New: Library User Experience, SPEC Kit 322

 SPEC Kit 322 kit was just released by the Association of Research Libraries.

The full text report is fee-based but and an executive summary and the table of contents  is available at no charge.

From ARL:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Library User Experience, SPEC Kit 322, which explores recent and planned user experience activities at ARL member libraries and the impact these efforts have on helping the libraries transform to meet evolving user needs. The survey elicited examples of successful user experience activities to serve as benchmarks for libraries looking to create or expand efforts in this area. It also explored whether libraries have created positions or entire departments focused on user engagement and the user experience.

The survey results revealed that nearly all of the responding ARL member institutions are employing a form of user engagement, whether or not they refer to it as user experience. While there appears to be a lack of common vocabulary or program standardization, there is a growing awareness of the need to assess libraries from the user perspective—with new positions and even departments created to accomplish this goal. Overall, respondents feel that efforts made in assessing the user experience are well spent. They articulated numerous projects that resulted in major program updates and facility revisions and that were well received by library administration, governing/funding boards, and most importantly, by library users.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Funding, Libraries, Patrons and Users