The development The development of user studies at the

Department of Information Studies,

Sheffield University, is described The
of user studies research work of students and staff in
this area is analysed. Generalizable

at Sheffield findings are discussed and attention is

drawn to methodological, application and
educational implications.
University,
1963-88
N ROBERTS and
T D WILSON

INTRODUCTION
The present Department of Information Studies was established in 1963
with the title of Post-Graduate School of Librarianship and Information
Science. The founder head of the school, Professor W L Saunders,
frequently emphasized his own commitment, and that of the school, to
research. Individual members of staff were expected and encouraged to
undertake research. Students, too, through their dissertations, were
required to undertake research exercises. During subsequent years, which
saw a change in headship and a dramatic general worsening of academic
and financial circumstances, neither staff nor students have been allowed
to forget the dominating imperatives of research. The research orientation
of the department was reflected in the attraction of over £2 million in
external research funds between 1964 and 1987. A record which ranks
the department as one of the highest earners of external research funding
in the University of Sheffield. A record, too, that evoked an unusual
commendation from an otherwise grudging Transbinary Committee:
’While the overall quality of research appears questionable in most LIS
schools ... We have noted the consistently high standard of research at
Sheffield University’s Department of Information Studies which puts it
well above average in research ratings’ (1).
As might be expected, research activities over a period of almost 25
years span a wide range of interests. For example, computerized indexing,

NORMAN ROBERTS is currently Director, Consultancy and Research Unit (CRUS),

Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University. He was previously Senior
Lecturer, Department of Information Studies.
T D WILSON is currently Head of the Department of Information Studies, Sheffield
University.

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manpower studies, public library finance, chemical structure searching,
automatic classification, trainee schemes, online services, parallel process-
ing, organizational information behaviour, use of various types of library,
business information, information flows, have all generated research
projects by staff and students. This variety of research activities includes
a
major and continuing concern for user studies of different types, many
distinguished by a strong emphasis upon social research techniques. In
this respect the interest of the school, later the Department of Information
Studies, and that of the Centre for Research on User Studies (CRUS)
complemented and remforced each other. The imminent quarter of a
century anniversary of the department, together with the changed status
of CRUS,1 suggests that this may be an appropriate time to consider and
reflect upon the development and implications of user study research
carried out at Sheffield.

BEGINNINGS
Interest in user studies was apparent in the first batch of research exercises
undertaken by students of the new school in 1964. Two out of a total of
23 research exercises were directed at exploring aspects of user behaviour
in a university library (2; 3). These studies investigated aspects of stock
use by specified groups of borrowers through analyses of circulation
records. The method was then favoured for its objectivity and the relative
ease of application. Although the method has recognized limitations, the

resulting work provided useful practical data in an area of library

management information that was only then beginning to be utilized in
systematic fashion.
During the remaining years of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s
user studies featured prominently in student dissertations. Many related
to academic library contexts. In 1966 public library users were investigated
from various viewpoints; in 1968 users of books and libraries were studied
in school surroundings. The work of students reflected methodological
advances and experimentation in user study activities generally. In
addition to circulation records, citation practices, questionnaires, obser-
vation, diaries and interviews were introduced as data-gathering methods.
These techniques were employed to obtain data on a wide variety of
issues and problems within the institutional areas indicated above. For
example, the following topics were explored in relation to academic
libraries-catalogue use, comparative use of main and branch libraries,
use by special groups (physicists, economists, sociologists, linguists, life

scientists), language barriers, communication patterns, online use,

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interlibrary loans. Public library topics included use patterns, academic
uses, use of local history departments, branches and mobile libraries,
analysis of adult membership, library use by special groups-children,
ethnic groups, business library and business information, teenagers-use
of computerized community information services, readers, inquiry times,
visual impact of buildings, examination of services for the housebound,
use of catalogues. Only a small number of students
attempted user studies
in schools. This may be attributed to the fact that for many years the
department paid little attention to the subject of school librarianship. The
situation was changed during the late 1970s. The use of books in schools,
the selection of books by teachers, and the recreational and educational
uses of school libraries, have since been
investigated by students.
By 1969 information issues not confined to library contexts were

