From: "Oosman, Aalia" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:42:48 +0000

*Study to track students' digital research journey*

Discovering and navigating digital information is part of the everyday work
of today’s researcher, but what is that user experience and how could it be
improved?

In a unique collaboration, Taylor & Francis is working with Loughborough
University’s Library, Graduate School, and Senior Lecturer in Publishing to
examine users’ experience in the digital library.

The University has recruited ten PhD researchers to this project from a
wide range of disciplines. The students are also at different levels in
their PhD completion - from those just embarking on research to those about
to complete.

Charlotte Jais is one of the students involved and she outlines her
experience of digital research: “Trying to find the information that you
need can be one of the most challenging things. It can be quite difficult
sometimes to know where to start looking and searching for information can
be time consuming if you have several pages of search results to work
through!”

Every month between November 2015 and June 2016, students are being asked a
series of standard questions about the type of information they needed that
month. This includes where they started it, what resources they used, and
crucially the “journey” that they took to reach the resources. They are
also asked to describe good features, advantages, disadvantages,
frustrations, ideas they had about the information seeking experience.

An open question on a different theme is added each month; themes such as
the continued relevance of print, how to develop information seeking
behaviour and a comparison of three publishers’ websites. Students are
assigned a mentor from the University to provide guidance and support. A
focus group will also be held with participants and a wider group of
researchers in March.

Graham Walton, from Loughborough University Library and a member of the
project steering group said: “Unless we understand the experiences the
users have when they search for information, we will really struggle to
provide the right services. It is easy to get statistics on downloads and
site hits but that only gives a small part of the picture. This project
will give us insight that has long been needed.”

Max Gabriel, Head of Group Digital Strategy at Taylor & Francis, comments:
“As part of our commitment to supporting academic and library communities
we intend to understand how researchers are accessing information. By
working together with Loughborough University, we hope to improve the user
experience of online resources in terms of discoverability, accessibility
and usability.”

Tracy Roberts, Publishing Director at Taylor & Francis explained the value
of this project to publishers, librarians and universities: “As publishers,
we want to provide the best user experience to facilitate the research
process, and we want to work with librarians and universities who are
focused on improving the experience for their students. We are very pleased
to be able to work with Loughborough University on this project and
anticipate the outcomes being of value to all those with an interest in the
wider academic, library and research communities.”

Outcomes from the project will be disseminated in various ways during the
course of this year. Meanwhile, for more details read Graham Walton’s blog
post http://www.tandf.co.uk/libsite/digitalresearchpractices/ and the first
of several researcher profiles (
http://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/digital-research-practices-phd-profiles)of
the participants.

Notes to Journalists

*Project steering group:

·         Taylor & Francis: Tracy Roberts, Publishing Director, Arts,
Humanities & Social Science Journals, Will Frass, Senior Research Executive

·         Loughborough University Graduate School and Research Office: Dr
Katryna Kalawsky, Postgraduate Research Student Development Officer; Dr
Kathryn North, Head of Researcher Development; Dr Duncan Stanley, Research
Staff and Student Development Adviser.

·         Loughborough University Library: Dr Gareth Cole, Research Data
Manager; Emma Walton, Director of Library Services; Dr Graham Walton ,
Assistant Director (Academic and User Services);  Helen Young, Academic
Services Manager

·         Loughborough University School of Arts, English and Drama: Dr
Jenny Fry, Senior Lecturer

About Loughborough University

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an
international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching,
strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its
underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university
rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was
named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards
2015.Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK
universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in
the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE
Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year
2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution
to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary
Prizes.

In September 2015 the University opened an additional academic campus in
London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University London, based on
the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, offers postgraduate and executive-level
education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

Loughborough University is equipped with a live in-house broadcast unit via
the Globelynx network. To arrange an interview with one of our experts
please contact the press office on 01509 223491. Bookings can be made
online via www.globelynx.com

For all media enquiries contact:
Judy Wing
PR Manager
Loughborough University

E: [log in to unmask]

*******

About Taylor & Francis Group

Taylor & Francis Group partners with researchers, scholarly societies,
universities and libraries worldwide to bring knowledge to life.  As one of
the world’s leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, ebooks and
reference works our content spans all areas of Humanities, Social Sciences,
Behavioural Sciences, Science, and Technology and Medicine.

From our network of offices in Oxford, New York, Philadelphia, Boca Raton,
Boston, Melbourne, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Stockholm, New Delhi and
Johannesburg, Taylor & Francis staff provide local expertise and support to
our editors, societies and authors and tailored, efficient customer service
to our library colleagues.

For more information, please contact:
Aalia Oosman, Taylor & Francis Group
Email:[log in to unmask]
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