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A survey of the use of ethnographic methods in the study of libraries and library users

Michael Khoo , Lily Rozaklis, Catherine Hall


The iSchool, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o
Available online 15 February 2012 A survey and analysis of the use of ethnographic methods in studies of libraries and library users
identied a total of 81 studies. Five main types of ethnographic research methods were identied: ob-
servation, interviews, eldwork, focus groups, and cultural probes. The survey shows a recent increase
in the use of ethnographic methods in libraries, and identies an emerging genre of studies associated
with library planning that uses rapid ethnographic methods to investigate libraries and their users as
part of planning processes. The survey supports comparison across ethnographic studies, settings, and
methods; enables the growth of ethnographic methods as a research method in libraries; and provides
material for library and information science curriculum development in this area. A bibliography of
the studies used in the analysis is provided in Appendix A, and includes a number of gray literature
reports and online publications.
2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Libraries are situated in rapidly evolving social and technological
contexts. Understanding the interactions between libraries, users,
technology, and society is important for library planning and devel-
opment. Some of this understanding can be gained through methods
such as surveys and questionnaires, along with library metrics.
However, sometimes a wider and more holistic understanding
of libraries and library use is required. Augst has called libraries
agencies of culture, (2001), institutions engaged in the produc-
tion, dissemination, and consumption of American culture, which
are shaped by and shaped by individual and collective social
lives. Libraries as institutions are centrally involved in the con-
struction of public life and the organization of knowledge. Re-
search topics such as the following are all important for library
planning: the meaning that libraries have for their users, and
the roles that libraries play in civic society (Wiegand, 2003);
the value of libraries as places (Wiegand, 2005); the role of li-
braries in communities, and the role of technology in community
participation (Lankes, Silverstein, Nicholson, & Marshall, 2007);
libraries as technological spaces for collaborative learning
(Bennett, 2009); and changes in libraries and librarianship as a
result of the introduction of digital technologies (Seadle, 2008).
The use of ethnographic methodsthe study of the culture and
social organization of a particular group or community
(Calhoun, 2002, p. 149)is one way to investigate these research
topics. However, there has been little prior analysis of the use of
ethnographic methods in library settings.
2. Problem statement
Ethnography is a complicated and time-consuming research
method that requires signicant individual and institutional in-
vestment. It is a longitudinal method, carried out over time,
with analyses and insights emerging as the research progresses;
this is in contrast to longitudinal quantitative research that re-
peats experiments at different points in time. Ethnographers
draw on a toolkit of methods of varying duration, commitment,
and sophistication. In order to plan the most effective research,
and to make the most effective use of available resources, library
and information science (LIS) researchers, library practitioners,
and others interested in using ethnographic methods in library
settings need to be familiar with the existing theoretical and
methodological literature in this area. Issues such as identifying
research questions, deciding which ethnographic methods are ap-
propriate for a particular research question, and what resources
is required to implement those methods, are addressed more
easily if it is possible to consult existing ethnographic studies, re-
search questions, methods, data, and results.
At present, there is no comprehensive overview of ethnographic re-
search in libraries. There have been a number of previous surveys on
the use of methods in LIS research (e.g., Becvar & Srinivasan, 2009;
Fidel, 1993; Hider & Pymm, 2008; Jrvelin & Vakkari, 1993; Julien,
1996; Julien & Duggan, 2000; Kumpulainen, 1991; McKechnie, Baker,
Greenwood, & Julien, 2002; Powell, 1999; Williams & Winston, 2003).
Many of these surveys either do not dene the use of ethnography, or
subsume it within wider qualitative research categories. Further, where
Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: khoo@drexel.edu (M. Khoo).
0740-8188/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2011.07.010
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Library & Information Science Research
the use of ethnographic methods is reported or can be implied, levels of
use are reported as low; a recent survey by Julien, Pecoskie, and Reed
(2011) of trends in information behavior research from 1999 to 2008,
identied 749 articles, of which 528 were research studies; of these latter
studies, seven (1.3%) were classied as ethnographic. A pilot study for
the present study suggested that these previously reported gures are
underestimates. There is, therefore, a need for a systematic review of
the use of ethnographic methods in the study of libraries and users, in
order to support the ongoing growth and development of ethnographic
research in libraries. The research questions addressed in this paper are
therefore as follows:
1. How many ethnographic studies of libraries and library users are
there?
