following:

Undergraduates were required to find the call number, shelf number and location (ie. Which unisa library branch) of a prescribed book. They also were required to find information about an e–book namely a specific chapter number and page number as well as solving three common problems that library users come across.

Postgraduates and academics were not required to source a prescribed book but instead were tasked with finding a specific journal article and detail on the authors of said article. They were also required to undertake the same e-book and task-solving searches as the undergraduates. The tasks are shown in Appendix xx.

Subjects were asked by way of Ad-Sam manekins, how they felt about the search process, Followed by several on-screen self-report questions which are shown in Appendix xx.

REFERENCES

About the Library. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2018, from http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/About-the-Library

Anane, R. O. (2016). Use of Electronic Databases by Final year Students of the University Of Ghana College Of Health Sciences by Rita Oduro Anane Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master ’ s of Information Technology In the Faculty of Engin, (March).

Ansari, M. N., & Zuberi, B. A. (2010). Use of Electronic Resources among Academics at the University of Karachi. Library Philosophy & Practice, 6(3), 1 – 7.

Bates, J., Best, P., McQuilkin, J., & Taylor, B. (2017). Will Web Search Engines Replace Bibliographic Databases in the Systematic Identification of Research? Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(1), 8–17. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2016.11.003

Camacho, L., & Spackman, A. (2011). Transitioning to e-books: Usage and attitudes among business faculty. Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship, 16(1), 33–45. http://doi.org/10.1080/08963568.2011.530856

Dinkelman, A., & Stacy-Bates, K. (2007). Accessing E-books through Academic Library Web Sites. College & Research Libraries, 68(1), 45–58. http://doi.org/10.5860/crl.68.1.45

Dolo-ndlwana, N. (2013). Use and Value of Library’S Electronic Resources By Academics and Postgraduate Students At Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Cput)., (April), 3 – 99.

Edem, N. B. (2016). Availability and Utilization of Electronic Resources by Postgraduate Students in a Nigerian University Library : A Case Study of University of Calabar , Nigeria. Information and Knowledge Management, 6(2), 60–69.

Fang, C., Cui, L., & Lian, H. (2010). Electronic reserve services for academic libraries in China: practices and concerns. Interlending & Document Supply, 38(4), 245–252. http://doi.org/10.1108/02641611011094392

Ferdinand, O. A., Ruth, E. O., & Paul, O. E. (2015). Usage of Electronic Information Resources (EIRs) by Undergraduate Students of Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun. Information and Knowledge Management, 5(4), 94–104.

Kitsuregawa, M., & Nishida, T. (2010). Special issue on information explosion. New Generation Computing, 28, 207–215.

Matusiak, K. K. (2006). Information Seeking Behavior in Digital Image Collections: A Cognitive Approach. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32(5), 479–488. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2006.05.009

Neuhaus, C., Neuhaus, E., & Asher, A. (2008). Google Scholar Goes to School: The Presence of Google Scholar on College and University Web Sites. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(1), 39–51. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2007.11.009

Niu, X., & Hemminger, B. M. (2012). A study of factors that affect the information-seeking behavior of academic scientists. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(2), 336–353. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi

Ojo, O. J. (2016). Information Anxiety and Information Overload of Undergraduates in Two Universities in South-West Nigeria. Library, Philosophy and Practice, (Paper 1368).

Sethi, B. B., & Panda, K. C. (2012). Use of e-resources by life scientists: a case study of Sambalpur university, India. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-Journal), (Paper 681), 1–16. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/681

Shuling, W. (2007). Investigation and analysis of current use of electronic resources in university libraries. Library Management, 28(1/2), 72–88. http://doi.org/10.1108/01435120710723563

Wang, S., & Bai, X. (2016). University Students Awareness, Usage and Attitude Towards E-books: Experience from China. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 42(3), 247–258. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2016.01.001

 

[1] Areas of interest are those areas on the screen that the person focuses on for a specific length of  time suggesting that those areas catch their attention.