Abstract ‘‘Sweeping’ ’ the library Mapping the soc

‘‘Sweeping’’thelibrary:Mappingthesocialactivityspaceofthepubliclibrary1LisaM.Givena,*,GloriaJ.LeckiebaSchoolofLibraryandInformationStudies,UniversityofAlberta,3-20RutherfordSouth,Edmonton,ABT6G2J4,Canada.E-mailaddress:[e-mail](L.M.Given).bFacultyofInformationandMediaStudies,MiddlesexCollege,UniversityofWesternOntario,London,ONN6A5B8,CanadaAbstractAlthoughlibrariesarepublicspacesinwhichindividualsengageinarangeofsocialandinformationalactivities,fewresearchersinlibraryandinformationscienceuseethnographicapproachestostudyusers’experiencesinthesesettings.Thisarticledescribesspatialanalysistechniquesusedbygeographersandotherresearchersofsocialspace.Itexaminesthewaysinwhichthesetechniquesmaybeusedtomapthephysicallayoutoflibrariesandinformationcenters,andpatrons’usesofthosespaces.Thearticlefocusesononeobservationalapproach(the‘‘seatingsweeps’’method)usedtostudyindividuals’useofcentralpubliclibrariesintwolargeCanadiancities.Inadditiontoadescriptionofthedesignandimplementationofthemethod,thearticlepresentssomeofthestudy’sfindingsthatsupporttheutilityofthismethodforfacilitiesredesignorplanningtoaccommodatepatrons’informationbehaviorsandusagepatternsandtoemphasizethecentrallibraryasavibrantandvitalpublicspace.D2003ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionLikemalls,restaurants,andmanyothersocialsettings,thelibraryprovidesapublicspaceinwhichindividualsmayengageinarangeofsocialandinformationalactivities.Ininvestigatingtheseenvironsandactivities,somelibraryandinformationscience(LIS)0740-8188/03/$–seefrontmatterD2003ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/S0740-8188(03)00049-5*Correspondingauthor.1AversionofthisarticlewaspresentedattheLibraryResearchSeminarII:PartnersandConnections,ResearchandPractice,heldatCollegePark,Maryland,November2001.Library&InformationScienceResearch25(2003)365–385researchersusearangeofethnographicapproaches(e.g.,personalinterviewsandvariousformsofobservation)forstudiesofusers’experienceswithinthesesettings.ThespatialdatacollectionandanalysistechniquesusedbygeographersandothersocialscientiststoinvestigateresearchquestionsrelatingtoshoppingmallsandothersocialspacesarecurrentlyunderusedinLISresearch,however,andcouldyieldsomeinterestingapproaches.Inparticular,spatialdataanalysisisausefulmethodformappingthephysicallayoutoflibrariesandinformationcenterstoexaminethewaysthatindividualsmakeuseofthatspace.Theresultsofthistypeofanalysismaybeusedforshort-andlong-termfacilitiesplanning,tomatchinformationservicestousers’informationbehav-iors,ortoredesignthesocialactivityspaceoflibrariesaccordingtotheusagepatternsofdifferenttypesofpatrons.Thisarticleexaminestheuseofthe‘‘seatingsweeps’’observationalmethodinastudyofindividuals’useofpubliclibrariesintwolargeCanadiancities.Thefullprojectexaminescentralpubliclibrariesandtherolestheyplayinpromotingandsustainingavibrantpubliccultureintoday’slargecities.Thestudyissituatedwithinthecontestedpublicdiscourseabouttheimportanceofcertainkeyinstitutions,suchasthelibrary,inpubliclife.Criticsinsistthatcentrallibrariesarepasse´,arelicofthepreinformationage,andarenolongerrelevantorwarrantedinthedigitalage.Others,however,maintainthatcentralpubliclibrariesareoneoftheveryfewauthenticpublicspacesleft,andthusmakeacriticalcontributiontothevibrancyofciviclifeinlargecities.Giventhisdiscourse,theprimarythrustoftheresearchistoinvestigatetheusesandmeaningsofcontemporarycentrallibrariesaspublicplacesinthecontextofaNorthAmericanculturethatisincreasinglyprivatized,globalized,andinfluencedbyanever-expandingarrayofinfor-mationtechnologies.Thisarticleexplores,inparticular,acorollaryresearchquestion:Whatusesdoindividualsactuallymakeofthepublicspaceofcentrallibraries?ThisquestiontakesupthechallengeissuedbyLorettaLees(2001),whoalsohasstudiedlargelibraries,andwhomaintainsthattheacademiccommunityhas‘‘hadrelativelylittletosayaboutthepracticalandaffectiveor‘non-representational’importofarchitecture.’’Leessuggestedthat,whereasmanyscholarshavebecomequitegoodattheorizingwhatishappeningtoandinpublicspace,mosthavenottakenthetimetocollectanysignificantdatatosupportordisprovethosetheories.Inkeepingwiththatpremise,thepurposeofthisstudyistoinvestigatetheactualdailyusesofaparticulartypeofpublicspace.Accordingly,theresearchusestheseatingsweepsmethoddetailedinthisarticle(alongwithsurveysandpersonalinterviews,notdescribedhere)toassistinexploringthewaysinwhichmembersofthepublicuselargecentrallibraries.Thedesignandimplementationofthemethodaredetailed,andselecteddatafromthefindingsareusedtodiscusshowthemethodcanbeusedtoexamineassumptionsabouttheuseoflargepublicspaces.Finally,thearticlesuggestsimplicationsofthestudy’sfindingsfortheuseofthismethodinotherlibraryorinformationcenter–basedresearch.Beforeproceedingtodiscusstheseatingsweepmethodindetail,however,itisusefultoreviewbrieflytheliteratureregardingthestudyofsocialactivityspaces,therebyplacingthisarticlewithinthelargercontextofsocialscienceresearchonsocialactivityandpublicspaces.L.M.Given,G.J.Leckie/Library&InformationScienceResearch25(2003)365–385366