The Library Desk in Academic Institutions: Reception or Pedagogical Tool?

The desk services at our university library provide support on a range of services, from circulation to questions about literature searching, reference management and so on. However, we have insufficient knowledge about the use of the desk services. To increase our understanding, we have launched a project called TREFF, towards a new platform for the desk services at the University Library of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The main goal of the project is to learn more about the personal meeting between students and library staff in times of increasing digitization of the library\u27s collections and services. In addition, we want to explore how the desk services can contribute to the library’s overall objective of supporting learning, teaching and research quality at our university. We have explored the topic from the point of view of both students and library staff, based on the following research questions: 1. What is the purpose of the students’ use of the library desk? 2. How do library staff and students experience the meeting that takes place at the desk? 3. How can the answers to the previous questions be utilized to identify and implement measures for further development? We have combined several research methods: mapping of service desk activity, focus group and individual interviews, surveys and literature studies. The paper will present results from the data collections and the measures for improvement of the desk services. At the conference, we would like our presentation to be an introduction to group discussions. We expect that the topic will engage the audience, and we are curious about the participants’ reflections. Hopefully, the discussions will bring us further in the process of defining the main purpose of the library desk in academic institutions: do we want it to be a reception or a pedagogical tool, or something in between

Møtet med brukeren i universitets- og høgskolebibliotek

"… tenker at vi ikke vil plage bibliotekarene med noe som de kanskje ikke vet.

”Vi trenger hverandre – ikke sant?” En studie av kunnskapsutvikling i en tverrsektoriell forskergruppe

Tema i avhandlingen er gruppen som arena for kunnskapsdeling og kunnskapsutvikling. Problemstillingen belyser hvordan en tverrsektoriell forskergruppe, med deltakere både fra akademia og praksisfelt, kan fungere som kunnskapsarena. Gruppens oppgave er å drive praksisnær forskning. En diskursiv tilnærming er kombinert med kunnskapsperspektivet for å utforske hvordan aktørenes kunnskapsforståelser og sektortilknytning påvirker gruppens virksomhet. Casestudie er benyttet som forskningsstrategi, med individuelle intervjuer som primært datamateriale og dokumentanalyse som supplement. Formålet med studien er å eksplorere et fenomen i dybden, for slik å bidra med ny innsikt innenfor feltet kunnskapsutvikling i grupper og spesifikt grupper der akademia og praksisfelt møtes...Konklusjonen er at aktørene i forskergruppen kombinerer subjektive kunnskapsforståelser med sektorspesifikk kunnskap. Den teoretiske kunnskapstradisjonen dominerer forskergruppens praksis, men aktørenes ulike subjektposisjoner bidrar til å komplettere kunnskapsdannelsen i forskergruppen og til å utvikle gruppens funksjon som kunnskapsarena

Eksamen i informasjonskompetanse - vinn-vinn for studenter, bibliotekarer og faglærere?

EAHIL Workshop 2009, Dublin Castle, Irland, er godt og vel historie. Vi var hjertelig til stede, bl.a takket være SMH-stipend, og sitter igjen med stort utbytte av en hel rekke spenende paper- og posterpresentasjoner, workshops og bibliotekbesøk. Den gode følelsen av å være bibliotekar blant bibliotekarer fra alle hjørner av Europa har vi heller ikke glemt. Kanskje kan den følelsen kalles EAHIL-følelsen? Hvis vi skal trekke fram en av presentasjonene spesielt, velger vi Eva Sofia Svenssons. Tittel på hennes paper var: Assessing Medical Students´ Information Literary Skills in a Problem-Based Setting: Experiences from a Joint Effort between Librarians and Professors/Senior Lecturers

Sexual Abuse of Older Residents in Nursing Homes: A Focus Group Interview of Nursing Home Staff

