OLA SUPER CONFERENCE 2005 Amazing Stories @ your library Thursday February 3rd, 2005

1. OLA SUPER CONFERENCE 2005 Amazing Stories @ your library Thursday February 3rd, 2005 Libraries by Design: Library Design Based on User Input

2. Vivian Lewis Associate University Librarian, McMaster University • Tanis Fink Chief Librarian, Seneca College • Cathy Capes Principal, Moffat Kinoshita Architects Inc.

3. Vivian Lewis lewisvm@mcmaster.ca Shifting the Focus on Library Design

4. Overview • The big picture • The traditional approach to library design • Why we’re reluctant to ask our users • Why asking is so important • Recent activities at McMaster • One year of intensive reflection on library space (surveys, focus groups, etc…)

5. The Traditional Focus • Historically, planning driven by collections and operational efficiency. • The “user” largely absent from early planning literature • Heavily standards based • Decisions based on anecdote, casual observation and serendipity

6. Reasons for Our Reluctance • Believe we already know what they think • Lack time or in-house expertise • Don’t think users will understand or care • Fear we wont like what they have to say • Know there won’t be consensus • Financial issues will stop us from following through Not part of our culture to ask!

7. Result: some truly bad ideas! • Steady elimination of study seats to make room for print collections • Large “Ivy League” reading rooms • Uncomfortable (but very durable) furnishings • Chemical colours • Lack of natural light

8. The Paradigm Shift • Libraries are now becoming “social places where learning happens” • Library planning “relies far more on anticipated user patterns and, ideally, considers how the space contributes to the educational mission of the institution” (Kathlin Smith, 2005)

9. Benefits of talking to our users / clients • To understand or predict user preference or behavior (anecdotes, formulas and results from other libraries insufficient) • To inform the planning process • To influence or persuade stakeholders • To be accountable

10. Public Space Planning at McMaster • Profile: • mid-sized research-intensive university • 3 libraries (plus Health Sciences Library) • 200,000 square feet of public space • 3 million print volumes • limited experience with user assessment

11. Severe crowding in stacks Insufficient study space Insufficient access to computers Inadequate provisions for group study and collaborative work The Situation in 2003

12. Taking a New Turn: Public Space Review Mandate • Accommodate significant increases in the number of people using the library • Establish a reasonable balance between collection, study, technology and service space • Meet users’ changing information needs and learning styles All within the footprint of the current buildings!

13. “Tell us what you think” • Questionnaire • Focus groups • Interviews with key opinion makers • Photo gallery • Discussions with our 4 user groups • Public comment via web page

14. Why use a Questionnaire? • Elicit opinions from a large number of users in a relatively short period of time • Ability to extrapolate results to entire population • Easy to analyze data, quantify, compare, benchmark

15. Drawbacks • Sample composition can invalidate results • Takes time to write effective questions, administer survey, analyze results • Limits users’ abilities to express their opinions (pre-defined options)

16. Questionnaire • Short and simple - 7 questions, mostly closed • Available both online (from library home page) and in the library • More exploratory than scientific • Self selected rather than random sample Internet surveys skewed by response demographics • Only moderate outreach to non-users • 906 responses (200 from the online form) • A rich source of data for decision making in conjunction with other tools

17. Best Practices • Establish clear objectives for the survey (“To understand how users….) • Agree in advance on precise data being sought in each question • Define all imprecise terms • Ask the minimum number of questions necessary to capture information

18. More Best Practices • Avoid loaded questions and biased phrasing • Avoid two-edged questions • Pre-test the survey on a group representative of your users • Communicate results (prompt, accurate, simple, focus on action items) Adapted from Association of Research Libraries, User Surveys in Academic Libraries, Sept. 1996.