2. Where are they published?
3. How do these studies dene ethnography?
4. What ethnographic methods do they use?
3. Literature review
Ethnography is the study of the culture and social organization of a
particular group or community, as well as the published result of such
study (Calhoun, 2002, p. 149). It was pioneered as a method in the
1910s by Malinowski (1961), who wished to place anthropology on a
scientic methodological footing by including a detailed description of
the eld site and research setting. While his contemporaries relied on
local informants to collect data, Malinowski advocated extended time
in the eld, systematically collecting data through observation and
other techniques. Ethnographic methods have since been widely
adopted in anthropology, as well as other disciplines, including LIS
(e.g. Beck & Manuel, 2008; Chatman, 1984, 1992; Connaway & Powell,
2010; Goodman, 2011; Gorman, Clayton, Shep, & Clayton, 2005;
Mellon, 1990; Pickard, 2007; Seadle, 2011; Thomas & Nyce, 2001;
Wildemuth, 2009).
Ethnography affords a glimpse into the life-worlds of others
(Pendleton & Chatman, 1998), based on the apparently simple idea
that in order to understand what people are up to, it is best to observe
them by interacting with them intimately and over an extended period
(Monaghan & Just, 2000, p. 13). A key method used by ethnographers is
participant observation, whichinvolves spending time inthe subjects' nat-
ural environment, observing and collecting data through observation
eld notes, interviews, surveys, and the examination of cultural artifacts
(e.g. Baker, 2006). Ethnographic data can be analyzed using a range of
techniques, and written up using a variety of methods, ranging from the
factual to the interpretative (Van Maanen, 1988). There has been exten-
sive debate within anthropology as to the objectivity of ethnography as
a method (Calhoun, 2002); some anthropologists hold that it is capable
of producing generalizable scientic results (Harris, 2001), some that eth-
nography is an interpretative practice (e.g., Geertz, 1973), and others that
researchers cannot disentangle themselves from the research process,
and that the researcher's role itself is open to reexive interpretation
(e.g., Clifford & Marcus, 1986; Marcus & Fischer, 1986).
Regardless of philosophical and methodological commitments,
ethnography is a complex method. It involves more than just
common-sense observations and descriptions of human behavior
(Forsythe, 1999; Thomas & Nyce, 2001), and ethnographers can be
in the eld for months or years (not necessarily continuously),
gathering a wide range of data, and applying a wide range of an-
alytical techniques. Sometimes such extended research is not fea-
sible for a researcher. In the context of design, for instance, which
includes iterative development and testing cycles, Norman (1999)
has advocated the use of rapid ethnography:
an observational technique for going to the prospective users of a
product and observing the activities they perform, their interactions,
and the subculture in which they live, work, learn, and play The
goal is to make the people who are being observed become partici-
pants in the discovery process of learning just what their real
needs are (Norman, 1999, pp. 194195).
Norman's sense of participation, in the sense of the subject's inclusion
in the designprocess, differs fromthe use in anthropology, where it refers
to the researcher's immersion in the world of the subject. There are de-
bates in anthropology as to what kinds of cultural understanding rapid
ethnography supports (Anderson, 1994; Forsythe, 1999). This sense of
participation is apparent in other research methods, such as participatory
design (e.g., Foster, Clark, Tancheva, & Kilzer, 2011; Foster, Dimmock, &
Bersani, 2008), and action research (e.g., Cook & Farmer, 2011).
Ethnography is a complex, in-situ research approach that provides
understanding of research subjects in naturally occurring settings.
Ethnographic approaches draw on a toolkit of ethnographic and design
approaches, such as observation, interviews, focus groups, cultural
probes, and others, which can be combined and triangulated to gain in-
sights into users' behaviors. Ethnographic practices range ona continuum
from longitudinal (in the qualitative sense) immersive eldwork at one
end, to rapid ethnographic techniques at the other. No particular place
on this continuum is privileged here, and it is recognized that the use of
ethnographic methods is often pragmatically tailored to address research
questions in the context of particular organizational circumstances, re-
sources, and constraints.
4. Research design
The rst step was a pilot search of inuential LIS journals (Table 1)
for ethnographic studies of libraries (Nisonger & Davis, 2005). An ini-
tial analysis of these studies identied the terms that the authors of
these studies used to describe them: ethnography, ethnographic,
anthropology, observation, and participant observation. A
more comprehensive search was then carried out: Combinations of
the terms were used in full-text searches of the university library's
online catalog, within the available date range of the same journals.