The objective of this study was to increase knowledge of sexual abuse against older residents in nursing homes. A qualitative approach was used. Through a focus group interview with staff in nursing homes, the aim was to reveal employees' thoughts, experiences, and attitudes. Findings from the focus group interview show that sexual abuse of older residents is a taboo topic among health professionals. Acts of sexual abuse are difficult to imagine; it is hard to believe that it occurs. The fact that staff are not aware that it could happen, or have a hard time believing that it actually happens, can amplify the residents' vulnerable position as potential victims of abuse, and it makes it even more challenging to report or uncover such acts. The study highlights the need for education of all health care workers in Norway as well as more research on sexual abuse against older residents in nursing homes. Furthermore, there is a need for good policies and reporting systems, as an important step towards addressing sexual abuse of the aged in a more appropriate way. Further research must aim to reveal more about this taboo area

Sexual abuse of older nursing home residents: a literature review,”

Despite an increasing literature related to elder abuse, sexual abuse of older persons in general and of vulnerable adults living in nursing homes in particular is still sparsely described. The purpose of this study was to assess the state of knowledge on the subject of sexual abuse against older nursing home residents through a literature review. Systematic searches in reference databases including Cinahl, Medline, OVID Nursing Database, ISI Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and SveMed + were conducted. Through several phases of selection of the articles, using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, six articles were chosen for a deeper examination. Findings from the review show that sexual abuse occurs in nursing homes and that both older women and men are victims of sexual abuse. Perpetrators appear mainly to be staff and other residents and mainly to be men, but also women abuse both older men and older women. Findings from the literature review show that there is a need for knowledge and further research on the topic of sexual abuse against older residents in nursing homes. Furthermore, there is a need for good policies and reporting systems, as an important step in seriously addressing sexual abuse against older persons

Knowing me, knowing you. Making user perspectives an integrated part of library design thinking

User experience (UX) refers to users\u27 emotions, experiences and behavior when using products, systems and services. Traditionally, UX is applied to assess changes with websites and operating systems, but libraries have started applying the same usability principles to their physical spaces and services. NMC´s Horizon Report 2017 estimates that valuing the user experience is on-trend the coming years. Used as a set of tools in library development, UX methods enables us to understand and improve library users\u27 experiences. Mixing qualitative and quantitative techniques to obtain deeper insights into user needs: A key point being to discover needs users themselves are unaware of. In this paper, we present on-going research on and development of library spaces and services at the University Library of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. We aim to continuously develop our fifteen libraries as inspiring learning environments for students and researchers. UX methods are central to our projects on a small and large scale, and we have actively sought our users\u27 perspectives during library planning the last five years. However, we will argue that we still need to explore ways of implementing findings from using UX methods, to anchor the importance of user perspectives in library development, and to integrate changes based on UX methods among our coworkers. The paper will present four UX projects at our libraries combining several methods, with examples from the interpretation and processing of collected data. We will discuss (1) why UX is a good model for developing library spaces and services, (2) the challenges of identifying, implementing and evaluating measures, and (3) how involving our coworkers in UX methods is the best way to further integrate UX in developing our libraries. The key to success is knowing both ourselves and our users and their needs, and to use methods with both users and employees in mind

May I Borrow a Stapler? Is This All Students Ask at the Service Desk in a University Library?

Objective – The objective of the study is to increase the knowledge about what questions students ask at the library desk and what the purpose is of their use of the desk. Our focus has been on the physical meetings with the students. The aim is to contribute to the discussion on the future development of the library service desk.  Methods – We recorded questions asked at the desks to explore how students use the library service desks. The recording, where library staff sorted questions into predefined categories, took place over four weeks between the years 2017–2018. Results – Our recording showed that 63% of the questions asked at the library service desks were about loan services, document delivery, and access to physical and electronic collections. Practical things such as opening hours, lost and found items, and the location of the group study rooms, accounted for 16% of questions. Questions about information technology (IT) made up 8% of questions. Finally, the results showed that 8% of the questions from the four weeks of counting were counselling and guidance questions, and 2% were about literature lists, reference management, and reference management tools. We found more questions about counselling and guidance in the spring weeks and more practical questions in the fall. We did not find any clear connection between the number of questions and the size of the branch libraries. Conclusion – By conducting this study, we have learned more about why students use the library desk. Our study shows that students come to the library desk to ask about a lot more than just borrowing staples. The results from the study will inform the development of the library desk service going forward