Page 158 - DLIS001_FOUNDATION_OF_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SCIENCE

Unit 8: Special Libraries

Notes
One hundred and eighty minutes was the maximum length of stay by one user, followed
by 120 minutes each by two users. The average length of stay of the users based on mean
of the ranges is 58 minutes. About 58% of the respondents spent 5-30 minutes per visit in
the library in Raitt’s (1984, p 242) study. The number of users and their length of stay in the
library based on mean of the ranges are given in Table 2. The data in Table 2 also indicates
that only 7 out of 30 users stayed beyond an hour in the library.

Table 2: Number of Users Vs Mean Length of Stay of Users in the Library

Time in minutes No. of Users N(t) (No. of users staying longer
(t) (N) than t minutes)
30 9 30
45 8 21
60 6 13
75 2 7
90 2 5
120 2 3
180 1 1
Total 30 30

In Raitt’s study (1984, p 242), 15% of his respondents spent more than one hour in the
library. When this data was plotted on graph, i.e., t, the time in minutes plotted against
N(t) the number of users staying longer than t minutes; it resulted in a reverse shaped
curve (Bush, et. al., 1956).
One interesting feature is that the average time spent by the users in journals section is
much longer than that spent in books and reports sections despite the fact that fewer users
have used journals than books. This partly explains the quantitative under-usage of journals
by the Indian Space Technologists. It may be noted (*) that the total number of users in
Table 3 is shown as 45 (i.e. 15 in excess of samples), as they were common users of both
ground floor as well as mezzanine floor service areas during a visit. In other words,
almost 50% of those who used books also used journals when they visited the library.
Table 3: Frequency Distribution of Length of Stay of Users

No. of Users
Time in minutes Ground Floor Mezzanine Floor Total
<20 4 3 7
20-30 8 0 8
30-40 7 5 12
>40 5 13 18
Total 24 21 45*

Key: *, Total does not tally to 30 due to 15 users using both the ground floor and the mezzanine floor.
From even a cursory glance at the literature on user-research, it appears that there is a total
lack of sound studies of user-interactions with libraries in general and interactions of
scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians in particular. A real-time study of
Contd....

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