Connecting Library Technology to Specific Information Needs and Behaviors

My poster details how we can connect library technology with the specific information needs and behaviors of undergraduate and LIS students and professors. This is essential, because academic libraries utilize technology all the time but aren’t tailoring what they use to their patrons. Within the existing literature, there is an undeveloped area of connecting the technology to information needs and behaviors. Since there is no discussion about this connection, there is a problem of demonstrating the need for libraries to consider patron needs and behaviors when they choose technology.

My research into this topic began with a paper from Computing Foundations on asset inventories, where I interviewed librarians from five academic libraries across the United States to discuss what kinds of technology were they using to accomplish tasks in reference and instruction. Stemming from this, I broadened my research to include technologies academic libraries purchase for use by their parent institution’s students and faculty constituents. I found that much of the technology is bought because it is claimed to be easy to use, less expensive, and convenient for the librarians. Often times, we discover that while it may be some of those things, it is not accessible, simple, or addressing the particular information needs and behaviors that the students and professors possess. My poster visually demonstrates the main information needs and behaviors of students and professors and identifies ways in which the library technology can be connected.