Publication Date
8-19-2013
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
Academic libraries, Diversity, Information behaviour
Abstract
Academic libraries increasingly serve a more diverse population of users not only in regard to race and ethnicity, but also to age, gender, language, sexual orientation, and national and cultural backgrounds. This papers reports the findings of the study that explored information behaviour research as a potential source of information about diversity of academic library users and examined the relationship between the use of different research designs and data collection methods and the information gathered about users’ diverse backgrounds. The study found that information behaviour research offers limited insight into the diversity of academic library users. The choice of a research design was not critical but the use of multiple data collection played a role in gathering information about culturally diverse users.
Publication Statement
Copyright held by the author or publisher. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Krystyna K. Matusiak
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
11 pgs
File Size
137 KB
Recommended Citation
Matusiak, K.K. (2013). What we are learning about the diverse backgrounds of academic library users: An overview of research designs and methods in information behavior studies. Presented at the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress, Singapore, August 19, 2013. Paper available in the IFLA Library at: http://library.ifla.org/68/