STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE LIBRARY SERVICE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX: PRACTICAL QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY

Abstract

This paper describes quantitative and qualitative research undertaken at the University of Sussex Library. The research was concerned to investigate the behaviour and motivations that led Library users to give puzzling responses in a user survey into book availability. The responses concerned the Library's Reserve Collection of key course texts. Hence the paper firstly sets out to describe the user survey, and then goes on to give an account of the qualitative research methodology employed to look beyond the survey results. This methodology involved semi‐structured interviews with students and tutors, which were analysed with the help of the software package QSR NUD*1st. The research uncovered interesting and useful information relating to the way Library users approach the Library service, a summary of which is included in the paper. The research methodology was found to be a valuable addition to the information gathering strategies of Library management, revealing patterns of user attitudes that are difficult if not impossible to access using traditional survey techniques alone.

Citation

JACOBS, N.A. (1996), "STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE LIBRARY SERVICE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX: PRACTICAL QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 139-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026964