20201006

Lanclos, Donna; Asher, Andrew

doi:10.3998/weave.12535642.0001.503

Cited by 20 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…These methods offer an interpretive, qualitative research approach focused on developing an in-depth cultural and social understanding of a group's experience. On the other hand, ethnographic methods are more complex and time-consuming to perform and require significant individual and institutional investment (Khoo et al, 2012;Lanclos & Asher, 2016). User Experience (UX) has recently gained interest as an ethnographic method for use in academic libraries (Priestner & Borg, 2016).…”

Section: Other Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Library Users via Surveys and Other Methods—Best Practices for Evidence-Based Library Development

Carlsson

Torngren

2020

Journal of Library Administration

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A survey was performed over all university libraries within the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) in order to study how different methods of user input are utilized. Libraries using analysis based on explorative methods-such as UX and process mapping-report significantly increased user knowledge and perceived well-function. Over three-fourths of the respondents reported performing general user surveys. Surveys offer ease of collection, effectively gather researcher user group input and generate data suitable for communicating library value to stakeholders. However, it is resource-demanding to transfer findings into service changes, especially for smaller libraries, and results often support stepwise improvements rather than discovery of new services.

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Section: Other Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Library Users via Surveys and Other Methods—Best Practices for Evidence-Based Library Development

Carlsson

Torngren

2020

Journal of Library Administration

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“…Ethnography is an interpretive, qualitative research approach used to develop an in-depth cultural and social understanding of a group's experience. Methods drawn from ethnography have gained popularity in academic library settings over the past 10 years, although the investigations are often more finite in scope than 'true' ethnography in the discipline of anthropology (Lanclos & Asher, 2016).…”

Section: Methods Based On Ethnographic Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing ‘Goodness’: A Review of Quality Frameworks for Australian Academic Libraries

Sputore

Fitzgibbons

2017

Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association

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Quality assessment can help a library link its services and performance to strategic university goals and priorities. A vast body of professional literature describes quality and assessment theory and practice in libraries, including comprehensive International Standards. However there is no single measure of 'goodness' for libraries, and choices must be made to ensure assessment activities are effective and sustainable. Libraries seeking to strategically demonstrate their value and proactively respond to emerging priorities have much to gain from an understanding of this field. This review article aims to highlight the features, advantages and outcomes associated with contemporary approaches to quality management and assessment, and offer sources for further exploration. International Standards are discussed, as well as specific methodologies and approaches. This review is placed in the context of current issues and opportunities for Australian academic libraries. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE • A complex range of drivers in the international higher education sector are compelling academic libraries to demonstrate their quality, value and impact. • Qualitative and quantitative assessment methods can be used to effectively collect evidence of the quality, value and impact of the library. • A range of internationally recognised frameworks can help libraries to take a holistic approach to quality assessment. • At a more targeted level, there are a wide range of relevant approaches to assessment that have been successfully used by libraries, and libraries must be strategic in their selection of methods in order to achieve the desired outcomes. • An essential outcome from assessing quality must be communicating quality to clients and stakeholders, ideally in the context of broader and strategic institutional goals.

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“…Now, in 2020, my personal work in libraries has gone on for nearly a decade, and I am still struggling to make sense of what qualitative work in libraries means, and what if any role it has in informing and transforming practices in assessment and engagement work. When Andrew Asher and I wrote our article "Ethnographish" (Lanclos and Asher 2016), we pointed to what we called the "culture of libraries" to explain some of what we saw:…”

Section: Mots-clés : Anthropologie • Blanchité • Ethnographie • Irratmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We discussed what we saw in the landscape of user experience (UX) and ethnographically informed, "ethnographish" projects in libraries, highlighting that when libraries have ethnography or UX teams they tend to be asked to focus on short-term projects, and can also be reluctant to share their results outside of their organization... Short-term projects also tend to have finite and concrete goals-for example, they can result in a tutorial, or a completed article reporting on the results of the project. (Lanclos and Asher 2016) We also tried to work through what a more open-ended, exploratory, more broadly anthropological approach to qualitative projects in libraries might mean, in terms of hiring, job descriptions, and cooperative initiatives within and across libraries. We therefore made the distinction between qualitative and "ethnographish" approaches, which still tend to be pointed at specific and finite problems, and openended, exploratory anthropological approaches in libraries, which do not centre problem solving, but which are more broadly conceived to holistically approach and describe people's actions, motivations, and the contexts in which those occur.…”

Section: Mots-clés : Anthropologie • Blanchité • Ethnographie • Irratmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Space for the ‘Irrational’ Practice of Anthropology in Libraries

Lanclos¹

2020

Can. J. Acad. Lib.

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In this article, I extend the argument for open-ended exploratory, anthropologically informed, qualitative work in libraries that Andrew Asher and I began with “Ethnographish” (2016) and further explore and explain the paucity of open-ended exploration in library assessment and engagement work with the frame of rationality. I argue here that open-ended, exploratory anthropological work could be the kind of irrational work that can help library workers escape the neoliberal cage of rationality. If libraries are to be institutions that do not just mitigate but actively fight marginalization and inequality, we need to deeply interrogate the structures that insist on rational approaches to libraries and library work.

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20201006

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Understanding Library Users via Surveys and Other Methods—Best Practices for Evidence-Based Library Development

Understanding Library Users via Surveys and Other Methods—Best Practices for Evidence-Based Library Development

Assessing ‘Goodness’: A Review of Quality Frameworks for Australian Academic Libraries

Making Space for the ‘Irrational’ Practice of Anthropology in Libraries

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