In this study, researchers sought to capture students' authentic experience of finding books in the main library using a GoPro camera and the think-aloud protocol. The GoPro provided a first-person perspective and was an effective ethnographic tool for observing a student's individual experience, while also demonstrating what tools they use to…

At Winona State University's Krueger Library, where Kendall Larson is an associate professor and Allison Quam is an assistant professor, informational and directional signs are an essential part of the interior space. Yet the ubiquitous sign and media saturation has challenged them to design and maintain effective signage that is conspicuous and…

Tutorials and digital learning objects provide librarians a quick, concise mechanism for delivering information and training on a wide range of library topics. The semiotic theory promoted by Charles Sanders Peirce (Wiener, 1958) and Howard Smith (2005) contains implications for enhancing the effectiveness of library tutorials through the…

This report by the Committee on Library Orientation at the University of Virginia reviews the need for a unified, well designed sign system to assist users of the university libraries and discusses the categories and functions of such signs as identified in the relevant literature. A discussion of the current situation at the university and…

To gather information on effective library signage, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) distributed a survey to its 119 member libraries in fall 1994. Eighty libraries completed the survey. Responses overwhelmingly show the tremendous variety in the way libraries manage signs. Sixty percent of responding libraries report that their…

Librarians at Indiana University Northwest Library surveyed patrons on how to make the library's collection and services more accessible by improving signage. Examines the effectiveness of signage to instruct users, reduce difficulties and fears, ameliorate negative experiences, and contribute to a user-friendly environment. (AEF)

This College Library Information Packet (CLIP) Notes provides information on displays and exhibits in small college and university libraries. Displays and exhibits have long been an accepted yet under-documented are of library work. This survey presents a collection of data and supporting documents about current display and exhibit practices in…

This survey was conducted to determine to what extent ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries permit food and drink to be consumed in library facilities, whether there has been a shift in recent times toward a liberalization of policy and practice, how restrictions are enforced, and whether there are particularly successful strategies…

This report documents an investigation which was conducted to determine how the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library can best use its facilities, space, and equipment to meet the needs of users; provide a safe, comfortable workplace for staff; and house and protect its collections. The task force methodology is described, and…

Presents a methodology for describing, analyzing, and evaluating the public service functions of serial file systems, and describes a user study conducted in a university departmental library to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of its system in enabling students new to the library to locate known-items in the serials collection. (CDD)

Provides suggestions for academic libraries to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Topics addressed are planning, including patron surveys; physical access to buildings; signage; library security systems; furniture; library services; staff development; telephone access; library acquisitions; and equipment and software. A sidebar lists…