making their appearance in student dissertations (4). Studies concentrating

upon information needs, information use, information-seeking behaviour
and communication practices of special groups became increasingly
frequent in subsequent years. Probation workers, magistrates, voluntary
service workers, health workers, engineers, planners, exporters, nurses,
health safety officers, accountants, solicitors represent some of the groups
investigated from these perspectives. This extension of information
interests by students reflected a similar broadening of professional research
concerns expressed in the literature (e.g. 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10). It also reflected
the greater emphasis placed upon such issues within the teaching
programmes. The shift represented a broadening of previously insti-
tutionally limited interests; a movement away from systems towards users
as the justification for information activities.
In their cumulation these user studies, despite methodological and
application variations, succeeded in highlighting continuing important
issues and in confirming previous findings. Certain of these are examined
below. In addition, the problems of researching what may be termed
’information behaviour’ are made manifest in many studies. How are the
various events and phenomena associated with information processing
best investigated? How are information perceptions of specialists and
non-specialists reconciled for analysis and comparison? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of interviews, and other methods of data
gathering, in information contexts? Are there ways of evaluating the
quality of questions intended to elicit required data? What explains the
variations in user study findings? To what degree are research methods
a function of time/resource constraints rather than
expressions of the
appropriateness of methods to purpose? Where does objectivity reside in
user studies? What kinds of bases do user studies
provide for useful

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generalizations? Such questions might be expected to form part of the
critical armoury of all librarians. There are few better ways of cultivating
a critical approach to research and research findings than by undertaking

personal research. For many students the most relevant forms of research
are associated with users and their information-seeking and use behaviour.

Practical experience of user studies produces useful mformation and

provides an excellent introduction to the unavoidable complexities of
research methodology.
Inevitably, given the unavoidable local and particular nature of many
user study dissertations of the type described, findings are difficult to

cumulate. However, a number of recurring themes do

emerge. Perhaps
the most constant of these, certainly when investigating the information
requirements of special groups, is the need to regard information provision
from the broadest of perspectives. The picture that emerges is of
information acquisition as a complex process in which a variety of supply
sources are employed in complementary and supplementary fashion.
Within this network of information sources individuals feature promi-
nently as suppliers. User studies have established the existence, and
charted the activities, of information networks based upon personal
contacts. The finding most associated with the existence of effective

personal information networks is that of the peripherality of libraries as

suppliers of information in many situations. For numerous specialized
groups libraries are not viewed as prime sources of information supply.
In some instances such views are based upon frustrating experiences that
indicate that library staffs lacked the necessary subject knowledge to
assist specialists. Within this context of marginality it is apparent that
information acquisition, frequently, is an intermittent activity usually
associated with short-term aims-a situation that makes it difficult for
librarians and information users to arrive at mutually beneficial working
relationships. However, user studies have established that high pro-
portions of individuals critical of library services are ignorant of the
information potential of the institutions they are criticizing. The practical
implications of this level of unawareness are profound for they challenge
the traditional reactive roles of librarians. The frequent pleas for better,
and more intensive, selling and marketing of library services have to be
regarded as a direct product of user studies findings of this kind.
The findings of user studies carried out by students confirm, by and
large, a general lack of information skills in most sectors of the population
examined. An unawareness of the potential of libraries is more than
matched by an ignorance of other systems that combine to supply needed
information-bibliographical aids, online systems, document delivery

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systems, information agencies, etc. In some instances, too, it is apparent
that individuals have difficulties in transforming crucial aspects of problem
perception into information demands. There are implications of a practical
nature in such findings. Chiefly, what can be done to remedy such
deficiencies of skills? Is there an answer in education? In more transparent
systems? In publicity and marketing? In active information intermediaries?
Given the complexity of the issues involved it is likely that the solution,
too, will not be simple.

CONSOLIDATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The popularity of user research expressed in student dissertations reflected
the interests and encouragement of staff members. W L Saunders was a
forceful advocate of user studies as a means of gathering essential
management data. For example, he, and his research team, applied user
study techniques in an analysis of the language barrier during the
period 1969-71 (11). This approach had been evident in earlier student
dissertations (2; 3), the findings of which had been consolidated for
dissemination to a wider audience (12).
The language barrier study deserves attention because of the manner
in which a wide range of techniques were deployed to obtain needed
data, and for the detailed care devoted to the cross-checking of data. Few
user studies have attempted as much since. Sixteen years on, it is still
worth reminding more recent members of our professional audience what
was undertaken. The principal methods involved ’a
very carefully
structured interview ... with 851 (55.2%) of the population being
surveyed. Each interview was of about half an hour’s duration’. This was
followed by the collation of interview data
a considerable
agamst variety of records and analyses of the population’s
actual library usage. These included the follomng: (a) a full record of a year’s
borrowing from the university’s libraries and also a full record of all the items
on loan on one
particular day (b) a year’s inter-library loans of foreign language
items (c) a year’s xerox copying of foreign language items (d) a record of use
inside the library of current foreign language journals and multilingual
journals, during one term.... As further guide to the actual use of foreign
language material, an analysis was made of all citations in publications and
theses produced by the population during a full year.... In order to take
account of the availability of foreign language material in Sheffield, an
analysis
was made, by language and type of material, of the journal stock and a selected

proportion of the book stock. In addition, an estimate of the cost to the

library of its foreign language books and journals. Lastly, letters were sent to
editors of journals covering a wide variety of subjects, inviting comments on

