Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and understand international users' library experience in the Digital Age in order to inform library service design and ensure it provides an inclusive environment. In this study, the behavioral and experiential aspects of user library experience are merged to develop essential interconnections between information behavior (IB) and user experience (UX) in the context of the academic library with the goal of constructing a more holistic understanding of ‘library experience.Design/methodology/approachThe study was built on the concept “library experience” through analyzing its essential components of IB and UX. It was developed through findings from mixed methods research, consisting of the quantitative investigation from a library log analysis, and qualitative investigations via cognitive mapping exercises and semi-structured interviews, both targeted on the largest single group of international students in United Kingdom – international Chinese students.FindingsThe findings demonstrated the complexity and multilayered characteristics of international Chinese students' library context, and three unique contexts emerged from the data shaping their library experience. Building on the previous findings on the connections between IB and UX, the work attempted to redefine “library experience” by joining both behavioral and experiential aspects. It is found that the key components of cultural library experience are the multilayered context, cultural group's perception needs, sense-making process and subjective evaluations.Originality/valueThis study joins the behavioral and experiential perspectives together to explore library experience in a more holistic way and proposes a systematic structure to understand and analyze library experience, especially that of international users in a cross-cultural context, which, in turn, will better serve their information needs and inform the design of a more equal and inclusive library system.
Subject
Library and Information Sciences,Information Systems
Reference92 articles.
1. Ancona, D. (2012), “Sensemaking: framing and acting in the unknown”, The Handbook for Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Doing, and Being, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, pp. 3-19.
2. Informed choice? How the United Kingdom's key information set fails to represent pedagogy to potential students;Quality in Higher Education,2016
3. Usability testing of an academic library web site: a case study;Journal of Academic Librarianship,2001
4. User experience quality: a conceptual framework for goal setting and measurement;Digital Human Modeling. ICDHM 2007,2007