Use of library discovery tools by undergraduate students

 

Shih-chuan Chen

Prof., Department of Library and Information Science, Research and Development Center for Physical Education, Health, and Information Technology, Fu Jen Catholic University New Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., 094519@mail.fju.edu.tw

Abstract

Catalog is an important tool for readers to inquire and utilize library resources, but search engines have become the main channel for many people or readers to find information or resources. For users, the integrated query of the library is limited to library resources. Discovery services help the users as well as library staff to search the library resources, institutional repositories, open access content and the subscribed external resources at the same time within a single search box. The emergence of Discovery services includes the concept of next-generation catalog, which is to integrate electronic resources and provide users with a more convenient search method to meet users' information needs. New catalog interfaces, decoupled from the integrated library system and offering enhanced functionality, such as faceted navigation, relevance-ranked results, as well as the ability to incorporate content from institutional repositories, and digital libraries. Discovery services imitates Google's single search interface and integrates network resources. Although most librarians hold different opinions on Discovery services, libraries and librarians must understand such changes and adjust information service methods to adapt to the new environment. Many studies have shown that Google Scholar and University Library Discovery services are resources for finding academic information. Therefore, understanding how users use the Library Discovery services is an important research topic. University libraries have been continuously providing innovative services with the advancement of science and technology for a long time. Around 2019, libraries have successively launched Discovery services. Discovery services are a major improvement in library services. The main purpose of this research is to understand whether college students can use Discovery services to complete query tasks, explore what difficulties college students encounter in the process of using Discovery services, and analyze their opinions and suggestions on Discovery services.

An observational and semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study, with sixteen undergraduate students participated.

This study uses observation and interview methods to explore the behavior of college students using the resource exploration system. It is found that the subjects who use the library resource exploration system have a high rate of task completion, indicating that the library resource exploration system is a simple tool for users. Although the respondents have not used the NTU Library Resource Discovery System before, the respondents indicated that they will still use the Library Resource Discovery System when they have academic needs in the future. Therefore, university libraries should assist students in understanding the library resource exploration system and encourage students to use it. Findings of the study will help university libraries to gain a better understanding of students’ use behavior and to help libraries to design a user-friendly library Discovery services.

Keywords: Library Discovery Service; Discovery services; academic libraries; library catalog; use behavior