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 the language problem from research workers m other universities, in industry
and elsewhere. Subsequently a letter was sent to every university hbrarian in
the country, asking for details of their policies with respect to translations
and for suggestions on improving access to the research material appearing
in foreign languages.

The use of such a battery of techniques produced a mass of data

pointing to the relatively hght use of foreign materials in Sheffield
University Library. In many cases the researchers were able to establish
that such usage patterns were the product of linguistic rather than content
inadequacies. On this basis they were able to propose a series of practical
measures to increase the use of foreign material. These included proposals
for more active promotion of existing bibliographical tools, information
services and translation services by libraries, improvements in English
abstracts of foreign language publications, improvements in bibliographi-
cal control, establishment of central translating services, provisions
for language teaching and inclusion of translation costs in research
awards.
In research methodology terms the language barrier project provided
a model for those following. It was characteristic of the period in its

intensity of study and its relatively generous funding. It lost nothing in

comparison with other large-scale user studies of the decade such as that
produced by the INFROSS team (13; 14). These major studies of users
broke new ground. Because of their scale, authority and detail they
supplied masses of intriguing data to a profession previously signally
lacking in such a resource. It seemed as if the foundations were being
laid for further research projects to explore the findings of these major
investigations of user mformation behaviour. It was surmised, for
example, that individual and group forms of information acquisition and
use were not constants. They were the subject of changeable conventions,

available technology, individual education, etc. If such was the case then
it would be advantageous to monitor trends by replicating investigations
at regular intervals. Such hopes came to nothing. Research funding bodies

appeared to take the view that these ’snapshot’ investigations were

sufficient in themselves when, in fact, their real value would emerge as
contributions to time-series data. In general, user studies have suffered
from the lack of systematic effort to build upon previous work and the
failure to finance replicative work.
The late 1960s and the 1970s were years in which user studies flourished.
Most were aimed at furthering understanding of forms of information
behaviour in the expectation that such knowledge could be used to
improve information services of all types. There were unlooked-for

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developments, also. For example, the appearance of user studies in the
social sciences, especially work produced by INFROSS, encouraged staff
at the department in 1973 to introduce a new Master’s programme for
social science information specialists. Previously such interests had been
an optional part of the librarianship programme. The significance of this

development lay in the recognition of the practical and theoretical

advantages of user-orientated educational programmes.
User studies also played an important role in another significant
investigation of the period. T D Wilson and W A J Masterson completed
their 2-year study of local library cooperation issues in 1974 (15). During
this project the nature of materials needed by library users was explored
through questionnaire surveys of academic staff and students. In addition,
the actual use of such materials was cross-checked through the analysis
of library records. Interviews were also employed. The scale of the
enterprise, again, was remarkable when compared with current research
activities. Questionnaires were distributed to 2216 members of staff in
academic institutions, with an impressive overall response rate of 61 per
cent. Questionnaires were sent to a 10 per cent random sample of students

(1473), again with a 61 per cent response rate. Some 62 members of staff
were interviewed. This number represented a random stratified sample
of questionnaire respondents who had indicated a willingness to be
interviewed. ’Instant diaries’, in-library use records, reading room use
counts, and library records were also employed. In addition, to assess
demands for information/reference services, two other forms of data
collection were employed.

Firstly, a time-sampling study using a small pocket alarm device ... together

with a brief
questionnaire for recording activity when the alarm went off;
secondly, a ’diary’ sheet with response boxes for types of enquiry and time
required to answer.... By this method a total of 656 observations was
collected in the space of one week.

The user study represented only a part of the library cooperation project.
It provided data essential for establishing both the role and contribution
of cooperation in the Sheffield area. It also provided a model for analysing
cooperative requirements and possibilities. Unlike many research projects,
there was a known practical outcome. In 1974 the Sheffield Libraries
Coordinating Committee was established as a direct result of the
recommendations made in the report. The SLCC is still in being and
playing an important role in the continuous improvement of cooperative
relationships among the member libraries. That role may change in the
near future as a result of the development of the Sheffield Library and

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Information Plan, but its continued existence is testimony to the soundness
of a structure based upon research.

