http://conference.ifla.org/ifla78/session-203

Empowering library users to solve problems: our stories

… a two-hour program on Thursday 16 August 2012, offered in cooperation with the Law Libraries Section and the Government Libraries Section.

As social scientists we are interested in data gathering and its impact. The six presentations for this program relate to results of qualitative and quantitative assessments and examples of how libraries have used these assessments to answer the needs of users. Specifically we will offer case studies/papers that show the impact of gathering data and how the data gathering process led to changed or improved services. Our focus is not on how data was gathered – but how that data was used to empower users. Program papers include descriptions of interventions/changes made after data was collected, attempts to understand how users use information and stories of how data gathering led to new services, etc. Questions and discussion will follow.

Desk statistics under a microscope = improved library services
SUSAN GARDNER ARCHAMBAULT (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, USA)

Was wir von unseren Nutzern lernen können – und wie
SEBASTIAN NIX (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Bibliothek und wissenschaftliche Information, Berlin, Germany)

How to be competitive in the educational & cultural landscape: the challenge of the Carol I Central University Library in Bucharest, Romania – case study
MIREILLE RADOI (Carol I Central University Library, Bucharest, Romania)

Libraries supporting national development goals in Namibia
ELLEN NAMHILA (University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia) and RITVA NISKALA (Namibia Library and Archives Service, Ministry of Education, Windhoek, Namibia)

Empowering library users, establishing channel of communication for service quality expectations of trainers from government Administrative Training Institute (ATI) libraries in India
MANOJ KULKARNI (Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YAHSADA), Pune, India) and NEELA J. DESHPANDE (University of Pune, Pune, India)

Giving them what they need, more simply: empowering students through internet specific subject websites
DOUG SUAREZ (Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)