The terms were also used in full-text queries of all available years of
three library science databases: Library andInformationScience Abstracts
(LISA), 1969current; Library, Information Science & Technology
Abstracts (LISTA), 1965current; and Library Literature & Information
Science (LLIS), 1982current. Finally, a series of more loosely structured
Web searches was carried out to locate examples of gray literature
(such as institutional reports and white papers) not available in the li-
brary databases.
The resulting articles were ltered according to two criteria. First, as
the focus is on libraries and library users, ethnographic studies of nonli-
brary environments, for example, retirement homes (Chatman, 1984)
and information systems, such as management information systems
and health information systems, were excluded. Second, as the focus
was on ethnographic methods, non-ethnographic studies, such as those
that only used interviews, were excluded. It was sometimes difcult to
drawa precise line between ethnographic and non-ethnographic studies,
and it was decided to interpret the concept of ethnography inclusively
rather than exclusively, and to err in favor of false positives rather than
false negatives, with the aim of generating a review and bibliography
that would be of maximum use. The result of these two ltering opera-
tions was to identify studies that lay at the union of the two target sets,
library studies and ethnographic studies. Once the initial sample of stud-
ies hadbeenscreened, relevant secondary citations were followed up and
subjected to the same screening process.
No previous comprehensive survey of the types of methods used in
ethnographic studies in libraries had been reported. There was, therefore,
no typology that could have been adopted in order to analyze the studies
in the sample. A series of coding sessions was therefore held, in which a
sample of the studies in the detail was discussed and individual methods
identied. These methods were then sorted into a set of high-level coding
83 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
categories, and then these emergent categories were re-applied to the
sample as a whole.
5. Results
5.1. Number of studies and date of publication
Eighty-one studies, including articles, reports, and conference
presentations, were identied (see Appendix A). This set is con-
siderably larger than any previously published. Few studies
(n=14, 17.3%) were published before 2000. The earliest study
identied was a report (Wilson & Streateld, 1980). The earliest
journal article was Sever (1986). Just over half of the studies
(n=42, 51.9%) were published from 2006 on, indicating a grow-
ing interest in the use of ethnographic methods to study libraries
and library users (Fig. 1). These more recent publications includ-
ed a small but growing number of library-design studies.
5.2. Publication sources
The largest number of studies (n=52, 64.2%) were published
in journals. Fourteen studies (17.3%) were published in conference
proceedings, and 12 studies (14.8%) as reports, although because
of the difculties in searching the gray literature, this gure may
be under-represented. Two books and a book chapter were also
located.
A total of 38 academic sources (journals and conferences) were
identied, 24 of which supplied one study. Fourteen sources sup-
plied two studies or more, and a total of 51.9% of all the studies
overall. The same number of studies (n=36, 44.4%) was found
in both LIS academic and librarianship journals, as dened by
Nisonger and Davis (2005). One unanticipated result was that
the majority of studies (n=45, 55.6%) were found in sources not
included in Nisonger and Davis' survey, such as conference pro-
ceedings, digital library research (where the observation of library
users can be used to gather requirements for digital libraries), and
gray literature. It is worth noting that none of the studies were
published in anthropology journals, suggesting that library eth-
nography as a eld is developing relatively separately from tradi-
tional ethnography.
5.3. Denition of and warrant for using ethnography
Ethnography was often not dened in detail in many of the studies,
and the denitions that were provided varied widely. For example, see
Baker (2006) with regard to denitions of observation in observational
studies. Further denitions could be induced indirectly from the range
of warrants advanced for using ethnographic methods. A number of
themes emerged, revolving about the benets that ethnographic
methods provided in terms of richer understanding of subjects' experi-
ences, and deeper insights into them (e.g., Akselbo et al., 2006; Bartley
et al., 2006; Bryant, Matthews, & Walton, 2009; Burke, 2009;
Gabridge, Gaskell, & Stout, 2008; Lending & Straub, 1997). These were
sometimes in comparison withthe perceived limitations of quantitative
methods (e.g., Adkins & Hussey, 2006; Manuel, Beck, & Molloy, 2005).