19. Improving Response • Quick and easy (surveys are impositions!) • Incentives (book store vouchers…) • Survey on topics of interest to users • Ensure confidentiality • Make it look professional • Avoid survey fatigue

20. Researcher’s Regret • Focused on preferences. Later wished we had more information on behavior. [User may prefer a carrel, but how often does he also require a group study room, lounge seat, etc.?] • Wanted more information on WHY? [Best gathered through focus groups]

21. Best Question • “If we could change one thing about the physical space in the libraries, what should it be?” • Elicited very persuasive comments • Some major surprises (e.g, lighting) • Significant consistency within each library – but significant variation between libraries • Mills (more computers!), Innis (more group study rooms!), Thode (more study space)

22. Other Tools • Focus Groups • Interviews with key opinion leaders • Photo Gallery (visual notebook of current space utilization) • Discussions at our four user groups • Public comment from the web page

23. Challenges • Unrealistic demands (want group tables and silence at the same time) • Want more flexibility than we are able to provide (change the furnishings during exam time!) • Colliding opinions (music students want a separate listening area but faculty want all collections and equipment together)

24. More Challenges • Conflicts with our staff (staff want total silence, acres of carrels…) • Faculty (hard pressed to engage them in process, base assumptions on their experiences 20 years ago)

25. A Blueprint for the Next Decade • Presented to user groups Oct. – Dec. 2004. • Posted to public web site February 2005. • Recommended dramatic increase in amount of “people” space, creation of high density storage facility, support for Commons facilities in both Mills and Thode Libraries… Proposed Commons in Mills

26. The Dialogue Continues… • Campus Consultation on Public Space scheduled for March 22, 2005

27. Final Thoughts • Users care deeply about physical spaces in the libraries (and are willing to talk about it!). • Cookie cutter solutions won’t work. Each library has its own culture. • Some of our assumptions are faulty. • Engaging the user in the design process will help us build better libraries – “social places where learning happens.”

28. Tanis Fink Tanis.Fink@senecac.on.ca Library Design and USER INPUT “Oy Vey”

29. Outline Background on Seneca’s Design Experience Answers to the Top Twelve Questions on how to get effective user input.

30. About Seneca’s Philosophy • User Centered Design (UCD) • Delivery of our services • Development of our collections • Building and renovating of our facilities

31. About Seneca’s Philosophy What is User-Centered Design (UCD)? • It is an approach that focuses on the end user from the every beginning of your project and emphasizes validation with the users at each step during the design process. • Client-centered in industry • Focuses on customization

32. About Seneca’s Philosophy • Our facilities • Redesigned our library space to respond to the changing needs and expectations of our users. • Library and Learning Commons

33. About Seneca Generation Y Students: • Born in or after 1982 • Information Technology • Self confident and vocal • Team based organization • Collaborative space is important • Typing is preferred to handwriting • Staying connected is essential • Zero tolerance for delays • 24 x 7 is essential • Customer service is an expectation not an exception

34. About Seneca Seneca Students want: • Lots of Technology • Collaborative work space • Welcoming environment • One stop academic shopping

35. About Seneca’s Design Experience King Campus Learning Commons

36. About Seneca’s Design Experience Seneca @ York Learning Commons

37. About Seneca’s Design Experience Computer Pod

38. About Seneca’s Design Experience Newnham Library and Learning Commons

39. About Seneca’s Design Experience Markham Campus

40. About Seneca’s Design Experience • When not to ask a user? • Sacred Cows! • Political agendas • Make yourself aware of them!

41. Top Twelve Questions • Answering the top twelve questions on how to get effective user input!

42. Top Twelve Questions #1: Is it expensive to acquire excellent user input when designing a library? • Time consuming and costly • Be prepared • Be practical • Make sure you budget for this process

43. Top Twelve Questions #2: What am I looking for in terms of user input? What questions do I ask? • Analyse the data you have! • Identify what you need to know! • Relax with the process of gaining user input!

44. Top Twelve Questions #2: Analyse the data you have! • Usage activity • Circulation data • Number of seats presently in the library • Number of workstations • Compare to standards

45. Top Twelve Questions #2: Identify what you need to know! • Drive the question process • Don’t waste money on knowledge you have • Research best practices

46. Top Twelve Questions #2: Relax with the process of gaining user input! • You are not doing your masters or doctorate • You are just gaining insight from your users • Make it a simple process for your library • ”Paralysis by analysis”

47. Top Twelve Questions #3: What tools do I use? • User surveys • Focus groups • Interviews • Open forum • Exit polls • Lots of techniques to pick from

48. Top Twelve Questions #4: Is it okay to use one method? • Staffing • Budget • What are your comfortable with? • What are you successful with?

49. Top Twelve Questions #5: What is the best tool to use? • Focus group versus Survey

50. Top Twelve Questions #6: When would you use a survey? • Surveys take a lot of time • Surveys are an imposition • Short with specific questions • Small Budget project • Very portable • Best practices