ESTABLISHMENT OF CRUS

By the early 1970s user studies had become one of the most favoured
research areas in librarianship and information studies. In many instances
enthusiasm for the approach was more evident than technical competence.
Indifferent use of techniques, poor questionnaires, superficial analysis,
triviality, were common enough to draw severe criticism of user surveys
(16). The lack of social research expertise within the profession, associated
with the need to encourage a greater uniformity of methods, persuaded
the British Library Research and Development Department to undertake
remedial action. In addition to supporting specialist courses the BLR&DD
established the Centre for Research on User Studies (CRUS) at Sheffield
University in 1975. The decision to locate CRUS at Sheffield was related
directly to the tradition of user-based studies established by Professor
W L Saunders, and reinforced by major research projects initiated by
T D Wilson (later professor, and head of department). CRUS had its
own director and research staff, but was under the general supervision

of the Head of Department as project head.

CRUS, under various directors, became a centre which advised on user
study methods, held courses, published methodological guides and
conducted research. The first major contribution of CRUS was to present
a state of the art of user studies (16). The assessment of the current scene
was associated with observations about the direction of future research:

While a large number of studies of information needs and behaviour have

been carried out, results are difficult to compare directly owing to the lack of
standardisation in methods. Enough research into information use has been
done to enable us to make general statements; future research should
concentrate on providing results which are directly applicable in the modifica-
tion and design of information systems. Such research should be based on
user behaviour rather than on
opinion.... We need to know more about the
context in which information needs arise: this may involve studies of attitudes,

temperament and total life situations so that information seeking behaviour

may be better understood.... In most professions and trades the need for
education and training is unquestioned-only the means are in dispute. It
cannot be said that the need for information awareness is as widely perceived-
both the necessity and the means are in dispute. Perhaps the first goal of
research in this field should be to achieve convincing demonstrations of the
necessity (16).

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Written in 1977, these views have not altogether lost their point. A
situation that indicates that user studies may not have consolidated the
research ground gained during the early 1970s, and that practitioners
may have had to contend with more pressing issues than the application
of research findings during this period.
Having cleared the ground in this fashion CRUS, in subsequent years,
embarked upon a series of research projects which explored a variety of
issues, and which drew attention to methodological problems and
solutions. Much of the work fell into three broad areas-humanities,
education and business information. For example, C Corkill and M Mann
explored neglected problems of information needs in the humanities by
postal survey (17) and, with contributions from S Stone, undertook a
longitudinal study of such needs based upon interviews spaced over 3
years (18; 19). This work established the solitary working practices of
most researchers in the humanities. At the same time, as a group, they

place great value upon personal contacts. The importance of libraries in

humanities research was confirmed. However, there were considerable
differences in needs and practice from subject to subject. Extremes, in
this respect, were usually represented by History and Philosophy.
Historians tended to make heavy use of other libraries, of unique material,
and of interlibrary loans. Philosophers were characterized by their low
use of such services. Perhaps the main lesson to be drawn from these

investigations was the danger of attempting generalizations applicable to

the humanities as a whole. The needs and conventions of different fields
were sufficiently distinct to cast doubt upon both the truth and the utility

of sweeping pronouncements. The low level of information-finding skills

among beginning Ph.D. students also deserves mention. This form of
research, designed for long- rather than short-term results, was possible
only because of the imaginative remit which had been formulated for
CRUS by the BLR&DD.
A number of CRUS projects related to schools and reading. The first
of these investigated ways in which teachers undertook the important
task of selecting books for their charges (20). This was followed by a
study of the reading habits of 60 pupils over a period of 2 years. The
pupils involved kept reading diaries and were interviewed termly on their
leisure activities, the magazines they had read and their opinions on the
books they had read. Interest in this field was continued with studies of
the use of books in primary schools based upon observation (21; 22; 23).
The important process of selecting books for schoolchildren was rarely
found to be methodical, and was associated with ill-considered selections
of guiding sources. The difficulties of skilful book selection were