Ethnographic methods were thought of as providing depth to the
researcher's understanding (e.g., Suarez, 2007); providing richer and
better data (Hobbs & Klare, 2010, p. 349); providing authentic data of
users' lives (e.g., Twidale &Nichols, 1998; Twidale et al., 1997); reveal-
ing nuances (e.g., Wilson & Streateld, 1980); allowing for more exi-
ble methods to study the research problem (e.g., Barry, 1995); and for
context to be taken into account (e.g., Radford, 1998). Qualitative and
ethnographic data were seen as providing opportunities for triangula-
tion with other research methods (e.g., Institute for the Future, 2001;
Mizrachi, 2010).
5.4. Types of methods used
Five main groups of ethnographic methods were identied (note that
the methods can overlap):
Observation, or watching subjects in natural settings (n=66, 81.5%)
Interviews, or talking with subjects (n=62, 76.6%)
Fieldwork, or investigating where subjects are located (n=36, 44.4%)
Focus groups, or talking with groups of subjects (n=19, 23.5%)
Cultural probes, or subjects recording their own lives (n=14, 17.3%).
Eight studies (9.9%) used or described four of these main
methods; 36 studies (44.4%) used three different methods; 20 studies
(24.7%) used 2 different methods; and 17 studies (21.0%) used one
method. The average number of strategies used per study was 2.6.
Each method was implemented in a number of ways. A high-level
summary of each study is provided in Table 2. Note that while a
study may be mentioned in connection with one method, it is often
used with other methods, as well.
5.4.1. Observation
The most common method identied in the analysis was observation.
There are different types of observational methods used in LIS, ranging
from nonparticipation, where the observer is not physically present
(e.g., transactionlog analysis), throughincreasing degrees of participation
Table 1
Complete list of nal sources.
Source # of
studies
Library and Information Science Research 7
ACM DL/JCDL
a
4
The Journal of Academic Librarianship 4
Library Assessment Conference
a
3
Information Research 3
Journal of the American Society for Information Science 3
Library Quarterly 3
Libri 3
ACRL National Conference
a
2
Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Information Science
(CAIS-ACSI)
a
2
Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science 2
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 2
Library Trends 2
New Library World
a
2
Academic Commons
a
1
ASIST Proceedings 1
Annual Conference of the Association for Educational Communications
and Technology
a
1
Archival Science 1
ASLIB Proceedings 1
British Journal of Academic Librarianship
a
1
College & Research Libraries 1
D-Lib Magazine 1
Designing for Children Conference
a
1
Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship
a
1
The Electronic Library 1
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice
a
1
Homo Oeconomicus
a
1
Information Processing and Management 1
Innovation
a
1
Journal of Documentation 1
Journal of Negro Education
a
1
Library Management
a
1
The Reference Librarian 1
Reference Services Review 1
School Library Media Research 1
Sociological Research Online
a
1
Technical Services Quarterly 1
Urban Education
a
1
Reports, etc.
a
12
Book
a
2
Book chapter
a
1
a
Indicates sources not referenced in Table 1 in Nisonger and Davis (2005).
84 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
and interaction, to complete participation and membership, where the
researcher becomes a functioning member of the group he or she is ob-
serving (Baker, 2006). A similar variation was found: observational tech-
niques ranged from unobtrusive observation to participant observation;
the collection periods ranged from 4 h (Kim et al., 2010,) to two years
(Anderson, 2005, 2006); and the number of research subjects ranged
from two academics studied for two years (Anderson, 2005, 2006), to
1415 users entering a public library (Mandel, 2010).
5.4.2. Interviews
Interviews were the second-most common strategy identied.
Where described, these often took the form of the semistructured in-
terview, in which specic questions are followed with questions not
in the original protocol. Related types of interview included the eth-
nographic interview, and the participant-observation interview.
Other types of interviews included structured interviews with set
protocols; conversational or other informal forms of interview that
occurred, unplanned, as a part of eldwork; and contextual inter-
views with subjects as they performed work-related tasks in a natural
setting.
5.4.3. Fieldwork
Field sites are more than just a locale to observe subjects, they are
important settings that help to explain subjects' behaviors and contextu-
alize research results. They help the reader to be situated in the research
settings and narrative, and to assess the transferability of the results to
other eld settings. This function is particularly important for qualitative
andethnographic researchthat does not rely onstatistical measures, such
as p values and standard deviation, and for generalizability and validity
(Lincoln &Guba, 1985). Field site descriptions are therefore an important
part of ethnographic reports. In the case of a library, such descriptions
could be based on eld notes, oor plans, sketches, photographs, audio
andvideo recordings, public documents suchas patronguides, events cal-
endars, and signage, and internal documentation, such as meeting
agendas, email, and circulation statistics. Only a minority of studies ex-
plicitly described eldwork. One possible explanation for not including
this crucial information in research reports is that the major peer-
reviewed journals in LIS do not allow sufcient publication space for the
thick description (Geertz, 1973) of eld sites. An alternate explanation
is that many of the studies were of short duration, and that a detailed
eld-site description was either not possible, or deemed irrelevant.
