From Behind the Camera

The graduate survey ran successfully from April 7 - April 14. I think we had a decent response rate - more than 2500 - and now the task of making sense of the results. The interviews have also begun; I worked with Todd on my first one and had to remember to stay focused on running the camera -very easy to be completely absorbed in what the interviewee/student is saying! The one interview I did was rather fascinating - a transfer student who gave high marks to an information literacy session she had attended (as part of the Students in Transition classes) led by one of our librarians. She even had the handout from the class with her. Running the camera was also fun - brought back memories of my days in film school as an undergraduate, when a video camera was just like another appendage for me. The way of the ethnographic interview is very different from scripted interviews that all follow the same path - they are geared towards engaging the interviewee, making the most of each persons' individual differences, letting them share their own thoughts and ideas, no matter how tangential they may seem at first. Fact is, everything they say or do is significant in some way. The trick is to capture it all, then relate it back to the research query (in this case, the connection between online research habits and the use of the libraries' web site). The team working on this project will certainly have a lot to work with when it comes time to review these rich interviews.

Valeda Dent Goodman
Associate University Librarian
Research and Instructional Services
Rutgers University