How First-Year Students Navigate the Stacks

Abstract

First-year undergraduate students frequently encounter navigation problems in locating known items in the library. This study follows students through the library collection after they have a call number to uncover attributes of building layout that aid navigation and identify fail points. Researchers used ethnographic methodologies of interviewing, observation, and a “think-aloud protocol” to understand the first-year student’s conceptual frame in navigating library collections.