Most of the eld sites were located in the United States, but
there were also examples from Canada, Australia, India, Israel,
Malaysia, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, NewZealand, Romania, South Africa,
and the United Kingdom. Withinthe library itself, most studies took place
in the public areas of libraries, while a few studies were located else-
where, such as library administration ofces, online forums, and in a
homeless shelter.
5.4.4. Focus groups
Focus groups are open, in-depth discussions with small groups
of purposely selected individuals, led by a trained moderator/
facilitator, to explore a predened topic of shared interest in a non-
threatening, semistructured setting, and there is a wide range of
denitions of focus groups in the library literature (Walden, 2006,
p. 223). Focus groups not only provide an opportunity to gather data
from users, they also allow for the observation of interactions between
users.
5.4.5. Cultural probes
The nal ethnographic method identied was the cultural
probe, which is usually a pack of one or more items that subjects
can use to record and self-report on areas and actions in their life
that are important to the researcher. This can include postcards,
journals, cameras, maps, and other artifacts (Sharp, Rogers, &
Preece, 2007). The use of cultural probes was common in studies
that took a library-design or planning approach.
6. Discussion
No similar survey of ethnographic methods in library studies has
previously been published, and it is therefore not possible to compare
these ndings with previous surveys. This study has ve important
and interrelated ndings. First, the survey identied 81 ethnographic
studies of libraries and library users, a much larger body of work has
previously been reported. One caveat here is that this and previous
surveys are not strictly comparable; in each case, different literatures
were chosen and searched in different ways, and different denitions
applied to ethnographic and observational methodsand some
surveys did not mention or count ethnography at all. Nevertheless,
Fig. 1. Studies by publication year (2 studies did not provide a publication date).
85 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
the number of studies identied in the current survey is of an order of
magnitude larger than that described or implied previous surveys, and
is therefore of signicant interest to library researchers using these
methods.
Second, the studies often provided little detailed denition of eth-
nography, and observation and other ethnographic methods. See, for
example, Baker (2006) regarding the [confusing] variety of labels
(for example, observation, participant observation, or ethnography)
that seem to be used interchangeably by researchers (Baker, 2006,
p. 172). Nevertheless, there was overall agreement with regard to
the benet of using ethnographic methods, centered about the gain-
ing of a more holistic understanding of library users than would oth-
erwise be obtained through other methods. This agreement suggests
in turn the existence of a potentially signicant community of ethno-
graphic researchers working in library settings, and one of the pur-
poses of the current article has therefore been to provide an outline
map of this community.
Third, ve main ethnographic methods were identied: observa-
tion (watching subjects in natural settings); interviews (talking
with subjects); eldwork (investigating where subjects are located);
focus groups (talking with groups of subjects); and cultural probes
(subjects recording their own lives). These methods were used in
varying combinations in each study. While there could be signicant
variations in the denition and application of each of these methods,
they were usually deployed under the warrants for ethnography
listed and discussed above, often as part of an integrated approach
that was subsequently triangulated.
Fourth, for about the past ve years, the use of ethnographic
methods in studies of libraries has demonstrated an upward trend
from a low starting point, as well as a diversication in the types of
methods used. This may be indicative of the growing complexity of
the social and technological environments within which libraries
are situated, the need to adapt to these changing environments, the
growing use of outcomes and performance-based evaluations, and
other factors, which may be prompting libraries to think about how
to describe their strengths, not just in terms of performance and ef-
fectiveness metrics, but also in terms of the wider social and cultural
value they offer to users and communities. This approach is summed
up by Gabridge et al. (2008, pp. 511512): Given the rapidly chang-
ing information landscape and a desire to examine fundamentally
how library systems need to evolve, MIT labs wanted to nd out
more about what students were doing [in libraries].
Fifth, the introduction above outlined a continuum in ethnographic
research between traditional and rapid ethnography, with the for-
mer often focusing on more longitudinal research questions, and the
latter often being deployed in shorter time scales in design contexts.
