Diving into Data: Analyzing Information Requests to Understand Information Needs at a Pediatric Hospital

ABSTRACT

Libraries collect usage statistics every day, yet have difficulty illustrating how the library supports users’ information needs and exactly what those needs are. Using daily statistics collected in four Family Resource Libraries within one pediatric hospital system, this research analyzes the information requests of patient families and hospital staff over a three-year period. A total of 1,406 information requests are analyzed, 848 from patient families and 558 from hospital staff. Variables include the type of request, requested topic, resources used, reason for the request, and time librarians spent assisting the user. Such analyses provide a deeper understanding of users’ information needs and can also assist in efforts of collection development, outreach, marketing, and usage statistics.

KEYWORDS:

• Hospital libraries
• information literacy
• information-seeking behavior
• information storage and retrieval
• library services
• patients
• patient visitors
• statistics and numerical data

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the librarians of Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and Drs. Ana Cleveland, Shawne Miksa, and Gerald Knezek of the College of Information at the University of North Texas.