91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — How do college students really conduct research for classroom assignments? In 2008, five large Illinois universities were awarded a to try to answer that question. The resulting ongoing study, which has garnered national attention, including an article in , has already yielded some bracing results. “ newly published by , details the findings. It suggests changes ranging from simple adjustments in service and resources to modifying the physical layout of the library. In this book Lynda M. Duke and Andrew D. Asher, two anthropological researchers involved with the project since its beginning:

• Summarize the study’s history, including its goals, parameters and methodology;
• Offer a comprehensive discussion of the research findings, touching on issues such as website design, library instruction for faculty and meeting the needs of commuter and minority students;
• Detail a number of service reforms which have already been implemented at the participating institutions.

Duke is an associate professor and academic outreach librarian at The Ames Library, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Ill. Her responsibilities include coordinating assessment and marketing activities for the library, as well as collection development and library instruction for the departments of Hispanic studies, economics and business administration. She served as Principal Investigator for the IWU research team of the ERIAL Project. She has published on marketing topics in College & Research Libraries and College & Undergraduate Libraries, and has presented at ACRL, 91´«Ã½, IASSIST, and NITLE.

Asher was the lead research anthropologist for the ERIAL Project. He is currently a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) fellow for scholarly communications at Bucknell University, where he is conducting research on faculty publication practices and continuing his inquiries into scholarly search processes. Dr. Asher has presented widely on using ethnography in academic libraries (including 91´«Ã½, ACRL, NITLE, ITHAKA, NERCOMP and ARL), and teaches an ACRL seminar on ethnographic methods for librarians.

purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. 91´«Ã½ authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact 91´«Ã½ Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5418 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.