Enhancing Library Services for Visually Impaired Students in Croatia

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!