User need assasement

User needs assessment (Case report)
(An interview with a graduate student of Islamic Studies, McGill University)

Investigating information needs and uses is an important aspect in the field of information. This aspect has been investigated since a long time ago. Due to the increasing use of technology in libraries and information centers today, user needs assessment has become one of the most important activities of information practitioners. This paper reports the result of an interview with a particular community in order to understand his specific needs, goals, purposes and ways of seeking information. The interviewee is a first year international graduate student of Islamic Studies at McGill University. Before looking more specific at the information needs of this participant, the following is a brief description about the participant’s community.
The institute of Islamic studies is part of the Faculty of Arts of McGill University. This institute focuses on the origin of Islam and the contemporary Islamic world. The prominent feature of this institute is a strongly-multinational environment. The communities of the institute include Muslims and Non-Muslims from around the world. In addition, to support the teaching and learning process, the institute has its own library containing important collection in the field. The collection is available in European languages and in Islamic languages such as Arabic, Persian, and Turkish (Islamic studies McGill Preview web)
In order to manage ideas during the interview process, fifteen questions were divided into five themes; perspective, subject, timeline, method and problem. The following are some typical examples of the interview questions of each theme:


Perspective:
Q: “As a graduate student of Islamic studies, what do you consider as information?”
From the participant’s perspective, information is all the things related to the subject of his study. In other words, information is not only books, journals and other collections that are available in libraries but also every piece of information that can be found everywhere such as online or printed newspapers, magazines, conference materials and other online sources.
Subject
Q: In the Islamic Studies field, what information or subject do you need? Why?
The participant said that human rights and gender studies in Islam are the most required subjects. These subjects are very important to the respondent because he is going to conduct his research in this field. In addition, the respondent also is aware about the reliability and the validity of resources. Therefore, the participant tends to use formal resources rather than informal ones.
Method
Q: What information service do you find the most useful (e.g., Google, the library)?
The participant prefers to use online catalogue/MUSE, online journals and articles which are provided by McGill University than using the internet resource like Google. Therefore, in order to accomplish his information needs, the participant tends to collect information regularly from libraries, both are in McLennan library and the Islamic Studies Library (ISL) and other libraries in McGill University.
Q; How do/did you find out about these sources?
In respond to this question, the respondent said that to find the resources which are available in McGill University, he usually uses online catalogue/MUSE firstly to search mostly books and journals or articles, then finds them in the shelves or if they are downloadable, he also likes to keep them as his soft copy files.
Timeline:
Q: How much time/effort do you spend getting the information?
In relation to the time that the participant usually spent in finding his resources, this participant said that he was not sure about the time, it depends on how many sources he needs and how familiar he is with the library. However, he usually needs 15 minutes at least to get 3 books if he knows the library well like the Islamic Studies library, for example, where he spends most of his time. But he has to spend more than 30 minutes to find 2 books if he did not know the library well, such as Jahum Gelber and McLennan libraries
Problem:
Q: Are there problems with finding stuff?
The interviewee commented that he did not find any serious problems in searching with the basic method, but he sometimes finds difficulties to search in advanced levels. One of the problems he mentioned is that “there was a lack of instructions about how to use the library system.” To solve his problems, the participant usually goes to the information desk or asks his friends for help.

Q: How could the library helps its users to use the system more effectively?
According to the participant, one of the effective ways to improve the library service is through user education program. “I think new students should be trained about the library system in order to make them confident in using the system and finding information and sources in library”
Q: Does the task influences information needs/uses for you?
This respondent believes that the task influences his information needs. As a student he usually comes to libraries more often when he has assignments, exams and other course requirements,even he usually spends his time in libraries until night to fulfill such those needs.
Q: What information format do you prefer? Why?
This particular user prefers to use printed materials then electronic ones because they are easy to read everywhere, but for his future needs, he also likes to keep them in electronic format files if the downloadable files are available.

Interview Analysis
Analyzing information seeking behaviors is not a straightforward process. There are many perspectives and influences that need to be considered before deciding people’s needs in seeking and using information. People’s behavior in searching for information can be influenced by individual and social behavior. In other words, internal and external factors tend to influence individual behaviors, both in terms of needs and the ways of seeking information (Allen, 1996).
Similarly, Jela Steinerova´ and Jaroslav S ˇ usˇol (2005) argue that “Human information behaviour consists of the sociocognitive, structurally-based activities of users in the information process. It is composed of cognitive links and social relationships within disciplines, domains, and organisations, or at other levels of social collaboration (e.g. communities of practice)”. (p. 139).
In terms of the demographic of the participant, it seems that there are three aspects that could be considered as the individual and social influences. They are the status of the participant (international student), the level of study (graduate) and the Institute of Islamic studies community. The first and the second aspects could be considered as individual influences, while the third one is social.
These factors are important to understand because they could influence this participant’s behavior in searching for information. Levels of study also influence the ability of users in searching information. Level of study and past experiences affect the process of information seeking and use. Research conducted by Aphrodite Malliari & Daphne Kyriaki-Manessi (2007) investigating real time user searches using OPAC found that graduate students can search for their information needs more effectively and more aware of the selection process.
Returning to the participant’s perspective in terms of the meaning of information and the subjects that he is interested in (human rights and gender studies in Islam), it was obvious that the need of information of this respondent is purposive. His main purpose for seeking information is to support or to succeed in his academic activities. These needs can be viewed as the cognitive perspective where people need, seek, and use of information due to lack of understanding about the field (Allen, 1996).
In term of information-seeking skills, it seems that this participant has been familiar with using libraries systems, at least the basic searching method. This assumption is based on the time that he usually spent in searching process. The participant needs 15 minutes to search for three resources. Although the participant did not find any serious problems in searching process so far, he still needs to learn more about searching for advance level in order to find resources more effectively.
According to the respondent, in order to improve library services, libraries should provide clear instructions about how to use library systems and library resources. These services are essential to establish users’ abilities to use library systems so that they will be able to meet their information needs more efficiently.



Although it was believed that interviewing every person to understand his specific needs for information is something impossible, understanding a specific user needs and uses of information from a community is still needed because individuals are representative of the community. It can help information practitioners or systems designers to predict the needs of a community so that they can provide appropriate systems and services for their users. However, as there are many perspectives and influences that can influence individuals’ behavior in seeking information, user needs assessments should be done cautiously.
From this particular information seeker, we may figure out several points. It was obvious that this person is a potential user and familiar with the information seeking process. His behaviour in seeking for information is influenced by his past experienced and his academic community. The need for information of this interviewee is to fill his gab of his academic life.
Even though the level of study of an individual could influence the ability of individuals in searching and using information, providing adequate guidance for library systems and resources is still necessary. Libraries should provide clear instructions about their searching methods in order to make their patrons more effective, efficient and independent in meeting their information needs.







Reference

1)Allen, Bryce L. (1996). Information Task: Toward a user-centered approach to information systems. New York: Academic P.155-103.
2)Institute of Islamic Studies (2008). Introduction to the Institute of Islamic Studies. Retrieved Jan 18, 2007 from McGill University, Department of Islamic Studies Web site: http://www.mcgill.ca/islamicstudies/overview/
3)Malliari,A. and Manessi,D. K. (2007 ).Users’ behaviour patterns inacademic libraries’ OPACs: a multivariate statistical analysis. New Library World, 108,107-122. Retrieved Jan 15, 2008, from Emerald Group Publishing Limited database.
4)Steinerova´, J. and S ˇ usˇol, J. (2005), “Library users in human information behaviour”, Online Information Review, 29. 139-156. Retrieved Jan 15, 2008, from Emerald Group Publishing Limited database.