Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>

This paper reports the findings of a second user survey of a digital library collection of Early Canadiana materials. The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether the user group or the nature of use had changed since the first survey conducted a year earlier. As in the first survey we al...

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Main Authors: Joan Cherry, Wendy Duff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2002-01-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://informationr.net/ir/7-2/paper123.html
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author Joan Cherry
Wendy Duff
author_facet Joan Cherry
Wendy Duff
author_sort Joan Cherry
collection DOAJ
description This paper reports the findings of a second user survey of a digital library collection of Early Canadiana materials. The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether the user group or the nature of use had changed since the first survey conducted a year earlier. As in the first survey we also wanted to gather feedback on satisfaction levels and suggestions for improvements to the <em>Early Canadiana Online</em> (ECO) site. A new section was added to the second survey to explore the use of ECO in teaching and research. Overall, findings showed that the user group and nature of use of the materials were remarkably similar to the first survey. Enthusiasm for ECO remained high but many of the requests for changes to existing features and the suggestions for enhancements to the site were the same as those in the first survey. The survey revealed that respondents who used ECO for teaching and research differed from other respondents in a number of ways. We close by discussing the implications of these findings for digital libraries in general and the value of studying digital library users over time.
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spelling doaj-art-9d45b8843b724e0db2229c0ac405954e2025-02-03T02:24:21ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132002-01-0172123Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>Joan CherryWendy DuffThis paper reports the findings of a second user survey of a digital library collection of Early Canadiana materials. The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether the user group or the nature of use had changed since the first survey conducted a year earlier. As in the first survey we also wanted to gather feedback on satisfaction levels and suggestions for improvements to the <em>Early Canadiana Online</em> (ECO) site. A new section was added to the second survey to explore the use of ECO in teaching and research. Overall, findings showed that the user group and nature of use of the materials were remarkably similar to the first survey. Enthusiasm for ECO remained high but many of the requests for changes to existing features and the suggestions for enhancements to the site were the same as those in the first survey. The survey revealed that respondents who used ECO for teaching and research differed from other respondents in a number of ways. We close by discussing the implications of these findings for digital libraries in general and the value of studying digital library users over time.http://informationr.net/ir/7-2/paper123.htmluser surveydigital libraryEarly CanadianasatisfactionEarly Canadiana Onlineteachingresearch
spellingShingle Joan Cherry
Wendy Duff
Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
user survey
digital library
Early Canadiana
satisfaction
Early Canadiana Online
teaching
research
title Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
title_full Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
title_fullStr Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
title_full_unstemmed Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
title_short Studying Digital Library Users Over Time: A Follow-up Survey of <i>Early Canadiana Online</i>
title_sort studying digital library users over time a follow up survey of i early canadiana online i
topic user survey
digital library
Early Canadiana
satisfaction
Early Canadiana Online
teaching
research
url http://informationr.net/ir/7-2/paper123.html
work_keys_str_mv AT joancherry studyingdigitallibraryusersovertimeafollowupsurveyofiearlycanadianaonlinei
AT wendyduff studyingdigitallibraryusersovertimeafollowupsurveyofiearlycanadianaonlinei