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unappreciated by most teachers. When investigating the teachmg of
information skills it was found that the organization and use of books
in primary schools were influenced by many variables, but the most
significant of these was the support provided by the Schools Library
Services. It was discovered that information skills lessons tended to be
separate from project work. However, it was observed that in schools
where skills training was integrated into project work, the pupils’
approach to their projects was more systematic.
Business information interest was represented by an investigation of
the information practices of 156 metal-producing and metal-using firms
(24). Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. These
related to sources of information used, problems giving rise to information
actions, difficulties in obtaining needed information, etc. This lead was
followed by the ’new’ CRUS with investigations of information acquisition
procedures in manufacturing firms, and of the use of public sector
business libraries (see below).
In addition to these programmes CRUS undertook a number of one-
off research projects, usually reflecting dominant professional interests of
the period. For example, the use of medical literature was studied through
self-completed questionnaires distributed to large samples of medical
personnel (25). Self-administered questionnaires were employed also to
investigate the ’kind of knowledge users had of items requested on inter-
library loan prior to making the request’. The project ’tried to establish
whether some sources of information contributed more effectively than
others to meeting the users’ expectations of the items requested’ (26). An
encouraging 72 per cent response (601 respondents) provided a sound
basis for describing the general characteristics of interlibrary borrowers
and consequences of such borrowing. Exploration of the use of infor-
mation sources, the second phase of the project, was not so conclusive.
However, the findings of this part of the survey suggested ’that
users might be more successful in identifying appropriate materials for

borrowing on inter-library loan if they made greater use of abstracts’

(26): obvious enough to librarians, perhaps, but raising, once again, the
issue of information skills and their inculcation at various levels of
education and use. On a different scale, the use of major public reference
libraries was studied through the analysis of over 11000 records-
personal, telephone and postal (27). The investigation provided data on
the proportions of inquirers coming from within and outside the library
authorities’ boundaries (a range of 14-77 per cent of external use was
established); the way in which inquiries arose (telephone 14-68 per cent,
personal 28-83 per cent, postal 0-12 per cent), and the amount of time

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it took to answer queries (less than 10 minutes 56-95 per cent; 10-30
minutes 4-32 per cent; more than 30 minutes 1-13 per cent). The
consolidation of the user approach may be seen in the widespread
professional acceptance of community profiling as a management tool.
This is a method which attempts, through description and analysis of
economic, demographic, social and educational factors, to place users
within their working, community and library contexts for the better
design, implementation and justification of library services. C Beal, of
CRUS, drew on the growing interest of librarians in community profiling
to produce the most comprehensive guide to the range of techniques
associated with profiling activities (28). It remains the standard work in
this area.
In addition to research, CRUS engaged in education and advice
related to user study. For example, a programme of seminars based on
methodological issues was initiated. In these, experienced library and
information researchers discussed the applicability and promise of novel
techniques imported from other disciplines. At the time these were
thought to be especially valuable since there was no other professional
forum for the encouragement of cross-disciplinary discussions. Short
courses on research methods for beginners were also provided. Between
1978 and 1984 (the period of full BLR&DD support) over 400 librarians
and researchers contacted CRUS by telephone, mail or personal visit to
seek advice on, or discuss, user research matters. In meeting these requests
it became evident that the majority of individuals and groups were
undertaking research for the first time, or with indifferent research
backgrounds. In these circumstances the free advice offered by CRUS
was welcomed. Advice given ranged from such specifics as sample size

and techniques of data collection to the design of research projects.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Parallel with user studies at CRUS, T D Wilson was developing intensive,
qualitative, forms of data gathering in a project designed to examine the
information needs and information services in local authority social
services departments. The study was financed by the BLR&DD in its
first phase and subsequently by the Department of Health and Social
Security. ’The ultimate aim of the project [was] to establish guidelines
for the development of effective information services for social services
departments of local authorities’ (29). Project INISS was conceived as an
action research project. The principal method adopted for the study of
users’ needs and information-seeking behaviour was structured obser-

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vation. This methodological development diminished reliance of user
studies upon questionnaires and interview schedules which, almost
inevitably, reflect the investigator’s viewpoint more strongly and thereby
introduce a greater degree of bias. The results of the period of structured
observation were employed as a basis for the development of more
effective interview schedules for follow-up studies of more individuals.
’Project INISS demonstrated that the examination of information services
cannot be divorced from the organisational and work context of the

departments in which they are provided’ (29). The findings revealed the
heavy reliance upon informal oral communication in social service
departments and the highly fragmented patterns of work. The situations
investigated did not suggest a role for traditional library and information
services, but did indicate the need for, and utility of, departmental
information officers with a more dynamic role.
From the outset Project INISS was designed to produce practical
outcomes in terms of improved information services and practices. For
this purpose the research team undertook what has to be regarded as one
of the major, and certainly one of the most sustained and successful,
dissemination of findings campaigns (see, for example, 30; 31; 32; 33;
34). As a result it is not surprising that Project INISS produced a significant
heightening of information issues in social services departments. The
principal researchers, David Streatfield and T D Wilson, continued to
run workshops on information in social services departments for almost
10 years after the end of the project.
Both C Harris and T D Wilson may be regarded as implementing G
Ford’s concern to develop information research within organizational
contexts. T D Wilson consolidated this organizational emphasis by

