Molde UC

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Background information

Molde University College is a small professional college  on the west coast of Norway. The library has a staff of nine persons serving about two thousand students and one hundred and fifty staff. The CTT study documented here was conducted in May 2010.

The fact sheet has three sections:

• Section Alpha describes the actual data collection and the number of visitors that use the library (occupancy) through the day and week.
• Section Beta documents how the number of visit hours is is distributed between different library areas (zones) and activities.
• Section Gamma documents the interaction between zones, activities and time (hours, days).

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Alpha

Opening hours in May

• Monday 0830-1900
• Tuesday 0830-1900
• Wednesday 0830-1900
• Thursday 0830-1900
• Friday 0830-1700
• Saturday 1000-1500
  • Total: 55 hours 30 minutes

Observation rounds

• Monday
  • May 10: 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
  • period 15-18 not covered
• Tuesday
  • May 18: 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
  • May 25: 15, 16, 17, 18
• Wednesday
  • May 26: 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
  • May 12: 15, 16, 17, 18
• Thursday
  • May 6:  09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
  • period 15-18 not covered
• Friday
  • May 21: 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
• Saturday
  • May 15: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
• Total: 45 rounds and 1426 observations

The number and behavior of visitors during the missing hours on Monday and Thursday were assumed to follow the pattern on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Occupancy

The average number of visitors (occupancy) during the full weekly cycle was 32 persons.

Day by day:

• Monday: 26 persons on the average
• Tuesday: 32
• Wednesday: 29
• Thursday: 33
• Friday; 21
• Saturday: 11

Hour by hour (Monday through Saturday)

• 0900: 12 persons on the average
• 1000: 24
• 1100: 35
• 1200: 39
• 1300: 38
• 1400: 31
• 1500: 31
• 1600: 21
• 1700: 15
• 1800: 9 persons

Duration

The average duration of a library visit was 46 minutes.

Day by day:

• Monday: 43 minutes
• Tuesday: 51
• Wednesday: 37
• Thursday: 53
• Friday; 50
• Saturday: 39 minutes

Since the library lacks electronic counters the dwell time can not be calculated.

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Beta

The total area is 1055 sq. m.

Description of the zones

There are five main functional areas – divided into fifteen zones

• A. Entrance area with main desk
• B. PC areas (3)
  • B1 includes six PCs for catalog searches and a reading corner with two easy chairs
  • B2 has ten PCs for ordinary student work + two catalog PCs
  • B3 is a quiet computer room with five PCs
• C. Reading areas (7)
  • C1 is a shelf area with four PC seats and fourteen ordinary seats
  • C2 is the newspaper area, with a sofa and four individual seats
  • C3 has a series tables with a total of 22 seats. Suitable for group work.
  • C4 resembles C3: 22 seats plus a sofa corner
  • C5 consists of two group rooms with four seats each
  • C6 is a group room equipped with TV. Four seats.
  • C7 is a large study area with 36 seats distributed among ten tablesc
• D. Shelf areas (3)
  • D1 has four seats in addition to the shelves
  • D2 has four seats
  • D3 has eight seats
• E. Copy and printing area

Occupancy

• A. Entrance area with main desk – 11 observations
• B. PC areas (3 zones)
  • B1 – 25
  • B2 – 218
  • B3 – 59
• C. Reading areas (7)
  • C1 – 171
  • C2 – 25
  • C3 – 136
  • C4 – 111
  • C5 – 65
  • C6 – 51
  • C7 – 188
• D. Shelf areas (3)
  • D1 – 50
  • D2 – 48
  • D3 – 78
• E. Copy and print area – 30
  • Total: 1266 observations

Main areas by frequency

• Reading zones – 747 observations – 59 percent
• PC zones – 302 – 24 percent
• Shelf zones – 176 – 14 percent
• Copy and print – 30 – 2 percent
• Entrance – 11 – 1 percent
  • Total: 1266 observations – 100 percent

Description of the activities

• A. Walks or stands alone.
  • Covers standing or walking around without browsing and without relating to library staff or other users.
• B. Walks or stands in company.
  • Participates in a group of two or more persons that stands or walks around without browsing and without relating to library staff.
• C. Sits alone .
  • Sits alone without relating to media, to library staff or to other users.
• D. Sits in a group without media
  • Participates in a group of two or more persons that does not relate to books or other media or to library staff.
• E. Browses alone
  • Covers browsing or scanning of items on shelves while standing or walking around.
• F. Browses in company
  • Participates in a group of two or more persons that browse or scan items on shelves together while standing or walking around.
• G Sits alone reading (or writing)
  • Sits and reads by her/himself. Includes individual work – reading and or writing – without using ICT. Includes listening to music, watching videos and using other media – but not the use of computers.
• H. Sits in a group with media
  • Participates in a group where at least one person relates to books or other media. [Use (10) for groups with active PC].
• I. Sits alone with mobile computer
  • Sits alone with active mobile computer (active screen)
• J. Sits in a group with mobile computer(s).
  • Participates in a group where at least one person is using a mobile PC  (active screen).
• K. Sits alone with stationary computer.
  • Sits alone with active computer (active screen).
• L Sits in a group with stationary  computer(s)
  • Participates in a group of two or more persons that is using one or more library PCs (active screen).
• M. Contact with staff
  • Covers all direct contact with staff. Here we want to register activities where staff spends time with the users, whether it involves speaking, writing, demonstrating or walking around.
• N. Queuing.
  • Covers all visible waiting for service or facilities, whether in a proper line or not: waiting for staff, waiting for access to equipment, toilet queues, aso.
• O. Other.
  • Activities not covered by A-N.

Activities by frequency

More than ten percent of the time is spent on four  activities

• G Sits alone reading (or writing): 26 percent
• H. Sits in a group with media: 15
• K. Sits alone with stationary computer: 24 percent
• I. Sits alone with mobile computer: 10

Between five and ten …

• J. Sits in a group with mobile computer(s): 9
• L Sits in a group with stationary  computer(s): 5
• A. Walks or stands alone.: 5

Between two and five …

• O. Other: 2
• B. Walks or stands in company: 2

Below two

• E. Browses alone: 1
• M. Contact with staff: 1
• N. Queuing: 1
• D. Sits in a group without media: 0
• F. Browses in company: 0
• C. Sits alone: 0

Activity indicators

The list of activities was made as an aid to observation, but is not ideal for analyzing the data. When we interpret our statistics, we should first decide what we want to know – and then organize the data accordingly.

I’ve chosen these questions:

1. To what extent has library use a modern (or non-traditional) character?
   • I define modern as activities involving groups or data (or both).
2. To what extent do users spend time with PCs?
   • How much of the PC use involves the students’ own (portable) computers?
3. To what extent is the library used by groups – rather than by isolated individuals?
4. How much of the users’ time is spent interacting with staff?

The five questions are answered by calculating the time spent on:

• Modern activities = B + D + F + H + I + J + K + L = 65 percent
• Data activities = I + J + K + L = 47 percent
  • Portable data use as a share of total data use = (I + J)/(I + J + K + L) = 39 percent
• Group activities = B + D + F + H + J + L = 32 percent
• Contact with staff = M = 0.9 percent

Comparisons

The corresponding figures for the Oslo University Library for Humanities and Social Sciences were:

• Modern = 42 percent
• Data = 35 percent
• Portable  = 72 percent
• Group   = 12 percent
• Contact = 0.4 percent

Note that all percentages refer to the time spent on various activities – not how many persons engaged in the activity during their visit.