The studies in this survey conformed well to this continuum. In addi-
tion, an emerging genre of studies was identied that deployed various
ethnographic methods in a toolkit approach to address research ques-
tions related to the planning and design of library spaces and services.
The ndings of these latter ethnographic approaches are often included
in a range of practitioner reports and conference papers (e.g., Asher &
Miller, n.d.; Asher, Duke, & Green, 2010; Delcore, Mullooly, &
Scroggins, 2009; Foster & Gibbons, 2007; Foster & Lindahl, 2008;
Smale & Regalado, 2011; Stein, 2008; Turner, 2008).
Finally, the survey identied an unexpected diversity in publication
venues. While signicant research was published in highly-rated LIS
academic literature (Nisonger & Davis, 2005), research was also pub-
lished in other journals, at conferences, and in reports and other gray
literature. Library researchers interested in ethnographic methods
need to be able to draw on all of this research in order to develop
their own research, and compare methods and data. But they may be
unaware of this overall researchlandscape; therefore this researchis in-
cluded in the narrative and Appendix A, below.
A theoretical limitation of the study is the lack of analysis of
the ethnographic theories and methods that LIS studies have
adopted from other disciplines, such as anthropology and sociology
(e.g., Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Spradley, 1980); and further research should
be able to shed light on the particular sources, and theoretical and philo-
sophical approaches, that have inuenced ethnographic research in the
LIS community. A practical limitation is that it analyzes an expanding re-
searcharea; for example, further publications identiedsince the analysis
was carriedout include Duke &Asher, 2011; Foster et al., 2011; Goodman,
2011; Hunter & Ward, 2011; and Washburn & Bibb, 2011.
7. Conclusion
The survey identied an expanding body of ethnographic studies
of libraries and library users, reported in a wide range of venues.
This is the largest set of reports of ethnographic research in libraries
reported to date. Previous overviews of LIS research methods have either
reported smaller numbers of ethnographic studies, or not reported them
at all. A set of core methodological commitments and common research
settings has been described, suggesting that the studies reported form a
coherent and emerging research genre that uses ethnographic methods
to investigate libraries, their users, wider social contexts, and the relation-
ships between these phenomena.
The ndings of the survey are important for LIS research in several
ways. First, libraries are changing rapidly, partly in response to ongoing
innovations in networked information systems. Furthermore, there is a
growing interest in qualitative analyses of the social lives of libraries,
and the roles that libraries play in the lives of their users, both for current
libraries and also for future, more technologically-augmented libraries.
Second, the study suggests that current ethnographic research in libraries
is fragmented and published in a range of venues. Therefore, the use of
ethnography as a method in LIS is supported by providing a comprehen-
sive overviewof the main ethnographic methods used in libraries. A bib-
liography of existing research, much of it published outside of the core LIS
literature, is also provided; this is the rst time that this ethnographic re-
search has been collected in one place. Third, ethnographic research can
be time-consuming to design and implement. Therefore, important sup-
port for researchers engaged in planning and carrying out ethnographic
research in libraries is provided by enabling comparison across research
questions, settings, and methods, and the identication of appropriate
methods for particular research questions. As the use of ethnographic
methods in libraries continues to grow it is important that researchers
using these methods be aware of the breadth and range of existing stud-
ies, in order to design and implement the best possible research. To sup-
port these efforts, a comprehensive overviewof publishedresearchinthis
area is provided.
Table 2
High-level summaries of the studies identied in the survey.
Study Summary
Adkins and Hussey (2006) Undergraduate Latino students' perceptions of academic libraries, librarians and library services
Akselbo et al. (2006) Diaries and disposable cameras to record examples of good library services, favorite workspaces, etc.
Anderson (2005) A longitudinal study of the information behaviors of two scholars engaged in research
Anderson (2006) A longitudinal study of the information behaviors of two scholars engaged in research
Applegate (2009) Seating patterns and preferences in an academic library
Asher and Miller (n.d.) Summary review of the activities of the ERIAL Project (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries)
Asher et al. (2010) A how to manual for implementing ethnographic methods in libraries
86 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
Table 2 (continued)
Study Summary
Barry (1995) Academics' information and research needs
Bartley et al. (2006) Cameras to explore students' information seeking activities
Bouthillier (2000) Library service providers' understanding of their professional practices
Briden and Marshall (2010) Laptop use in an academic library
Briden et al. (2007) Two-year study of undergraduates, including use of technology and involvement in campus life
Bryant et al. (2009) Covert observation of users' interaction with space in an academic library
Carey et al. (2001) Authors' reections on conducting LIS studies with pregnant women, members of a self-help support group, and preschool children.
