Anthropologists in the library: a review of Studying Students

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the book Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester edited by Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons.

Design/methodology/approach

The review first examines the methods used in the Rochester study, and then considers the conclusions for their local implications as well as their meaning for the library profession.

Findings

The Rochester study should serve as a wake‐up call for librarians that imagine they understand their user‐base. Over and over again in this book the authors note how much they learned about the students after studying them systematically and how surprising they found the results. It seems unlikely that the Rochester experience is unique.

Originality/value

The transformation that took place at the University of Rochester Libraries should serve as an example for the profession as a whole.

Citation

Seadle, M. (2007), "Anthropologists in the library: a review of Studying Students", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 612-619. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830710840545