Copyright MCB UP Limited (MCB) 2000Barbara Julia Leitao: Barbara Julia Leitao is Director of the Service of Library and Documentation of the School of Communications and Arts, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Waldomiro Vergueiro: Waldomiro Verguerio is a Doctor Professor of the Department of Librarianship and Documentation of the School of Communications and Arts, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Introduction
New physical facilities usually represent a substantial economic investment for libraries all over the world. This kind of investment is much more difficult in developing countries' libraries, where financial resources are always obtained in an uncertain manner. In those countries, when a library succeeds in getting a new building, it is always important to evaluate seriously how it will be seen and used by the customers. Frequently, the decision on building a new facility is made without paying enough attention to how the customers will face the new environment and even if the space is bringing actual advantages to their lives. Library managers should be attentive to their customers' opinions and try to use them in the planning of the services.
However, it is always difficult to evaluate the customers' opinions due to the lack of human resources to accomplish more complex researches. For this reason, it is important to find less expensive techniques in order to listen to the customers. This article describes the use of one of those techniques - the focus group approach - applying it to the context of a Brazilian academic library and concluding that it can be adequate for this purpose.
1. The School of Communications and Arts of the University of Sao Paulo and its library
The library of the School of Communications and Arts of the University of Sao Paulo (ECA/USP), now called Service of Library and Documentation (SBD/ECA), was founded in 1970. It aims to give support to the teaching and research accomplished by the nine departments of the school (Library Sciences and Documentation; Communications and Arts; Cinema, Television and Radio; Journalism and Publishing; Theatre; Fine Arts; Music; Public Relations, Tourism and Advertising) and the School of Dramatic Art, a high school course maintained by ECA/USP.
The SBD/ECA's collection is composed of books, theses, newspapers, music scores, disks, audio and video discs, films, pictures, compact discs, CD-ROMs, exhibition catalogues, plays and comic books, in a total of 133,100 items. Its community is composed of students, faculties, researchers and employees of the school, a total of 2,336 people. It serves an average of 550 customers a day, both from the University of Sao Paulo and from other institutions.
In 1997, the SBD/ECA received financial resources from the Foundation for the Support to Research of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) to rebuild its facilities, which had no substantial restorations since 1982. The work involved the reconstruction of the physical space and the acquisition of new furniture and computers. Now, besides the new space the library also has 14 computer terminals which provide access to the Internet, one room for group study, individual study, music and video booths, and video and audio rooms for use by groups.
A huge amount of money was spent in the construction of the new space, including rebuilding, equipment and furniture: R$770,330,00 (approximately US$640,000).
2. The focus group approach
The researchers had their attention called to this technique of interview in rather a casual way, from an informal chat with a member of the staff who had already worked with this kind of methodology in advertising agencies. From this point on the interest in the application of the method in the information services environment was awakened. Thus, having this objective in view, a search of the professional literature was made, looking specifically for papers discussing the use of the focus group approach in relation to academic libraries. In this manner, it was possible to identify several texts dealing with the subject.
In their book Service Quality in Academic Libraries, Hernon and Altman (1996) develop their research from information obtained by the application of the focus group approach. Another use of the technique can be found in an article by Radford (1998), in which the author deals with the problem of non verbal communication between customers and reference librarians.
Rose et al. (1998) also use this technique to analyze the technostress at the reference desk of the Health Sciences Library of the State University of New York. Widdows et al. (1991) use it to assess students' evaluation of library service in an academic environment.
Although the search of the professional literature has allowed the identification of only a few texts, they presented the technique in a practical and accessible manner. In a way, that seemed to imply the viability of the focus group approach to the reality of the Brazilian libraries. Having in mind this hypothesis, the authors tried to follow the orientations provided by the bibliography in spite of having to adapt them to the limitations and objectives of the specific study they were carrying out.
2.1 The methodology
The focus group approach has its origin in the social sciences and in the marketing research of the 1940s. It was used for the first time in the information environment in the 1980s, to research an automated subject retrieval system used by library users (Drabenstott, 1992). The technique can be defined as an effective method to identify feelings and convictions about situations, products and services, as well as how these motivations build people's behaviour. For the author, there must be four criteria for productive interviews:
(1) nondirection;
(2) specificity;
(3) range; and
(4) depth and personal context (Drabenstott, 1992)
According to Patton (1990), a focus group is an "interview with a small group of people on a specific topic". The groups are usually composed of six to eight people who participate in one half to two hours meeting. The author affirms that the function of the focus group aims neither to solve problems nor to be characterized as a discussion model. The primordial function of the focus group is the interview itself.
Morgan (1988) believes that the focus group is the explicit use of the interaction to produce data and insights. According to the author, it is possible to find both strengths and weaknesses in the research:
- Strengths: the groups are easy to manage; the technique does not imply the use of a great amount of financial resources; the researcher can obtain a lot of information even if he/she is a beginner because the group allows broad topics and general hypotheses to be explored, creating an interaction that concentrates on topics of most interest to the researcher.
- Weaknesses: it is not based on natural statements; the focus group does not reach all the potential of individual research and certain personal opinions can modify the results.
