Study to track students' digital research journey
In a unique collaboration, Taylor & Francis is working with Loughborough University’s Library, Graduate School, and Senior Lecturer in Publishing to examine users’ experience in the digital library.
Discovering and navigating digital information is part of the everyday work of today’s researcher, but what is that user experience and how could it be improved?
The University has recruited ten PhD researchers to this project from a wide range of disciplines. The students are also at different levels in their PhD completion - from those just embarking on research to those about to complete.
Trying to find the information that you need can be one of the most challenging things. It can be quite difficult sometimes to know where to start looking and searching for information can be time consuming if you have several pages of search results to work through!
Charlotte Jais, Student
Every month between November 2015 and June 2016, students are being asked a series of standard questions about the type of information they needed that month. This includes where they started it, what resources they used, and crucially the “journey” that they took to reach the resources. They are also asked to describe good features, advantages, disadvantages, frustrations, ideas they had about the information seeking experience.
An open question on a different theme is added each month; themes such as the continued relevance of print, how to develop information seeking behaviour and a comparison of three publishers’ websites. Students are assigned a mentor from the University to provide guidance and support. A focus group will also be held with participants and a wider group of researchers in March.
Graham Walton, from Loughborough University Library and a member of the project steering group said:
Unless we understand the experiences the users have when they search for information, we will really struggle to provide the right services. It is easy to get statistics on downloads and site hits but that only gives a small part of the picture. This project will give us insight that has long been needed.
Graham Walton, Loughborough University Library and a member of the project steering group
As part of our commitment to supporting academic and library communities we intend to understand how researchers are accessing information. By working together with Loughborough University, we hope to improve the user experience of online resources in terms of discoverability, accessibility and usability.
Max Gabriel, Head of Group Digital Strategy at Taylor & Francis
As publishers, we want to provide the best user experience to facilitate the research process, and we want to work with librarians and universities who are focused on improving the experience for their students. We are very pleased to be able to work with Loughborough University on this project and anticipate the outcomes being of value to all those with an interest in the wider academic, library and research communities.
Tracy Roberts, Publishing Director at Taylor & Francis
Outcomes from the project will be disseminated in various ways during the course of this year. Meanwhile, for more details read Graham Walton’s blog post and the first of several researcher profiles of the participants.
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.
Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
Specialising exclusively in postgraduate-level study, Loughborough University London is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers cutting-edge master’s and PhD degrees, as well as business collaboration, research and enterprise opportunities.
The seven specialist institutes at Loughborough University London include: Design Innovation, Digital Technologies, Diplomacy and International Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International Management, Media and Creative Industries, and Sport Business. Close industry partnerships with a wealth of leading businesses and creative organisations means teaching and learning is informed by real-life challenges and driven by true industry pressures.