APLA2018

Libraries measure things - collections, transactions, visits, downloads, and likes. New tools allow us to mine and visualize that data to demonstrate the impacts of our activities. We know that good metrics are important for planning, budgeting, and programming. But numbers need contexts, and data are most meaningful when connected to the stories of our clients, the people we serve. Since we regularly interact with our clients, we can mistakenly assume we know their stories. We just might be surprised by the stories they might tell if we asked. The goal of this session is to challenge libraries to actively seek out those untold stories. In this interactive and hands-on session we will explore ethnographic field methods that librarians can use to uncover the stories behind the numbers. We will do three things in this session: 1) we will explore our ethnographic toolkit - participant observations, focus groups, interviews, and writing projects, 2) we will try out our tools with demonstrations and practice activities, and 3) we will discuss how we can empower our clients to share their library, research, and information stories. Each method will be demonstrated with real life research stories, and we will reflect on successes, failures, and lessons learned. Every participant will be challenged to choose one research question and an appropriate research method from our toolkit to explore that question. The session will be successful if participants can imagine an opportunity to hear their clients’ stories in their own words.