undertaking an investigation of information needs within various types

of businesses. This work was begun in 1984 and a final report will be
published early in 1988 (35). The methodology of this project owed much
to the success of techniques developed and deployed during Project
INISS. Observation, intensive interviews and use of organizational
records were employed in complementary fashion to describe and
analyse information problems and information-seeking behaviour in
organizational settings. The resulting case studies revealed the dangers
of assuming the existence of simple, direct, relationships between the
performance of organizational roles and individual forms of information
behaviour and information requirements. While roles and functions
certainly shape most patterns of information demands and requirements
they are not, in themselves, sufficient to explain the totality of information
behaviour. Information demands arising from non-routine aspects of

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organizational responsibilities present librarians and information managers
with the most challenging tests of professional competence.

CRUS CHANGES
At the end of 1984 the BLR&DD substantially reduced the amount of
financial support which it provided for CRUS. The decision brought
about a complete change of staff, and more pressing financial imperatives.
None the less, despite the change of name to Consultancy and Research
Unit, users remain a prime focus of CRUS research. The shift to business
information and organizational information issues was continued in an
investigation of information practices in manufacturing firms outside
London and the South East. More specifically, CRUS staff were required
to assess the significance to firms, in information terms, of their distance
from the accepted rich information sources of the South East. This was
done through interviews in 59 firms in Lincoln, Cleveland and Manchester.
In the event, although the regional variations project provided rich data
on forms of information-seeking behaviour, there was little evidence to

suggest that location, per se, influenced information habits or perceptions.

Other factors influenced information practices more directly and power-
fully-e.g. nature of product, size and type of market, individual
propensities and abilities, state and size of firms. Few managers interviewed
regarded information issues as in any way problematical. Distance from
London mattered little, in information terms, because all managers made
ready use of the telephone, and a range of personal and institutional
contacts, to acquire the information they needed. Again the complexity
and variability of information behaviour was noted, similar situations
giving rise to distinctly different information responses. Libraries, as
information sources, featured only rarely in the more discursive sections
of interviews. However, focused questioning revealed that the majority
of firms had made use of reference and public sector business libraries at
some point, usually to assist in solving short-term problems (36).

Interest in business information was continued through a study of the

users and usages of public sector business libraries (37). Data for this

project were gathered by an exit survey and telephone records. Close

to 600 individuals were interviewed at Manchester, Birmingham and

Nottingham and 1200 telephone inquiries monitored. The results provided

a useful counterpoint to the regional variations project, and a pointed

warning about too-confident generalizations based on small numbers.

Contrary to the findings of the regional variations study, it was discovered
that the majority of respondents, work-related and personal, regarded

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public sector business libraries as the only sources of essential business
information in their areas. Work-related respondents were questioned as
to the significance of their information actions in libraries. It became

apparent that even trivial information exercises, e.g. establishing addresses,

played important parts in chains of production and selling processes.
Failures, even at this level, could have serious consequences. A high level
of satisfaction was expressed with public sector business libraries, although
there was a lively awareness that such services were under stress from
cuts in staffing and resources. It was concluded that business libraries
contributed positively and significantly to the furtherance of business
activity. If such institutions did not already exist something very like
them would have to be established to carry out similar work.
During 1986 CRUS cooperated with Derbyshire County Council in
evaluating the impact of a recently established computerized community
information service in the county. Interviews, questionnaires and an exit
survey were employed on this occasion. The results indicated the potential
of such a system, but suggested a need for reassessing various aspects of
the system (38).

REFLECTIONS
As new user studies added to the existing stockpile it is not unusual
are
to encounter expressed disillusion with the results of such work. The
variety of environments in which forms of individual and organizational
behaviour are manifested makes the formulation of widely applicable
generalizations difhcult. There are problems of cumulating results of
studies based upon varying, and sometimes inadequate, methodologies.
There are difficulties in transforming research findings into practical
applications.2 Such criticisms cannot be dismissed. However, they can be
qualified to provide a more constructive understanding of the state and
contribution of user studies. The main issues may be gathered under four
heads-methods, findings, applications and education.
Methods
Ford (16), among others, noted the lack of rigour in the approach to the
design and development of research instruments in the field of user
studies. His observations, made in 1977, still retain some of their original
force, but there is little doubt that research techniques and approaches
have improved during the intervening decade. The point may be
illustrated, for example, by reference to the excellent studies carried out
by Cheshire County Library (39; 40), the work of research officers in

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certain polytechnic libraries (see, for example, 41; 42), the innovative
techniques of T D Wilson and D Streatfield (15; 29) and the more
sophisticated use of administrative data to establish community library~/
information profiles (e.g. 43). Of course, such advances may be contrasted
with examples of sloppily produced questionnaires and badly conceived
surveys, but the trend towards higher research standards is evident.

