Silvana Šehić Sanjica Faletar Tanacković

1. Exploration of Academic Information Seeking and Library Use of the Blind and Visually Impaired Students in Croatia Silvana Šehić Sanjica Faletar Tanacković

2. Introduction • 285 million visually impaired persons in the world (World Health Organization, 2013) • almost 20 000 in Croatia (0,5% of total population) • persons with reduced vision face many barriers in their everyday life and have limited access to post-secondary education

3. Introduction • in order to facilitate the social participation of visually impaired students and improve their educational experiences, studies are needed to gain deeper understanding of how they interact with academic information • paucity of studies of their information needs and information seeking behavior (Smale, 1992; Schuyler, 1999; Saumure & Given, 2004)

4. Study • Research questions • How are blind and visually impaired students accessing and using academic material? • What factors enhance/impede their successful information seeking? • How can academic libraries better serve the needs of this specific user group?

5. Study • qualitative study conducted in September 2013 • intensive process of population identification and recruitment of the interviewees • semi structured interviews with nine visually impaired students enroled at Croatian universities • two interviewed in person, seven via Skype • duration 30 to 90 minutes

6. Study • Instrument • demographic data • educational experience • academic information behavior • academic library use • Ethical considerations • respect for dignitiy, autonomy, equality, diversity of participants • verbal consent

7. Major findings • General demographic data • six blind, and three with reduced vision who cannot read conventional print • six female, three male • all study social sciences and humanities • from three universities: Osijek, Split, Zagreb • three undergraduate, six graduate students • all have GPA above 3,5 • eight live independently

8. Major findings • Livingwithvisualimpairment • disabilityinfluencestheirindependenceandqualityoflife • theirpositioninthesocietydepends as much on thecommunity as on themselves • important personal characteristics: open, communicative, hard-working, persistent „Wehave to beawarethatwe are creatorsofourdestiny… Wehave to do something… andchangesomething” (R2)

9. Major findings • Studyingwithvisualimpairment • have to invest more time, effortandfinancesthansightedstudents • cannotparticipateinextracurricularactivities (e.g. conferences) • have to fightprejudices • perceived as „special” • alwayshave to ask for specialtreatment "Technicalproblemscanalwaysbesolvedandonceyoulearn how to dealwiththemthey are no more a problem. But prejudices, misunderstandingandlabelingissomethingthat, inmyopinion, ismuchharder to dealwith." (R1)

10. Major findings • Information access and use • prefer electronic materials • print materials have to be first transformed into the appropriate adapted format • face many challenges in location, access and use of academic information • time intensive process • depend on intermediary • inaccessible information • lack of electronic materials • electronic documents in .pdf, documents scanned as pictures, hyperlinks in electronic documents , pictures with embedded text

11. Major findings • Informationaccessand use • put more value on informationqualityanditsreliabilitythanon thelevelofeffortand time needed to findit (andadapt for usage) • verypersistent • fullyequal to theirsightedpeersinrelation to information use "In interpretingtheinformation a blindpersoncanbejust as good as, sometimesevenbetterthanthesighted student." (R5)

12. Major findings • Information access and use • importance of interpersonal sources • adaptive technology facilitates their interaction with information • scan print materials • enlarge text/magnify screen • translate text into audio forms (screen readers, speech synthesizers) • BUT • adaptive technology is expensive and its use is time-consuming!

13. Major findings • Academic library use • although librarians treat them with respect students visit libraries (phyisically or virtually) only if they cannot find the material in any other way • for only one interviewee library was always the first choice • barriers to library use • architectural design • complex procedure to check out books • lack of accessible (electronic) material • lack of adaptive technology in the library • rigid library policies

14. Conclusion • study produced valuable insights into the educational experience and information behavior of visually impaired students • students contributed to the formulation of several recommendations aimed at improving academic library services for this specific user group

15. Recommendations for academic libraries • pay more attention to the patrons’ handling of library material • revise their policies • provide guidelines for the design of accessible educational materials

16. Recommendations for academic libraries • acquire adaptive technology and train the staff for its use • adapt library materials for visually impaired students • maintain the repository of adapted material • collaborate with other academic libraries in the country and abroad, and NGOs

17. Thank you!