Library usage and demographic characteristics of undergraduate students in a UK university

Stone, Graham; Collins, Ellen

doi:10.1108/14678041311316112

Cited by 34 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This corresponds with other research that has also found males to be overrepresented in terms of physical library use as compared to their percentage of the student population. 22 Most questionnaire respondents were under the age of 25 and had been studying at the institution for two years or less (data not shown). This reflects the preponderance of two-year diploma and university programs at the institutions examined.…”

Section: Practical Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Using and Experiencing the Academic Library: A Multisite Observational Study of Space and Place

May

Swabey²

2015

CRL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines how students are using academic library spaces and the role these spaces are playing in the campus community. Data were collected on five campuses (two community colleges, two undergraduate universities, and one technical institute) via observational seating sweeps and questionnaires. The study found remarkably similar usage patterns across all library types. Academic pursuits remain the most common activities, despite perceptions of the modern library as a social space. The library as a place to study is shown to be a complex topic, with noise, need, and personal preference influencing experience. The research provides libraries with evidence to demonstrate their support of student learning and engagement within their institutions.ransformations in the academic landscape, including the format and availability of information and new approaches to teaching, mean the role of the academic library is in flux. As Martell reports, virtual access is the preferred method for accessing information in postsecondary institutions, a fact that might lead some to call into question the very existence of the library as a physical entity.1 John Regazzi reports that, between 1998 and 2010, although there were large drops in reference and circulation statistics at most of over 3,000 academic libraries examined, there was comparatively little change in the number of physical visits to these same spaces.2 These changing statistics highlight questions about the role that academic libraries as physical spaces play in the academic community. This reason, in addition to tightening financial constraints and the resulting increase in pressure to prove value to the larger academic community, makes studying the academic library as place a timely and useful topic.Scott Bennett reviews the evolution of the library in terms of several paradigm changes, from a reader-centered space where books were scarce, then, as accessibility of printed material exploded, to a book-centered space designed primarily to house materials.3 Now the digital age returns us to a time when storage of physical materials becomes secondary; but, instead of a return to a reader-centered paradigm, Bennett advocates embracing a learner-centered approach.4 After reviewing articles that consider the role of the library in the academic community, Danuta Nitecki concludes that

show abstract

Section: Practical Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Using and Experiencing the Academic Library: A Multisite Observational Study of Space and Place

May

Swabey²

2015

CRL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some of these studies have begun to incorporate other variables into their work such as the demographic characteristics of library users (Stone and Collins, 2013). Other studies have looked specifically at usage by discipline.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Patterns of Library Use Among Undergraduate Students from Different Disciplines

Collins¹,

Stone²

2014

EBLIP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

2014 Collins and Stone. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one. AbstractObjective -To test whether routinely-generated library usage data could be linked with information about students to understand patterns of library use among students from different disciplines at the University of Huddersfield. This information is important for librarians seeking to demonstrate the value of the library, and to ensure that they are providing services which meet user needs. The study seeks to join two strands of library user research which until now have been kept rather separate -an interest in disciplinary differences in usage, and a methodology which involves large-scale routinely-generated data.Methods -The study uses anonymized data about individual students derived from two sources: routinely-generated data on various dimensions of physical and electronic library resource usage, and information from the student registry on the course studied by each student. Courses were aggregated at a subject and then disciplinary level. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney tests were Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2014, 9.3 52 used to identify statistically significant differences between the high-level disciplinary groups, and within each disciplinary group at the subject level.

show abstract

“…In the library sector, research by the Library Impact Data Project found that mature students (i.e. students aged 21 and over) tend to have higher online library resource usage (Stone and Collins, 2013). However work at Wollongong (Cox and Jantti, 2012) suggests that older students do not benefit from increased library use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Library resources, student success and the distance-learning university

Nurse

Baker

Gambles

2018

ILS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeResearch at the Open University Library Services in the United Kingdom has been investigating the relationship between access to online library resources and student success to help to understand whether there is a similar relationship at a distance-learning university to that found in other institutions. Design/methodologyThe study analysed online library resource data from access logs from the EZproxy and OpenAthens systems. A data set of 1.7 million online resource accesses was combined with student success data for around 90,000 undergraduate students and a series of analyses undertaken. FindingsThe study found a pattern where students who are more successful are accessing more library resources. A Chi-square test indicated a statistically significant association between library resource accesses and module result, while an Anova test suggests a medium sized effect. The study also found that 152 (76%) of 199 modules had a small, medium or large positive correlation between student success, measured by the overall assessment score, and online library resource accesses. Originality/valueThis study builds on evidence that there is a relationship between library use and student success by showing that this relationship extends to the setting of a non-traditional, innovative library service supporting part-time distance learners.

show abstract

Library usage and demographic characteristics of undergraduate students in a UK university

Cited by 34 publications

References 21 publications

Using and Experiencing the Academic Library: A Multisite Observational Study of Space and Place

Using and Experiencing the Academic Library: A Multisite Observational Study of Space and Place

Understanding Patterns of Library Use Among Undergraduate Students from Different Disciplines

Library resources, student success and the distance-learning university

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About