Library services in the media environment: a students' perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to show which media are accepted by students in higher education and which are not. It explains how library media services and other text and information media are related to each other and what part they play in the whole media and learning environment. It examines which library services are most important to students and on which areas university libraries should focus when developing strategies for the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Two student surveys and one teacher survey were carried out at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2009 and 2011. They measured the acceptance of 45 media services by using a fully standardized print questionnaire. Possible influence factors were also evaluated.

Findings

The acceptance of electronic text media amongst students is still growing, while acceptance of print media is decreasing. The use of external text‐related services is growing, while the use of the internal library catalogue is declining. A certain student user type who prefers text media seems of high interest.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that libraries should focus on the different types of electronic text in their strategy and should refrain from implementing media services with a low rate acceptance, for example wikis, Twitter or weblogs.

Originality/value

The research carried out here draws a comprehensive picture of how students use media in their studies and how they accept the different kinds of media services compared to each other. The survey reveals hidden structures and classifies media and media users into certain types.

Citation

Grosch, M. (2012), "Library services in the media environment: a students' perspective", New Library World, Vol. 113 No. 9/10, pp. 474-490. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801211273948