Findings
Results of user studies are difficult to cumulate. They are often the
product of different methodologies, carried out at different points in time
and in different locations. This criticism is true, but only to a degree.
Substantial confirmatory findings have emerged from user studies which
librarians, information system designers and professional educators cannot
afford to ignore. For example, variable forms of individual and organiza-
tional information-seeking and use behaviour have been observed and
classified; the malleability of information practices in certain circumstances
has emerged as a significant factor for library/information system man-
agers ; the total dependence of individuals and groups upon publicly
provided information agencies has been established in many instances;
information provided by such agencies most certainly contributes to
economic and commercial efficiency and effectiveness. These are only
some of the broader generalizations emerging from user studies. Together

they combine to create an awareness of the complexity and significance

of various forms of individual and group information behaviour. This is
a message of the utmost importance.
User studies, as normally executed, provide a snapshot of information/
library/user relationships at a particular point in time. In some situations
this is sufficient. In others the passage of time, changing circumstances
and personnel movements quickly invalidate earlier findings. This latter
state is becoming increasingly common as changes in information

practices and expectations gather pace under the impulsion of information

technology. This circumstance may not be fully reflected in current user
study work. The situation now requires user studies to be regarded less
as exceptional, one-off, data-gathering exercises, than as a normal method
of obtaining management data at regularly repeated intervals. The purpose
of a user study, in this form, becomes that of monitoring the effects of
change, rather than describing a situation within a particular slice of time.
In short, there is value in replicating user studies, and in cumulating,
collating, comparing, contrasting data derived from different time periods.
Few researchers have attempted the task of systematically isolating and
describing the components of change. In a fundamental way this neglect

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may be claimed to have diminished the contribution of user studies to

professional understanding of information behaviour.

In this critical vein it may be noted, also, that user studies have not
devoted much attention to connections between information activities
and such issues as problem solving, decision making, problem perception
and organizational performance, for example. Most user studies begin
and end at points of unexplored crucial interest. What events, ideas,
considerations give rise to the chain of associations that produce
information actions? What constitute effective information actions in
given circumstances? What is the quality of information produced by
information searches? How is information used? Such questions, at either
extreme of the practical processes of information acquisition, are neglected.

Yet, attempts at addressing such issues would seem to offer the promise
of data crucial for a convincing justification of the activities of information
intermediaries.

Applications
Occasionally critics challenge the utility of user research on the basis that
research findings have contributed little, or nothing, to practical library
and/or information developments. The charge is difficult to rebut because
of its, usually, unspecific formulation, and because it embodies a naive
view of the connections between research and applications. Research
findings reach the mainstream of professional thinking and implemen-
tation through a variety of channels and timespans.3 It is often difficult
to delineate precise links between applications and research, but this is
not to deny that such links exist. It is evident that past research activity
has encouraged more libraries to undertake their own research activities.
It is evident, too, that circumstances are compelling librarians to improve
supplies of data for their management information systems. Such activities
have to be recognized as forms of research. To assert that the findings
of user studies contribute little of practical value to professional activities
is to disregard what librarians themselves are doing to discover more
about the working of their systems and shows ignorance of the way in
which ideas are adopted, attitudes formed and actions taken. Admittedly,
not all research affects professional practice; but then, not all research is
meant to do so. Of the remainder, the variable quality, specificity and
timeliness of individual exercises will influence their take-up, as will the
willingness of librarians to consider new ideas. The latter factor, curiously,
is rarely treated as a variable in the research implementation process, and
has yet to be researched.
User studies that set out to explore the preferences and practices of

