SPEC Kit 322: Library User Experience · 149
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ethnographic study – Digital Scholarship at MIT
https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/LIBUX/Ethnographic+study+-+Digital+Scholarship+at+MIT
Ethnographic study -Digital Scholarship at MIT -Libraries User Experience Group -MIT Wiki Service
https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/LIBUX/Ethnographic+study+-+Digital+Scholarship+at+MIT[5/31/11 12:56:14 PM]
Who:
Undergrads: Since we know that undergrads are focused mainly on completing coursework, we will study them
within the context of specific classes that agree to participate. We aim to target 3 different classes, one from each
of the following communities: Science &Engineering, Arts &Humanities, Social Sciences &Management.
For example we may recruit:
-a class working with geospatial data
-a class from comparative media studies using multimedia in some way
-the terrascope class from EAPS, since students work on creating museum-like displays to communicate their
content
-a group working from abroad or in an international program (if possible).
We will work with librarian subject liaisons who have existing relationships with specific classes. They will help
recruit the particular classes and participate along with UX group members to conduct the interviews.
Grad students, faculty, researchers: Since this group is focused mainly on research, we will study them within
the context of specific research projects. We will focus not only on how they find information, but also on how
they use, share, and publish it. We aim to target 3 different research projects, again from each of the three
communities mentioned above.
We will work with librarian subject liaisons who have existing relationships with specific faculty members. They will
help recruit the particular projects to be studied and participate along with UX group members to conduct the
interviews.
Library staff involved:
From UX group: Nicole Hennig, Lisa Horowitz, Stephanie Hartman, Remlee Green
from LDLC: Kate McNeill, Michelle Baildon, Anne Graham
How many:
We will have 3 undergrad classes and 3 faculty/grad/researcher projects each with several people willing to
participate. We will include undergrad students, teaching assistants, grad students, faculty and researchers. Ideally
we'd like to interview 3 people from each class and 2 people from each research project for a total of 15
interviews.
We'll aim to use 4 members of the UX group and 4 subject liaisons from LDLC (TBD). This team of 8 staff will
work in pairs to conduct the interviews. (each team of 2 will interview 3-4 people)
The volunteers will be offered $75 Amazon or TechCash gift certificates for their time.
When:
Recruiting &contacting volunteers: throughout February and early March
Participants track themselves: any one week in March or April
Interviews: April/May
Results consolidation: May (first 2 weeks)
Reporting out: May (last 2 weeks)
What:
Interviews will be guided by the following questions:
Warm-up questions:
-Introduce yourselves, explain the process
-Demographic (i.e., who they are and what class or project they did for the study)
The central question:
-So tell us the story of your week. We'll use your diary to jog your memory. Describe any tasks you did during
the study that were related to:
finding information, organizing, sharing, citing, collaborating, teaching, presenting, or publishing.
For each task:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ethnographic study – Digital Scholarship at MIT
https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/LIBUX/Ethnographic+study+-+Digital+Scholarship+at+MIT
Ethnographic study -Digital Scholarship at MIT -Libraries User Experience Group -MIT Wiki Service
https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/LIBUX/Ethnographic+study+-+Digital+Scholarship+at+MIT[5/31/11 12:56:14 PM]
Who:
Undergrads: Since we know that undergrads are focused mainly on completing coursework, we will study them
within the context of specific classes that agree to participate. We aim to target 3 different classes, one from each
of the following communities: Science &Engineering, Arts &Humanities, Social Sciences &Management.
For example we may recruit:
-a class working with geospatial data
-a class from comparative media studies using multimedia in some way
-the terrascope class from EAPS, since students work on creating museum-like displays to communicate their
content
-a group working from abroad or in an international program (if possible).
We will work with librarian subject liaisons who have existing relationships with specific classes. They will help
recruit the particular classes and participate along with UX group members to conduct the interviews.
Grad students, faculty, researchers: Since this group is focused mainly on research, we will study them within
the context of specific research projects. We will focus not only on how they find information, but also on how
they use, share, and publish it. We aim to target 3 different research projects, again from each of the three
communities mentioned above.
We will work with librarian subject liaisons who have existing relationships with specific faculty members. They will
help recruit the particular projects to be studied and participate along with UX group members to conduct the
interviews.
Library staff involved:
From UX group: Nicole Hennig, Lisa Horowitz, Stephanie Hartman, Remlee Green
from LDLC: Kate McNeill, Michelle Baildon, Anne Graham
How many:
We will have 3 undergrad classes and 3 faculty/grad/researcher projects each with several people willing to
participate. We will include undergrad students, teaching assistants, grad students, faculty and researchers. Ideally
we'd like to interview 3 people from each class and 2 people from each research project for a total of 15
interviews.
We'll aim to use 4 members of the UX group and 4 subject liaisons from LDLC (TBD). This team of 8 staff will
work in pairs to conduct the interviews. (each team of 2 will interview 3-4 people)
The volunteers will be offered $75 Amazon or TechCash gift certificates for their time.
When:
Recruiting &contacting volunteers: throughout February and early March
Participants track themselves: any one week in March or April
Interviews: April/May
Results consolidation: May (first 2 weeks)
Reporting out: May (last 2 weeks)
What:
Interviews will be guided by the following questions:
Warm-up questions:
-Introduce yourselves, explain the process
-Demographic (i.e., who they are and what class or project they did for the study)
The central question:
-So tell us the story of your week. We'll use your diary to jog your memory. Describe any tasks you did during
the study that were related to:
finding information, organizing, sharing, citing, collaborating, teaching, presenting, or publishing.
For each task:
