What Do Patrons Really Do in Music Libraries? An Ethnographic Approach to Improving Library Services

Abstract

Improving services is what librarians are all about. Of course, doing that requires them to first determine what needs improving, a process that typically involves activities such as number-gathering (e.g., circulation statistics and gate counts), face-to-face patron interviews, surveys, and observation, all of which individually have shortcomings. If the source of the data is reliable, number-gathering is a highly-accurate evaluation method. Unfortunately, this method cannot be used to address all inquiries, and it lacks the human element that brings life to research. Face-to-face interviews and surveys may introduce the human element, but can be misleading because people often say one thing and do another. Likewise, observation introduces the human element, but it does so in a limited way when carried out in the traditional fashion, which centers on defining the behaviors on which observers will focus their attention (Zweizig 1996, 118). Doing this, however, means that any number of other behaviors, knowledge of which could prove useful to improving services, will be ignored. Though admittedly more challenging and time consuming, adopting an ethnographic approach to evaluating library services results in a more complete and accurate picture than is possible with traditional library evaluation methods.