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individuals and groups in specific information environments can be made
to yield data highly useful for ’tuning’ existing information services to
greater efficiency and effectiveness. They are also helpful in assessing
individual evaluations of information services and systems. They are
probably less successful in determining the character and purpose of
intended new services of which the potential users have little fore-
knowledge or understanding. They are at their most useful, in practical,
implementation, terms, as part of action research programmes in which
user requirements are researched, related to innovative information

practices intended to satisfy such requirements, and finally re-examined

following a period of experience with the new system. This process
allows of adjustment and evaluation with system users as effective
participants and determinants of system characteristics.
Education
User studies, carried out by students, constitute highly effective learning
activities. Properly handled, it is difficult to conceive of a more interesting
and practical manner of learning about the drawbacks and potential of
social research techniques. In this context ’properly handled’ implies a
rigorous preliminary study of research techniques, and the equally rigorous
design and application of research instruments. These requirements can
all too easily be neglected to the detriment of the finished study. User
studies, based on the work of single individuals, working to unforgivingly
short deadlines, may be justified as introductions to methodological
issues. However, since the gathering of data is such a crucial part of a
user study, and since severe limitations are imposed upon this activity
when it is the responsibility of a single student, it is a more effective
practical and educational exercise if a user study is regarded as a joint,
cooperative, venture. This form allows of close group discussions of
methods, aims, deadlines, etc. It also ensures a fuller collection of pertinent
data. Such an exercise, with its stress upon team work, forms a useful
introduction to working conditions likely to be experienced in libraries
and other information agencies.

CONCLUSION
User studies are firmly established within the curriculum of the Depart-

ment of Information Studies at Sheffield University. This position is

reinforced through close cooperation with CRUS and its continuing
active interest in the user study area. In educational and research terms
there seems little reason to produce an especially defensive justification

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for supporting such an activity. In practical terms there is sometimes
expressed a feeling of disillusionment both with the activity and its
results. Enthusiasm for investigating user actions, requirements, attitudes
may have given way to more worldly ’so-what’ cynicism.
In our view such attitudes are misplaced, if only because users are, and
will remain, the focus and justification of information activities, and
because of our continuing lamentable ignorance of many facets of
information-seeking and use behaviour. However, it has to be admitted
that many user studies lose their explanatory and descriptive potential
because they are not regularly replicated. As a consequence of this failure
it is possible to diminish the significance both of past work and of the
very idea of user studies. It is possible to indict researchers, funding
agencies and practitioners for this state of affairs. To apportion blame,
however, would be unproductive. Instead, it would be more effective to
discover ways in which representatives of the three groups could find
common ground. Common ground for what purpose?

1 To encourage the view that studies should be widely developed

user

as a regularly applied management technique to obtain essential descrip-

tive data of current states and of changes. The monitoring of change
is becoming increasingly important. It is necessary, therefore, to
introduce a greater concern for the comparability of techniques and
findings to permit more accurate regional, national and activity
generalizations to be made.
2 Further, there is a need to propagate the idea that the segmentation of
the information process, a feature associated with most user studies,
should be superseded by a more holistic approach. Acceptance of this
view would encourage the development of more ambitious user studies.
These would include the generation, quality assessment, and outcome
phases of the information chain. An aspect of this development
is visible already in the emphasis currently placed on ’knowledge
utilization’.4
3 The application of research findings, despite the assertions of critics,
is not simply a function of research quality. The transfer of research
into the domains of practice is crucially dependent upon the willingness
of practitioners to consider, and reconsider, their own situations in the
light of such findings. In establishing common ground there would
arise the realization that researchers, funding agencies and practitioners
were engaged in a collective venture to improve our understanding of
information processes, systems and users. The current pressure on
research and institutional funds may have obscured this obviousness

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 for a time. We need now to reaffirm our cooperative and collective
responsibilities. User studies seems an excellent area in which to start!

NOTES
1 From 1976 to 1984 the Centre for Research on User Studies (CRUS)
was funded mainly by the British Library Research and Development

Department (BLR & DD) as part of a national policy of maintaining a

limited number of centres of specialized expertise. This policy was
terminated in December 1984. From January 1985 to the end of 1987,
CRUS received a fixed annual sum from the BLR&DD to provide
funds for specific research projects. In addition CRUS was supported
by university funds and income earned through commercial activities.
Although the acronym was retained, the name was changed to Con-
sultancy and Research Unit, Department of Information Studies, from
January 1985. From January 1988, CRUS lost its ’special relationship’
with the BLR&DD and became a total charge upon university funds.
2 These criticisms have been expressed for decades. They continue to be
made (see, for example, 44; 45; 46; 47).
3 Something of the complexity and uncertainty of this process may be
gathered from Craghill and Wilson (48).
4 See, for example, the established journal Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion,
Utilization (Sage) and this year’s appearance of ’an international journal
devoted to the development of an interdisciplinary science of knowledge
in society’ with the expected title, perhaps, of Knowledge in Society
(Transaction, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, 1988).

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