Cavanagh (2006) Reference desk interactions in urban public libraries; the role of chit chat
Cmor et al. (2010) In-class evaluation of student presentations to gage the effectiveness of a library study workshop
Crabtree (2003) User way-nding in an academic library
Crabtree et al. (1997) Interactions at a service desk in an academic library
Crabtree et al. (2000) Waynding and information-seeking behaviors of users of a university library
Crispin (2009) School librarians' understanding and negotiation of the social organization of their institutions
Cunningham et al.(2003) Users in the music sections of public libraries
David and Zeitlyn (1996) Academics, researchers and postgraduates using online bibliographic technologies
Davies, Kirkpatrick, and Oliver
(1992)
The impact of the adoption of a service-led strategy on the organizational culture of a British academic library
Delcore et al. (2009) Multi-faceted elicitation of requirements for new student spaces in an academic library
Duncker (2002) Maori use and perceptions of physical and digital libraries
Dunn (2002) Observations of students in a university library
Foster and Gibbons (2005) Studies of faculty members research and writing practices in virtual and physical workspaces
Foster and Gibbons (2007) Comprehensive report on ethnographic work carried out with the library at the University of Rochester, New York
Foster and Lindahl (2008) A work-practice study of faculty attitudes towards institutional repositories
Gabridge et al. (2008) Photo diary study of thirty-two students' academic information-seeking behaviors
George et al. (2003) Professional characteristics of academic reference librarians and their work
Given and Leckie (2003) Seating sweeps to study individuals' use of central public libraries in two large Canadian cities
Gracy (2006) Organizational and professional practices in two lm preservation archives
Gross et al. (2004) Children using computers in an urban public library
Haglund and Olson (2008) Young university researchers' information needs
Hart (2006) Information literacy education in South African public libraries
Hill et al. (1997) Requirements gathering for the Alexandria Digital Library project; observation of user activity in a map library
Hill et al. (2000) Requirements gathering for the Alexandria Digital Library project; observation of user activity in a map library
Hobbs and Klare (2010) Assessing student needs to support design of a new study space for students during a library renovation
Inskip et al. (2008) Users of a small folk music library in North London
Institute for the Future (2001) Users of the biomedical literature
Khudair and Bawden (2007) Health libraries in Saudi Arabia
Kim et al. (2010) Children in a children's library in Korea
Klimaszewski and Nyce (2009) Library infrastructure and information needs in a rural village in Romania
Klopfer (2004) Commercial libraries in India
Leckie and Hopkins (2002) Public use and perceptions of two central public libraries in Canada
Lending and Straub (1997) The impacts of the Integrated Information Center (IIC) on end-user work behaviors.
Littrell et al. (2006) Information infrastructure and libraries in rural Romania
MacGillivray et al. (2010) Libraries in the information lives of mothers and children at a homeless shelter
Mandel (2010) Unobtrusive observation of library patrons' initial waynding behavior from two entrances of a public library
Manuel et al. (2005) Faculty attitudes towards library instruction education in classrooms
Marshall (1998) Digitization and metadata work in a university library's educational technology center
McKechnie (2000) Diaries provided to the mothers of pre-school girls to record their daughters' use of library services and resources
McKechnie (2006) Babies and toddlers in a public library story time program
McKechnie et al. (2004) Unobtrusive observation comparing patron behavior in public libraries and book superstores
McKechnie et al. (2006) Unobtrusive observation of user compliance with posted rules of conduct in public libraries
McKenzie and Stooke (2007) Library and patron roles in public library story time programs for young children
Merchant and Hepworth (2002) Information literacy among teachers and pupils in two U.K. secondary schools (grades 712)
Mizrachi (2010) The information ecologies of undergraduate students in their dormitory rooms
Nardi and O'Day (1996) Reference librarian practices and roles in corporate reference libraries
Nardi and O'Day (1999) Reference librarian practices and roles in corporate reference libraries
Notess (2004) Contextual inquiry into music students' research and study practices in a wide variety of settings
Notess (2005) Contextual interviews with music students to explore the relationship between library work, research, and class
Othman (2004) Students in a computing lab in Malaysia using library databases
Prigoda and McKenzie (2007) Information behavior of the members of a knitting circle in a public library
Radford (1998) Patrons' decisions to approach or not to approach a reference librarian and engage in interaction
Randall et al. (2008) Generation of requirements for integrating library services into graduate student research practices
Sever (1986) Children's libraries in Israel
Smale and Regalado (2011) Student approaches to research on two university campuses; student use of libraries for research; faculty expectations of student work.
