LEARNING AND USAGE BEHAVIOUR IN TWO HIGHER EDUCATION LIBRARIES: HOW STUDENTS USE LIBRARIES AND HOW DESIGN INFLUENCES THEIR BEHAVIOUR, A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHY-BASED APPROACH

User behaviour in academic library spaces is an under researched topic in the UK, and that research which has been undertaken is predominantly based on quantitative research. There is still little understanding of use or behaviours that manifest within Higher Education (HE) library spaces, or of the way staff interpret use and behaviours. There is also little discussion of how much the design of the library influences use and behaviour, thus whether or not the library spaces are inclusive of a broad range of users. This thesis represents qualitative research addressing this gap. Using a critical ethnographic based approach influenced by Feminist Standpoint Theory, observations and semi-structured interviews were carried out at two HE institutions across a period of two academic years over 2013-14 and 2014-15. The overarching research aim was to discover whether academic libraries provide a supportive and inclusive learning environment. This led to the following research questions: How do students behave in and use academic libraries? - What do students do when they visit the library? - How do students interact with each other when they are in the library? Do they support or disrupt each other’s’ activities? - How do students interact with staff in the library? When in a study space, do students interact with staff to gain support/guidance in their library use, or are staff members seen primarily as rule enforcers? What impact does design have on use and perceptions of use? - When students use academic library spaces, does the design of the space help or hinder their chosen use? - Do students conform to the intended purpose of a space? If not, is the non-conformity of benefit or problematic to other users? How do staff understand and interpret the way students use the spaces in the library, and do they try to modify student behaviour as a result of that interpretation of use? Does modification of behaviour impact on: - The student-staff relationship (will students refer to staff for help or feel discouraged from doing so?) - The ways students use or situate themselves in spaces (is their use modified to match staff requirements or does it differ from staff expectations? Does modification of behaviour by staff impede the levels of students’ productivity and learning?) Do differing perceptions of appropriate use create inequalities between students, and between students and staff? Addressing the research aim and these questions offers a better understanding of how academic libraries can be used and,in some cases,manipulated to the benefit and detriment of different library users. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006)was used to draw out themes of patterns of use (groups and individual) and how they could be gendered in representation of power over other users and the space itself.Themes also indicated discrimination. There are a number of key findings from the research. There are several groups of people for whom the library is important or essential: in particular, people who attend university under the Widening Participation bracket, including mature students (usually female) returning to studying,need library space and technology because of lack of resources at home. The spaces studied are designed to be supportive of a number of study activities, but often also encouraged or allowed exclusive disruptive behaviours to manifest. There are incidents of some staff racializing behaviour at one institute in the study, whether consciously/intentionally or not, primarily influenced by problematic behaviours regularly requiring policing. Staff interpretations of larger group use (i.e. more than six to seven group members) in the library were also racialized. I conclude that the library is both inclusive and exclusive via behaviours of its users, through space design, and through staff interpretations of use

Ethnographic methods in academic libraries: A review

Research in academic libraries has recently seen an increase in the use of ethnographic-based methods to collect data. Primarily used to learn about library users and their interaction with spaces and resources, the methods are proving particularly useful to academic libraries. The data ethnographic methods retrieve is rich, context specific, and often difficult to collect via other methods. This review provides an overview of research demonstrating how ethnography can be applied to learn about a variety of issues in academic libraries, ranging from space use to a way of teaching new students about library resources and facilities

Rakennusyrityksen tarjousvaiheen kustannuslaskenta

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli koota Rakennus K. Karhu Oy:lle toimintaohje tarjousvaiheen kustannuslaskentaan. Varsinaista tutkimustyötä tähän opinnäytetyöhön ei sisällytetty, vaan tarkoituksena oli useiden laajempia kokonaisuuksia käsittelevien eri lähteiden uumenista ja haastattelemalla aiheen parissa työskennelleitä henkilöitä koota pelkästään tarjousvaiheen kustannuslaskentaan keskittyvä ohje. Tarkoituksena ei ollut luoda uutta toimintatapaa yritykselle, vaan kehittää ja yhtenäistää jo käytössä olevia ja ajan saatossa muotoutuneita toimintaperiaatteita. Tämän tarjousvaiheen kustannuslaskentaan keskittyvän toimintamallin on tarkoitus päätyä osaksi mahdollisesti tulevaisuudessa koottavaa, koko yrityksen toiminnan kattavaa laatujärjestelmää. Tavoitteena oli luoda ohjeesta tiivis kokonaisuus, jota ei olisi liian raskas käyttää, jättäen jokaiselle projektinvetäjälle mahdollisuus toteuttaa omaa toimintatapaansa, kuitenkin yrityksen yhtenäistä linjaa noudattaen. Tässä ohjeen muotoon laaditussa opinnäytetyössä käsitellään rakennusyrityksen tarjousvaiheen kustannuslaskennan vaiheet, vaihe vaiheelta. Pääaihepiirit on jaoteltu projektin etenemisjärjestyksessä alusta loppuun. Tarkastellaan kohteen valinta, minkälainen ja mitkä kriteerit tulee kohteella olla, jotta siitä lähdetään tarjousta tekemään. Kun päätös tarjouskilpaan lähtemisestä on tehty, suoritetaan ennakkotarjouksien kysely alihankintana tehtävistä urakoista. Kun tämä on suoritettu, ja raaka-aineiden määrälaskenta on suoritettu, siirrytään hinnoitteluun ja varsinaiseen alihankintatarjousten kyselyyn. Ennen varsinaista tarjouskäsittelyä, käsiteltävää kohdetta verrataan vielä sopiviin viitekohteisiin ja näiden jälkilaskentatietoihin. Avainsanat (asiasanat) Kustannuslaskenta, tarjoaminen Muut tiedotThe purpose of this bachelor’s thesis was to collect instructions for tender-stage cost calculation in Rakennus K. Karhu Oy. No theoretical research was included in this bachelor’s thesis, but the purpose was to collect instructions just for tender-stage cost calculation, using several extensive sources and interviewing people working on the subject. The purpose was not to create a new kind of procedure for the company, but to develop and unify the principles already in use. The purpose is that this procedure, based on tender-stage cost calculation, is to be included as part of a quality system which will perhaps be created in the future. The main goal was to create a compact package that would not be too difficult to use, leaving each project leader the possibility to do things in his or her own way, still respecting the consistent? procedures of the company. In this bachelor’s thesis, compiled in a form of instruction, the stages of tender calculation in a construction company are dealt with step by step. The main topics are divided from start to finish in the order of the progress of the project. Choosing of the target is examined: what should it be like and what criteria should it have to lead to tendering. When the decision on participating in tendering is made,asking for preliminary bids from subcontractors follows. After this and the quantity calculations for raw-materials have been done, pricing and the actual asking for subcontractors’ tenders follow. Before the actual processing of the tender, the target is compared to similar reference targets and their post-calculation data