Helping students is a big part of what librarians do. Yet, sometimes it can work the other way around.
Computer Science students Dacheng Cheng, Davisson Xu and Xingcheng Cai worked with librarians Laura Howell and Kathy Szigeti last semester to evaluate and optimize aspects of librarians’ workflow.
Dacheng Cheng and Davisson Xu with Librarian, Laura Howell
Undertaken as a project for an upper-year Human-Computer Interaction course taught by CS professor Edward Lank, Davisson, Dacheng, and Xingcheng observed and interviewed Laura and Kathy on numerous occasions to broaden their understanding of what librarians do and what aspects of librarians' work could benefit from improved technology design.
“We were surprised by how much liaison librarians do in their day to day work” Davisson explains.
The three eventually decided to focus their attentions on the surprisingly multi-faceted process of book ordering. They recognized immediately how this aspect of librarians' work can require communication with a wide range of people, such as faculty, and necessitates that they keep track of requests, funds, and orders in what can sometimes be a disjointed process.
Designing a system to unite these aspects was admittedly challenging. “We had never tried anything like it before and we learned a lot” says Dacheng. The result was a high fidelity prototype developed by the students that addressed how book ordering could be streamlined in the UW Library environment.
"Focusing on improving work, rather than just building a computer program, encourages students in the course to think of computers as a tool," Professor Lank explains. In this case, librarians Laura and Kathy were pleased with the results.
“I was really impressed,” Laura explains, adding that if the established prototype were ever to be developed to full production, it would be very useful.
By the end of their project, Dacheng, Davisson, and Xingcheng had shed new light on this area of liaison librarians’ work. In return, they learned a few things about librarians and the Library.
“We have a new understanding for how the Library works and what services are available to students,” says Dacheng.
For more information, contact:
Liaison Librarian for Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science
Ext. 33214
Liaison Librarian for Chemistry and Earth & Environmental Sciences
Ext. 38785
University of Waterloo Library
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4883
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