The technique's main points are to be focused on a topic established in advance and to have a moderator. It is important to bear in mind that this interview does not produce results for statistical projections, and it can be used both in isolation or in conjunction with other methods.
3. The focus group interview in SBD/ECA
3.1 Study objectives
The objective of the work was to analyze how the user was perceiving the library after its restoration. Accomplishing a quantitative research was not the aim of the study, but rather to know better the customers' opinions; the focus group was seen as one of the options for qualitative research, constituting a promising tool for data collection. The low cost of the technique was another favourable factor towards it. In that sense, Morgan (1988) states that, in order to reduce the costs, the researchers themselves can direct the groups.
The group was determined so as to include only the masters degree students that used to go to the library before the reconstruction and who continued to use it after that period. This option was based both on the expectation of a larger use of the library by graduate students and on the largest level of demand by this group regarding library services.
Seven graduate students were invited to the group. The literature justifies this number, specifying a minimum of five and a maximum of 12 people for the group (Morgan, 1988). In the same way, it was considered that the group should be homogeneous and the members should share the same educational level. In this aspect, it is important to emphasize that, due to difficulties for fixing a convenient date, it was not easy to organize the group. However, as mentioned by Widdows et al. (1991), the difficulties found in the School of Communications and Arts seem to be common to those found in other academic contexts.
Morgan (1988) points out that the discussion should be conducted by a moderator and accompanied by an observer, describing them as follows:
- Moderator: who is responsible for the conduction of the interview and is not supposed to interfere in the participation of the different members of the group. However, the moderator must know the exact moment to redirect the participants to the main subject when the group's attention is dispersed. He/she should also be attentive in order to prevent some of them from leading the group, motivating those that are too timid to express their opinions.
- Observer: who is responsible for taking notes on the participants' opinions and must have good concentration and hearing capacity, besides an ability for taking notes in an accurate and a knowledgeable manner.
According to the literature, both the moderator as the observer should be strangers to the group (Morgan, 1988). However, as counting on an experienced person in the interview would represent a larger cost - which could even result in compromising its viability - the researchers preferred to have the library's director in the moderator's role. There is no indication that the results have been compromised by this decision.
A room in the library was chosen for the localaction of the discussion. It was considered adequate to the objectives of the work as it made it possible for participants to be organized in a circle, without any differences among them. In this sense, it follows Fraser and Restrepo-Highway's (1998) guidance on physical space.
3.2 The interview
Only four of the seven guests attended the meeting. Even so, the interview was duly accomplished, both as a demonstration of respect to the other invited members and in the understanding that it would be very difficult to fix a new date for the meeting. In this manner, there were two music, one tourism and one information science students in the group.
As it is common in such interviews, the group's agreement to audio recording was required. There were no objections to that.
The following plan was used for conducting the discussion:
- Facilities: how was the physical environmentseen before the rebuilding and how is it being perceived today?
- Attendance: was it improved, maintained the same conditions or was it negatively affected by the rebuilding?
- Location of the materials on the shelves: is it easier to find the materials now?
- Services provided: do the participants know which services the library can provide to them?
- Expectations and/or needs: what are they?
The discussion was conducted in a natural way and the members followed a sequence where a subject led logically to the other. Only in some moments the moderator felt the need to interfere in order to prevent the group from talking about other subjects.
In the beginning a kind of inhibition was noticed among the students. It also was evident that one of the members of the group had a strong leadership over the others. However, as the interview went on, the moderator's firm guidance compelled the other members to participate in the discussion. This was rather expected as the literature mentions 10 to 15 minutes of accommodation for the people to feel at ease.
The interview lasted one hour and 30 minutes, which also is in accordance with Morgans' (1988) recommendation of 60 to 90 minutes.
4. Main points of the interview
A summary of the group's opinions follows, emphasizing the main points of agreement.
The library before the rebuilding
In their own words, the participants considered the library a "terrible place" for study and research. The light was not adequate at all; the space between the shelves was very narrow, making the location of the materials more difficult. Neither the tables nor the chairs were in sufficient number. A lack of premises for group studying was mentioned and the members of the group also complained that there was no privacy for study.
Listening to records or seeing videos were difficult due to the space available for these activities, always inconvenient to the customers. The participants also affirmed that, in spite of the efforts regarding the cleaning of the library, its image was not one of a very clean place.
The library after the rebuilding
According to the members of the group, the environment is much more pleasant, bright and it is a pleasure to stay there now. Furthermore, they also mentioned that customers are more careful when using information materials.
The visual communication
The participants found the visual communication very satisfactory because it makes finding the information materials easier. However, in the participants' opinion, there should be an external signage above the library's door, informing that the library is there. Regarding the indoor communication, the only negative point mentioned by the group was the absence of a sign directing them to the newspapers retrospective collection.
Circulation desk
The participants feel that the library team pays more attention to the customers' needs now. They also seem to be working together in a happier way, which helps in making them more attentive to their customers' needs. It was the unanimous opinion of the group that the level of service was significantly increased.
