Exploring the Expectations and Preferences of Users in Regards to Health Sciences Library Subject Guides

Objectives: Many libraries maintain a series of online subject guides to provide resources and information to their patrons. There is a general consensus that guides are considered most effective when they are appropriately tailored to the needs of the target users; however, such guides can take considerable time and effort to create. As such, it is imperative to critically evaluate and reflect on their effectiveness. This study aims to explore and describe user’s expectations and preferences in relation to subject guides and perform an initial investigation into whether student and clinical users might engage with the guides differently.

Methods: An anonymous survey was administered to collect data about user’s prior experience, expectations, and preferences regarding the subject guides. For those with prior experience using the guides, respondents were asked specific questions about the last time they used a guide, as well as broader questions about what they expect from the guides in general. For those participants who had not used a guide in the past, they were asked a series of questions about how they might imagine a hypothetical “library subject guide”. All students, faculty, and staff within the designated health sciences colleges and the medical center were eligible to participate in the survey.

Results: 206 responses were collected over the course of 4 weeks. The majority indicated they had used the HSL or its resources before, but not the subject guides. The most common technology used to access library resources was a laptop/desktop. Both guide users and non-users ranked quick and easy links as the most important feature of a guide; however, they differed when it came to the types of information they expected to find, the overall purpose of a guide, and what motivates them to seek one out. Clinical users represented only 5.8% of the total response pool, making it difficult to compare them to student users.

Conclusions: By considering broad user expectations when engaging with library subject guides, this survey helps provide guidance and insight for those charged with developing them. One of the biggest opportunities for future impact may be simply increasing awareness of the guides and subsequent word-of-mouth about them.