User Behavior: A Collaborative Working Summit

March 16–17, 2020, held virtually

Topic

MLA InSight Summit 5 builds on the key outcome of the third summit and the work that small groups have done since then: namely, that librarians and information providers can build trust through collaborative work to improve their joint understanding of how users discover and access information resources. Summit 3 participants returned to Chicago for summit 4 in November and now for summit 5 to develop and report on projects that have been underway since September of 2019. These include:

• Convening a series of meetings with an End User Advisory Board (EUAB) designed to elicit key insights about user experiences and needs;
• Developing an enduring resource that synthesizes ideas from the EUAB and insights from the work of the small groups;
• Developing an online forum to raise and discuss issues related to discovery and access concerns of users; and
• Developing learning modules to educate librarians and publishers about critical aspects of user behavior.

Anticipated Outcomes

Summit 5 aims to contribute a body of tangible intellectual property that is widely available to librarians and information providers. It is hoped that this material will enable people working in many facets of the information industry better serve their users. 

Learning Objectives

• Develop and document qualitative and quantitative insights into information user needs, concerns, and frustrations;
• Define the key features of learning modules designed to provide an understanding of information user needs;
• Design a useful ongoing forum to discuss information user needs.

Bridge Bulding: What Bridges to Build and How

June 12–13, 2019, in Chicago, IL

Topic

Librarians, publishers, and aggregators will collaborate and brainstorm concrete measures to address frustration, challenges, and opportunities in providing services to the full range of health sciences library users.

Format

• Panel discussions: one each for information providers, librarians, and users, followed by:
• Focused small-group activities aimed at discovering actionable approaches to more effective deployment of information resources.

Anticipated Outcomes

• Produce specific plans that can be adopted by publishers, aggregators, and librarians designed to better position the library at the core of student, clinician, and researcher workflows.
• These plans will emerge from intense small-group discussions and real-time synthesis during the summit.
• Two to three initiatives will be chosen for further development by volunteer work groups who will collaborate on specific tangible outcome initiatives in the aftermath of this Summit.

Learning Objectives

• Develop an enhanced understanding of frustrations, challenges, and opportunities in providing services to health sciences library users on the part of senior representatives of publishers and aggregators
• Develop an enhanced understanding of frustrations, challenges, and opportunities in providing services to health sciences library users on the part of senior librarians
• Develop an enhanced understanding of library user frustrations and challenges as well as their perception of opportunities for libraries to better serve their needs
• Devise a work plan template for developing tangible outcomes related to identified and prioritized actionable initiatives

Summit 3 Proceedings

• Meeting Report: Summit 3 Preprint Report

User Behavior: A Collaborative Working Summit

November 18–19, 2019, in Chicago, IL

Topic

The fourth InSight Initiative Summit builds on the key outcome of the third, namely, that librarians and information providers should build trust through collaborative work to improve their joint understanding of how users discover and access information resources. Participants from the third summit will return to develop and report on projects that have been underway since early September:

• A series of meetings with an End User Advisory Board (EUAB) designed to elicit key insights about user experiences and needs;
• A survey of users to add quantitative weight behind observations from the EUAB;
• An enduring resource that synthesizes ideas from the EUAB and the quantitative insights from the survey;
• Development of an online forum to raise and discuss issues related to discovery and access concerns of users; and
• Development of a formal curriculum to educate librarians and publishers about critical aspects of user behavior.

Anticipated Outcomes

The aim of this summit is to contribute a body of tangible intellectual property that is widely available to librarians and information providers. It is hoped that this material will enable people working in many facets of the information industry to better serve users.

Learning Objectives

• Develop and document qualitative and quantitative insights into information user needs, concerns, and frustrations;
• Define the key elements of a curriculum designed to provide a systematic introduction to understanding information user needs; and
• Determine the scope and structure of an ongoing forum to discuss information user needs.

Engaging Users in a Disruptive Era (Archive)

March 6–7, 2018, in Chicago, IL

Meeting the Evolving Information Needs of Library Stakeholders (Archive)

September 27–28, 2018, in Chicago, IL