TITLE: Catching Glimpses of the Future of Libraries through Library User Studies
SPEAKER: Susan Gibbons
EVENT DATE: 06/21/2010
RUNNING TIME: 76 minutes
DESCRIPTION:
Since 2003, the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries have been applying anthropological and ethnographic methods to the study of library users. Studies of the work practices of faculty and students have led to significant improvement in the Libraries' services, web presence and facilities. This presentation includes examples of the anthropology-based methods used to study users, some of the major findings, and how libraries are adapting to the changing needs of their users.
Speaker Biography: Dr. Susan Gibbons, is Vice Provost of the University of Rochester and the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of the River Campus Libraries. Prior to her current position at Rochester, she served as Associate Dean for Public Services and Director for Digital Library Initiatives. Previously, she held positions in the libraries at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Indiana University at Bloomington. Dr. Gibbons holds an MLS and an MA in History from Indiana University, a Professional MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Doctorate in Education Administration from the University of Rochester. She has presented and published on topics including user studies, electronic books, institutional repositories and library course management systems. She authored "The Academic Library and the Net Generation Student" and co-edited "Studying Students," the undergraduate research project at the University of Rochester. She was named one of Library Journal's 2005 "Movers and Shakers" and in 2006 was a visiting program officer for the Association for Research Libraries. She was one of eight "up-and-coming librarians" featured in an October 2007 story in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the future of libraries. She speaks around the globe to librarians and university administrators interested in the anthropological methods in use at the University of Rochester. Most recently, Dr. Gibbons' research has focused on methodologies for user studies and the alignment of academic libraries with the needs of Net Generation students, university press publishing, and the future of university librarianship in the Digital Age.
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SERIES: Digital Future and You
