July2015cooke.
Transcript of July2015cooke.
What do 21st century readers expect from the British Library?
Ian CookeHead of Contemporary British PublicationsALISS AGM 2015Senate House, University of London 1st July 2015
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Why do we conduct Reading Room surveys?
• To find our who our Readers are and what they are doing
• Information is used in planning: services; content management
• To understand the impact of changes in Library activities and policy on our Readers
• To understand how changing research environment affects our Readers
• Most effective way of contacting our Readers
• We are interested in behaviour on the day of visit
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Methodology and Numbers• In Jan/Feb 2015, 600 interviews
were undertaken withreaders over a 3-week period.
• Interviews undertaken during opening hours, including Saturdays and evenings
• Survey by questionnaire with coded responses, and some open questions.
• Comparison of some responses against 2009 data (380 interviews overall; 134 Social Sciences)
Reading Room NumberSocial Science 232 Science 2 200Science 3 168Total 600
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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Who are our Readers?
Social Science Reading Room 2015
Higher EducationProfessional ResearcherOther work-relatedPersonal/ family researchOther & no answer
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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2015 & 2009 compared
Social Science Reading Room 2009
Higher Ed-ucationProfessional ResearcherOther work-relatedPersonal/ family researchOther & no answer
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015
Social Science Reading Room 2015
Higher Ed-ucationProfessional ResearcherOther work-relatedPersonal/ family researchOther & no answer
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Higher Education readersSocial Science Reading Room 2015
Undergraduate
Taught PG
Research PG
Lecturer/ Reader/ Professor
Research Fellow/ Manager
Other academic
Social Science Reading Room 2009
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015
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Why use the Reading Room today?
What is the main purpose of your use of the Read-ing Room today?
Preparing a publication Work for a research degree
Work for a taught course A space to studyProfessional devel-opment/ my work
Personal interest
Other
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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Location of Readers
Current residence
• 83% London
• 89% London & South East
Home institution
• 30% London University
• 43% University in London
Next highest responses: Cambridge 4%; Oxford 3%; Kent 2%
(based on 174 replies)Source: IRN Research. 2015
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Key:
30 mins
60 mins
120 mins
Visitor postcode British Library
60mins:16%
30 mins:65%
120 mins:8%
Visitor Mapping (Academic Researchers) - 89% of academics come from within a 2 hour drivetime, 65% within 30 minutes source: bdrc, Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015
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Visitor Mapping (Academic Researchers)source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015
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Subjects studied
Politic
s an
d IR La
w
Accou
nting
& F
inanc
e
Econo
mics
Cultur
al & m
edia
stud
ies
Sociol
ogy
"Hum
anitie
s"STM
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Main subject studied
Main subject studied
Number of responses per subject (or group of subjects for human-ities and STM). Interviewees were each asked to select one option only as their ‘main sub-ject’.
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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Reading rooms used
Reading Room Number %
Social Science 232 100
Science 2 23 9.9
Science 3 11 4.7
Business & IP 11 4.7
Humanities 1 35 15.1
Humanities 2 17 7.3
Rare Books & Music 13 5.6
Maps 3 1.3
Manuscripts 6 2.6
Newsroom 7 3
Asian & African Studies 5 2.2
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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How important are Reading Rooms dedicated to specific disciplines?
Reasons given:
• Materials relating to a specific discipline should be in one place
• Easier to find material• Staff with subject
knowledge are accessible in one place
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How do Readers use the Reading Room?
• 81% using collections or databases on day of visit
• 7% say they never use collections or databases
• 2011 Focus groups: some researchers do report using British Library as place of study only, BUT tend not to use Reading Rooms
Source: IRN Research. 2011 & 2015
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77
15
34
82 2 2 4 1
53
7 7<1 1 <1 0
8
AcademicResearch
Q6c. Which of the following did you actually do at the British Library today? Base: Academic (n=357)
Academic researcher activity - Academic researchers predominantly study in dedicated study areas. Around 1 in 10 academic researchers conduct a cultural activity. Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research, April 2014- March 2015
Average dwell time: 4hrs 1 min
STUDYSECONDAR
Y SPEND CULTURE CIRCULATING
86% 38% 9% 59%Net
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PersonalResearch
Q6c. Which of the following did you actually do at the British Library today? Base: Personal Research (n=124)
Personal researchers activity - Personal researcher activity is similar to academic researchers - shorter average dwell time. Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research, April 2014- March 2015
64
20
30
13
1 2 2 1 3
55
9
1 1 1 0 0
12
Average dwell time: 3hrs 15 mins
STUDYSECONDAR
Y SPEND CULTURE CIRCULATING
80% 35% 8% 59%Net
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How do Readers use the Reading Room?