Small et al. (2010) School librarians' interactions with administrators, teachers, and students, and understanding of the impact of school libraries on student
achievement
Stein (2008) Student feedback at the beginning of the design phase of a new library home page
Suarez (2007) Student engagement in studies in an university library
Tufts University (n.d.) Research habits and practices of undergraduate and graduate students
Turner (2008) Changes in library use and practice brought about by technology
Twidale and Nichols (1998) User and librarian behavior at an enquiry desk in an academic library
Twidale et al. (1997) The nature of collaboration in the information searching process
Van Beynen et al. (2010) Patrons' navigation through library space and interaction with library resources and educational displays
White (2008) Doctoral students research, writing and collaboration behaviors
Whitmire (2006) African American undergraduate use and experience of a College library, identied through seating sweeps
Wilson and Corrall (2008) Management and leadership development in public libraries in England
Wilson and Streateld (1980) Information needs of staff in social services departments in the U.K.
87 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291
Appendix A. LIS research studies using ethnographic methods,
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Adkins, D., & Hussey, L. (2006). The library in the lives of Latino
college students. Library Quarterly, 76(4), 456480.
Akselbo, J. L., Arnfred, L., Barfort, S., Bay, G., Christiansen, T. B., Han-
sen, J. H. (2006). The hybrid library: From the users' perspective. Copen-
hagen: The National Library and Copenhagen University Library, The
Aarhus School of Business Library, The State and University Library,
The University Library of Southern Denmark. Retrieved from http://
www.statsbiblioteket.dk/om-statsbiblioteket/brugbarhed/feltstudier/
eldstudies.pdf
Anderson, T. D. (2005). Relevance as process: Judgments in the
context of scholarly research. Information Research, 10(2). Retrieved
from http://InformationR.net/ir/10-2/paper226.html
Anderson, T. D. (2006). Uncertainty inaction: Observing information
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paper283.html
Applegate, R. (2009). The library is for studying: Student preferences
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erial-project
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Barry, C. A. (1995). Critical issues in evaluating the impact of IT on
information activity in academic research: Developing a qualitative
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Bartley, M., Duke, D., Gabridge, T., Gaskell, M., Hennig, N.,
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activities of MIT studentsSpring 2006. Retrieved from http://
dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/33456
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lemmas for public library service providers. Library & Information Science
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outcomes for library database searching: Three assessment points
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(JCDL), Portland, OR.
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the case for archival ethnography. Archival Science, (4), 335365.
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of changes in information behavior among academic researchers: A
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Catherine Hall is a doctoral student and IMLS fellow at the iSchool at Drexel University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has an MA in information and library management and
a background in academic and special libraries. Her current research includes an explo-
ration and evaluation of the ways in which knowledge organization systems can be
exploited to improve users' interactions with digital collections and a study of the facet
analysis practices of public librarians. Her dissertation research looks at the application
of faceted classications for digital libraries. She has presented at various international
conferences.
Michael Khoo is research faculty at the iSchool at Drexel University. He has a back-
ground in cultural anthropology and organizational communication. He has carried
out ethnographic research in the Indian Himalaya, and in telecommunications call cen-
ters, and has studied digital libraries and librarians for ten years. He has published on
digital library theory and practice, and qualitative studies of users. His current research
includes studies of developers and users making sense of metadata in digital reposito-
ries, and users in bricks-and-mortar libraries interacting with physical space. He tea-
ches undergraduate and graduate courses in the social aspects of information systems,
and humancomputer interaction and design. He also works with the Internet Public
Library (http://ipl.org).
Lily Rozaklis is a doctoral candidate at the iSchool at Drexel University specializing in
the academic information behaviors of undergraduate students. She has a background
in library and information science as a practitioner for ve years. Her publications have
discussed reference services and the education of library and information science pro-
fessionals. Her teaching includes graduate courses on digital reference services.
91 M. Khoo et al. / Library & Information Science Research 34 (2012) 8291

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