Lauren H. Mandel

Utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) in library research

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to explore library research that uses geographic information systems (GIS) as a tool to measure and analyze library services and establish future directions for this research area.Design/methodology/approach – This study reviews the library literature using GIS. The study searched full text for geographic information systems in two databases, Library Literature and Information Full Text and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA). The titles and abstracts of the search results were analyzed to gather only the research that used GIS as a tool to measure and analyze library services.Findings – This review of the literature reveals research using GIS as a tool in two ways: to analyze service area populations, including facility site location and other service and resource decision making; and to manage facilities, including in‐library use and occupancy of library study space.Practical implications – The findings are relevant for library an...

Broadband for public libraries: Importance, issues, and research needs

Abstract U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008–2009 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband connectivity and equipment upgrades, and maintaining acceptable levels of services as they meet continually increasing internet-enabled service demands. This article: 1) analyzes the ability of public libraries to serve as a community-based public internet access point in the context of limited funding and access to telecommunications services and equipment; 2) discusses key policy issues that affect the provision of public library internet-enabled services through broadband; 3) provides recommendations for policy makers to include libraries as part of a larger national-level telecommunications policy; and 4) identifies a number of topics and issues that need further investigation and research in this shifting policy environment.

Rural anchor institution broadband connectivity: enablers and barriers to adoption

This paper presents findings from two research projects that entail needs assessments, benchmarking, and onsite diagnostics of anchor institutions in support of multi-million dollar broadband middle mile projects funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The research employs a multi-method approach that includes a web-based survey, focus groups, and onsite diagnostics at selected anchor institutions in rural Florida. Findings indicate that anchor institution broadband adoption is impacted by a host of situational factors, both enablers and barriers, and that understanding the enablers and barriers to broadband adoption in anchor institutions is critical to achieving widespread broadband adoption. The findings also lead to a proposed model of community-based broadband planning through which multiple anchor institutions in a community join together to plan for, develop, implement, and assess broadband deployment and adoption in their community.

Practical Approaches and Proposed Strategies for Measuring Selected Aspects of Community-Based Broadband Deployment and Use

A series of studies of rural Florida community anchor institutions have concluded that existing national measurement practices for broadband penetration, adoption, and impact are often poorly defined, confusing, or inadequate to inform decisions about community broadband deployment and adoption. As a result, local broadband initiatives may be hindered by “measurement confusion.” This article proposes the Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) with a number of broadband readiness criteria and the Community-Based Broadband Planning, Adoption, and Deployment model (CBBP) to address this confusion and position local officials to better coordinate, deploy, and use broadband locally; demonstrate how improved high-speed broadband affects their communities over time; and sustain planning for continuous improvements of community broadband use.

Public libraries and crisis management: roles of public libraries in hurricane/disaster preparedness and response

Abstract: The hurricane damage that the United States Gulf Coast has sustained over the past decade was a catalyst for this study of the service roles public libraries provide in hurricane/disaster preparedness and response. Libraries have taken major steps to better meet community needs arising from these emergency situations. This chapter identifies new public library service roles, and discusses successful technology solutions and communications programs that public libraries can employ to assist local communities prepare for, and recover from, hurricanes and other disasters.

Understanding and describing users’ wayfinding behavior in public library facilities:

Wayfinding is the study of how humans use a variety of informational media to orient themselves and navigate in a space, such as a library. This multi-method case study tested the applicability of a wayfinding framework developed in architecture to a public library environment. Research methods included unobtrusive observation of a random sample of users’ wayfinding in the facility and interviews with a convenience sample of users to discuss their wayfinding behavior. Patrons used various wayfinding behaviors in the facility, some corresponding to the framework, but other behaviors did not fit into the existing framework and not all aspects of the framework were observed or expressed. Additional research is necessary to investigate more fully the degree to which the framework validly describes how library users wayfind. Results have value for librarians, architects and interior designers, all of whom may apply findings toward their work designing facilities that are intuitive to navigate.

Evaluating Library Signage: A Systematic Method for Conducting a Library Signage Inventory

While there is much literature that directs libraries to avoid having too much or insufficient signage, there is no clear guidance on how much signage is “enough” or “too much”. Conducting a signage inventory can be the first step toward determining how many signs a library needs, by establishing how many signs are in the library, of which type, and their condition. This paper proposes a ready-to-use method that any library can use to inventory its signage by adapting the inventory worksheet depending on factors related to the library type. The ultimate goal in developing a standardized method is that it would facilitate comparisons across libraries to attempt development of more specific signage guidelines or a formula that could calculate how many signs are “enough” and “too many” for a library given its type, population, and other criteria.

Visualizing the library as place

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to share the research processes and results of secondary analysis using GIS to map usage of a university library to contribute to ongoing efforts to help identify how library spaces are used to explain how university libraries can continue to evolve as teaching, learning, and shared communities of scholars. This paper details the use of ArcGIS to visualize where students are in the library in order to explain how this method can used by libraries to visualize the use of their facilities. Design/methodology/approach – This research utilized secondary analysis of data collected during seating sweeps; through secondary analysis, data were analyzed and visualized in ArcGIS. The seating sweeps were conducted three times a day during a sample week, with researchers noting on maps of the library floor plan where students were sitting. Data were entered into an ArcGIS database file and mapped to display usage directly on the library map to improve stakeholders’ understanding...

Lost in the labyrinth: Wayfinding behavior in a public library—predictable? Maybe not

Wayfinding is how humans orient and navigate in space, and it requires wayfinders to seek and process spatial information, such as architectural cues, signs, and maps. This topic has been researched in many areas, but rarely public libraries, facilities that wayfinders enter with both general and spatial information needs (i.e., the need to use spatial information to locate an item that will provide information to satisfy the underlying information need). This poster presents one component of a multi-method case study with the purpose to explore user wayfinding behavior in a medium-sized public library. The poster focuses on how users navigate from the library entrance, which routes are most popular, and areas that experience the highest traffic. Preliminary findings regarding node-to-node (stop- to-stop) connections show that in many cases, multiple people connect the same two nodes via different segments; often, one of these is a predominant connecting segment employed by the majority of cases observed making this connection. These findings indicate that there may be two groups of wayfinders: people who navigate the most direct route and those who navigate another path. This suggests that theories attempting to predict wayfinding behavior need to consider that not all wayfinding behavior may be predictable to the same degree.

Challenge for libraries as information managers: Hurricane preparedness and response

The past decade saw heightened hurricane activity and more than