• Frequent visitors:54% at least once per week; 76% stay at least 3 hours; 48% stay 5- 6 hours
• Planning ahead:59% use website in advance; 50% use catalogue in advanceBUT numbers ordering in advance has declined: 27% in 2015 vs >50% in 2009
• 2011 Focus Groups: A “British Library” way of working – using the Library requires planning and a different sort of discipline to using other libraries.
Source: IRN Research. 2009, 2011 & 2015
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Certain activities in declineActivity 2015 2009
Using printed indexes 10% 24%
Browsing shelves 22% 40%
Using open-shelf material*
56% 67%
Consulting Library staff 53% 61%
* But, higher proportions are using more items from the shelves: 15% using 7+ items in 2015 (5% in 2009)
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015
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What are Readers using?Material type 2015 use on
day2015 ‘use regularly’
2009 2007
Printed books 54% 44% 63%* 68%*
E-books 14% 6% n/a n/a
Printed journals
25% 28% 18% 22%
E-journals 25% 31% 24% 17%
Databases 10% 18% 12% 13%
General internet
12% 12% 7% 9%
Remote resources used:9% Ethos; 7% remote access databases; 5% MBS Portal
* No option given for ‘e-books’ in 2009 and 2007
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015; Ipsos MORI. 2007
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Why do Readers use the British Library?Reasons for choosing the British Library
Over half of interviewees – 53% -mentioned the goodworking environmentas a reason for using the library. This falls tojust 43% of SocialScience readers.
Breadth of coverageappears to be muchless important to Science readers thanSocial Science readers .
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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Where else do Readers go?2015 2009
University/ school/ college library
55% 30%
Other ‘home’ library 10% 1%
Internet 40% 22%
Public library 11% 6%
Specialist/ membership library
12% 1%
Source: IRN Research. 2009 & 2015
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Most popular improvement would be remote access to electronic content.
Improvements Readers Would Like to See
%
Able to use electronic content from my home or office 43% Able to use my own laptop/device to access electronic content in reading rooms
35%
Access BL services using one username and password 22%Able to discover digital content available online from other organisations alongside BL content
18%
Able to use electronic content in public café and other public areas of the British Library building
15%
More tools to manipulate and analyse datasets 9%Able to add reviews/comments to records on BL catalogues
5%
Other 13%None of the above 19%
Source: IRN Research. 2015
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How do Readers compare with BL use generally?Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research April 2014- March 2015
370,982 visits
347,796 visits
115,932 visits
81,152 visits
Primary stated purpose for visiting The British Library
243,457 visits
320,021 visitors
189,033 visitors
84,359 visitors
25,605 visitors42,417
visitors
No. of visits No. of unique visitors
Visit Intention groups Culture (n=359) Personal Escape (n=278); Academic (n=357); Personal (n=124); Work (n=76)Q2a. How would you best describe the primary purpose of your visit here today?
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Consulted books, journals and other items ordered
Searched the online catalogues
Accessed electronic material
Didn't access BL material
Asked for help from information specialists
Accessed material on open shelves
Used copying and printing services
70
48
22
16
16
12
8
41
1911
9
9
7
75
1
Humanities
How do Social Science and Science Researchers compare with users of other Reading Rooms?Source: bdrc Annual Visitor Research March 2014- April 2015
%
Base: All who used the reading room (n=394)
.
Rare books & music
Social sciences
African & Asian studies
Science
Manuscripts
Newsroom
Business & IP Centre
Maps
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So what?
• HE research remains largest user group, but later-career researchers, and researchers outside HE, are getting harder to reach
• Distance is a barrier to use. How does the Library support researchers outside London and South East?
• For those who do use the Library, it occupies a significant role in research: many are using the Library 0.5- 1 days per week or more
• Access to content (books and journals) is most important for Social Sciences, but working environment also significant
• Subject specialism is important to a significant proportion
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Sources used
IRN Research. 2015. British Library Social Science and Science Readers Survey 2015.
IRN Research. 2011. British Library Social Science and Science Focus Groups.
IRN Research. 2009. British Library Social Science and Science Readers Survey.
Ipsos MORI. 2007. British Library Social Sciences and STM Reading Rooms survey February to March 2007.
bdrc continental. 2015. Annual Visitor Research Presentation.