A presentation on how ethnographic methods can be used in better understanding public, school, national, and university libraries, with examples from collaborative projects in the US and Kazakhstan. Presented at the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) conference in August 2016. Full paper available online at: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4z38w8q1

1. Lessons from Collaborative
Library Ethnographies
Celia Emmelhainz @celiemme
Qualitative Research Librarian
IFLA 2016 * Columbus, Ohio

2. Ethnography as Method

3. International Ethnography
•Ex: anthropologists and librarians
collaborated to study libraries and the
information economy in rural Romania
(Klimaszewski, Whipple, Nyce, etc)

4. Ethnographic Toolkit
•Spatial observation
•Usability testing (web)
•Informal observations / fieldnotes
•Web survey
•Mapping Exercises
•Diaries / Photo Diaries
•Participant Observation
•Interviews / Focus Groups
•Digital Observation (Social Media)

5. Tools: Fieldnotes
(Image: Dunne 2016, dx.doi.org/10.1080/13614533.2016.1168747)

6. Tools: Cognitive Mapping
(Image: Donna Lanclos, http://www.donnalanclos.com/?p=21 )

7. Tools: Photo Diaries
(Image from Judi Briden, “Photo Surveys,” (p. 40-47), in Foster & Gibbons 2007, Studying Students)

8. Caveat –
Why Bother?
•Choosing a “cool” method isn’t useful
•Ask good questions that aren’t
answered by existing literature
•Then, pick a method from your toolkit
appropriate to what you want to learn

9. Example: Web Survey of
Study Abroad Students

10. Workplace Observation

11. Interviews

12. Focus Groups with
Library Workers

13. Example: Digital ethnography

14. Questionnaires and
Observation at a National
Library

15. Challenges of
Collaborative Ethnography
• Inequality
• Lack of time,
money,
resources
• Different
priorities,
different
rewards

16. Ethnography to Anthropology
Need to move
beyond observation
to why and in what
context (McCracken)

17. Strengths of
Collaborative Ethnography
• Positionality /
complementing each
other
• Catching errors and
spurious interpretation
• Capacity building
among young
librarians
• Move beyond surveys
to discuss and
understand wider
cultural shifts in
libraries

18. Further Reading:
Read this full paper: http://
escholarship.org/uc/item/4z38w8q1
Related work:
Andrew Asher and Lynda Duke. 2012. College Libraries and
Student Culture.
Nancy Foster and Susan Gibbons. 2007. Studying Students.
Mindy Whipple and James Nyce. 2007. “Community analysis
needs ethnography: an example from Romania.”
Andrew Asher, at AndrewAsher.net
Donna Lanclos, at DonnaLanclos.com
Grant McCracken, at cultureby.com