This book is an excellent and long overdue contribution to the subject literature; this is captured in the preface by the expert on information behaviour and user studies, Professor Tom Wilson. He notes that the editors attempted a very challenging task, “[…] and I think that they have largely accomplished it”. This must be read against the background he sketches: “This diversity and the very nature of digital collections raises challenges for the exploration of human information behaviour; challenges that motivated the editors and that are addressed by the contributors to this volume”. In 24 chapters grouped in five parts a wide spectrum of issues relevant to digital library development and user studies is covered.
Part 1 sets the scene, with chapters on models that inform digital library design, user-centric studies, design issues and user needs and users within the evaluation of digital libraries. Part 2 addresses a spectrum of research methods: questionnaires, interviews and focus group interviews as means to engage users, expert evaluation methods, deep log analysis, eye tracking and personas. Part 3 covers a selection of issues in user studies related to digital libraries. These issues include multilingual access to multimedia collections, children and digital libraries, user engagement and social media, digital preservation, mobile devices, resource discovery for research and course design and support for users in an educational or e-learning context. Part 4 covers user studies across the cultural heritage sector, including libraries, archives, museums, digital art online, audio-visual collections and open metadata. This very logical and stimulating array of topics is all brought together in the last chapter: “And now […] to the brave real world”, where the authors provide a step-by-step guide to designing a user study in a digital context.
Going through my notes when writing this review has reminded me again how much I really enjoyed the publication and how many opportunities I could spot for research, and ideas I would like to share with students.
This is a publication I can wholeheartedly recommend to academics, researchers, students and practitioners. It is solidly embedded in the theory and literature of information behaviour and user studies. However, the text should not overwhelm practitioners who wish to enter the fascinating area of user studies research in the ever-expanding world of digital libraries. Those who buy and read the book should not stop before the last page and the two final paragraphs:
[…] We would like to encourage readers who do user studies to share their findings – and to identify clearly to which of the three domains – information behaviour research, user-centric studies and evaluation of DLs [digital libraries] – their work contributes most.
The best teacher in this domain is the real world of experience […].
And to those who read the book but forget some of the detail, the detailed 17-page index can offer direction.