In a comparison with the library before the rebuilding, it was agreed that the previous environment was not very adequate. There were not good conditions for work, which gave an impression of disorganization and lack of harmony among the library staff.
Services
The students have made clear that they needed to know more about the services provided by the library. In that sense, they suggested that the library should make its services known to the customers.
Specific problems were mentioned regarding the photocopier, both concerning its cost and the period necessary for using the service.
5. Main results and expectations of the study
The rebuilding of the library was of capital importance to the improvement of its physical environment. In the participants' opinion, there was a positive behaviour change of every worker. In the same way, it is possible to believe that the library customers themselves felt the improvement and started preserving both the collection and the physical facilities.
Confirming Hernon and Altman' (1996) statements, the information retrieval process used by the librarians is not easily understood by the customers (for example, one of the members of the group mentioned that the positive aspect of the open stacks is that they make it possible to locate information materials that cannot be located through the catalogues).
How to use the library computer resources was not very clear to the customers. As they mentioned in the interview, they approved the acquisition and upgrading of the new machines put at their disposal but they considered that more information for using the on-line public access catalogues was needed.
It became evident that the group did not have a very extensive knowledge about the services provided by the library. They commented, for example, that they were not acquainted with the Current Contents of Journals, a reference tool published by the SBD/ECA, which the librarians consider a very important source for research.
In regard to the quality of the service, the group showed interest in having more autonomy for using the library. In that sense, it confirmed Hernon and Altman's remarks (1996).
The photocopier is the only aspect of the service in which no significant improvements were noticed. The group expressed clear dissatisfaction about it. In that sense, the focus group was quite positive to the library because it made evident that the situation was far from satisfactory. Moreover, it showed that some of the problems regarding the photocopy services were still to be solved despite the librarians' perspectives: since 1998, due to management decisions, contracting out the photocopy services was seen as a promising way to approach the problem and guaranteeing a higher level of quality for the customers. The discussion demonstrated that much still needs to be done in that direction.
In regard to the groups's needs and expectations, the following can be mentioned:
- maintain a copy of the music scores exclusively for circulation as well as taking measures to restore and preserve the original copies;
- review the audio cassette collection because the sound of some of them no longer has the same level of quality. The number of compact discs and audio cassettes also needs to be increased;
- accomplish a customer's education program in order to enlight them about the care and preservation of the information materials;
- have more video cameras inside the library in order to inhibit collection vandalizing and theft;
- take effective measures towards the new acquisitions and journals subscriptions. The need to complete the collections was also mentioned;
- take measures for making the library services better known to the customers.
In the opinion of the group, a better work relationship among the library staff is expected in this period, as they become acquainted with the new facilities. Work conditions were not adequate earlier. However, it caused the researchers a certain amazement to know that the group does not have either great needs or expectations regarding the services at this moment.
6. Conclusion
Despite the difficulties found for the organization of the group and the limitations the work can eventually present, the experience was of great value both to the library and to the participants of the group. It provided a better knowledge of issues important for the improvement of the services. Acting as moderator and observer in a process of interview in which the object of research is also one's workplace has been an interesting exercise of self control for the researchers. On the other hand, it was also important to understand that this double function made it easier to solve doubts regarding the research proposal. In this manner, it is fair to conclude that the objectives of the interview were fulfilled.
Considering the above mentioned points, the library has now the intention of implementing the suggestions obtained in the interview. With the exception of those regarding the acquisition of specific information resources, that do not depend exclusively on the library's decision but on the policy adopted by the University of Sao Paulo, most of the suggestions are very simple to put into effect and do not demand a great amount of financial resources.
Taking into account the results of the focus group approach, it was decided to include this kind of activity in the SBD/ECA's planning process. It shows how listening to the customers and allowing them to express their opinions in a spontaneous way can be productive. In this sense, the work corroborated both the literature and the viability of using the focus group approach for the academic environment.
References
1. Fraser, C. and Restrepo-Highway, S. (1998), "Focus group discussions in development work: it adds field experiences and lessons learned", The Journal of Development Communication, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 68-84.
2. Drabebstott, K.M. (1992) "Focused group interviews", in Glazier, J.D. and Powell, R.R. (Eds), Qualitative Research in Information Management, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 85-104.
3. Hernon, P. and Altman, E. (1996), Service Quality in Academic Libraries, Ablex, Norwood, MA.
4. Morgan, D.L. (1988), Focus Groups the Qualitative Research, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
5. Patton, M.Q. (1990), Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd ed., Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
6. Radford, M.L. (1998), "Approach or avoidance? The rolls of nonverbal communication in the academic library user's decision to initiate the reference encounter", Library Trends, Vol. 46 No. 4, pp. 669-717.
7. Rose, P.M., Stoklosa, K. and Gray, S.A. (1998), "The focus group approach to assessing technostress the reference desk", Reference & User Services Quarterly, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 311-17.
8. Widdows, R., Henslar, T.A. and Wyncott, M.H. (1991), "The focus group interview: the method goes assessing users' evaluation of library service", College & Research Libraries, Vol. 52 No. 4, pp. 352-39.
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