# /research/projects/imls/default.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/imls/default.htm

# Sense-Making the Information Confluence:
The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs

This project is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and in-kind contributions from Ohio State University and OCLC.

## Goals

This project will

1. Provide useful findings about

- why and how people use electronic information
- how system design features affect how well systems meet the needs of users
- how system design features affect the actual use of systems.

2. Apply diverse user-research interpretations to the inquiry, in order to

- focus on both commonalities and diversities in findings and interpretations
- develop boundary-bridging concepts that enable more effective application and collaboration in both system design and user research.

The findings from this research will be relevant to

1. Practicing librarians

- for developing user-centered services, resources, and systems based on findings from a fresh approach to user research.

2. Use and User study researchers

- by providing breakthrough portraits of user information-seeking behavior in the information confluence from a variety of sources and perspectives
- by demonstrating methods to attend to the whys and hows of the information seeking and finding process.

3. Practitioners and researchers collaborating from different disciplines

- by providing a model of how to address unities and diversities in findings and interpretations. Both the designs for the research (e.g. instruments, analytic frames) and the designs for interpreting the research (e.g. multi-perspective dialogues) will be developed as tools available to other researchers in this area.

Through formal reports and conference presentations investigators will share with the community

1. empirical findings and implications
2. examples of approches for bridging diifferences between researchers and practitioners in multiple fields --approaches for identifying unities and for making sense of differences.

## Why OCLC is conducting this research and how it helps libraries

This research project

- is important because, while researchers know a lot about who tends to use electronic resources and what resources they use, we have very few studies that address the process of how users recognize their need for information (the "whys" of information seeking) and the processes they go through to find the information (the "hows").
- can help answer questions that in the long run will help users of all types of electronic research resources, such as the Internet and e-books.
- contribute to the scholarly literature in the areas of college and university library users' information-seeking behaviors and information.
- represents a unique contribution that capitalizes on the collaborative strengths and resources available to OCLC Research and an OCLC cooperative member, the Ohio State University.

## Methodology

- In Phase I, researchers will review research literatures, charting and accounting for disagreements.
- In Phases II, III, and IV, researchers will conduct a user study with survey interviews, focus group interviews, and structured observations.

The interviews, focus groups and field observations will aim to find answers for a variety of questions, such as how people viewed their information needs in particular situations, what they were trying to accomplish, and how system features helped and hindered their ability to meet their information needs.

## Schedule

The two-year research period began December 31, 2003.

## Presentations

- Expectations of the Screenager Generation (.pdf: 1.6MB/32 pp.). Lynn Silipigni Connaway. RLG Programs 2008 European Partner Meeting, 6 November 2008, Paris (France).
- "Google is user friendly—the library catalog is not:" Information-seekers' Preferences (.ppt: 5.8MB/76 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway. Tri-state College Library Cooperative, 5 June 2007, Malvern, Pennsylvania (USA).
- Why Not Libraries? Users Identify Their Information Preferences (.ppt: 670K/76 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway. Central Ohio Chapter, American Society for Information Science and Technology (CO-ASIS&T), 6 March 2007, Dublin, Ohio (USA).
- Mountains, Valleys, and Pathways: Serials Users' Needs (.ppt: 1.6MB/58 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway. NASIG 21st Annual Conference, 5 & 7 May 2006, Denver, Colorado (USA).
- The Whys & Hows of Students & Faculty Finding What They Want: Insights from Interviews in an IMLS-funded Research Study. (.ppt: 84K/21 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway (presenter), Chandra Prabha, and Brenda Dervin. Keynote address at Iowa OCLC Users Group 22nd Annual Conference, 27 May 2005, Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City, Iowa (USA).
- Meeting the information needs of college and university users: Preliminary results of a two-year, multi-disciplinary user investigation (.ppt: 110K/21 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Chandra Prabha, and Brenda Dervin. Paper presented at National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services (NFAIS) Annual Conference, 28 February 2005, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA).
- An Overview of the IMLS Project "Sense-making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs." (.ppt: 108K/36 slides). Lynn Silipigni Connaway (presenter), Chandra Prabha, and Brenda Dervin. Library of Congress Forum, 2005 American Library Association Midwinter Conference, 16 January 2005, Boston, Massachusetts (USA).
- What Ohio Librarians Want To Know About College and University Faculty and Student Users (.ppt: 78K/31 slides). Chandra Prabha (presenter), Lynn Silipigni Connaway, and Brenda Dervin. Academic Library Association of Ohio 30th Annual Conference, 12 November 2004, Dayton, Ohio (USA).

## Publications

- Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, Marie L. Radford, Timothy J. Dickey, Jocelyn De Angelis Williams, and Patrick Confer. 2008. "Sense-making and Synchronicity: Information-seeking Behaviors of Millennials and Baby Boomers." Libri 58,2 (June): 123-135. E-print available online at: www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/2008/connaway-libri.pdf (.pdf: 192K/32 pp.).
- Connaway, Lynn Silipigni. 2007. "Mountains, Valleys, and Pathways: Serials Users’ Needs and Steps to Meet Them. Part I: Identifying Serials Users’ Needs: Preliminary Analysis of Focus Group and Semi-structured Interviews at Colleges and Universities." Serials Librarian, 52,1/2: 223-236. E-print available online at: www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/2007/connaway-serialslibrarian.pdf (.pdf: 49K/14 pp.)
- Prabha, Chandra, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Lawrence Olszewski, & Lillie Jenkins. 2007. "What is enough? Satisficing information needs." Journal of Documentation, 63,1(January): 74-89. E-print available online at: www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/2007/prabha-satisficing.pdf (.pdf: 176K/18 pp.).

## References

- Project web site at the Ohio State University:
  http://imlsosuoclcproject.jcomm.ohio-state.edu/
  - Formal reports on the project will be posted here.
  - Includes original research proposal and curriculum vitae of investigators.

## Project team

- Brenda Dervin
  Professor of Communication
  Joan N. Huber Fellow in Social & Behavioral Sciences
  Ohio State University
  Principal Investigator
- Lynn Silipigni Connaway
  Consulting Research Scientist
  OCLC Research
  Co-investigator and OCLC Lead
- Chandra Prabha
  Senior Research Scientist
  OCLC Research
  Co-investigator