FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

deliberations about possible solutions and then back to producing concrete prototypes. The final phase consists in putting the selected solution into practice and evaluating its success. For more information about HCD: visit IDEO website Design Kit at designkit.org. Authors: Pavla Minaříková, Roman Novotný Consultation: Alena Chodounská 62 Librarians as designers Case studies on the improvement of library services The Libdesign project focused on library research, conducted solely in academic libraries. We drew on the Research activities project (vyzkumy.knihovna.cz) the aim of which was to provide libraries with methodological support, in particular in conducting satisfaction surveys and obtaining feedback. In line with the HCD approach, we first needed to map the territory. Therefore, the Hear phase also included desk research: specialized resources search, mapping of research activities in libraries, identifying key persons and institutions in the field, analysis of educational events concerning research activities that were carried out in the past four years. An initial survey can help specify the problem and look for a solution as it often shows that a similar problem has already been dealt with by somebody else. Using the information obtained, we created a questionnaire. We sent it by e-mail to representatives of academic libraries listed in the directory of the Association of Libraries of Czech Universities that comprised 80% of the sample and also to specialized and regional libraries. Our aim was to identify the needs, attitudes and experience of library staff. One of the positive effects of the questionnaire was its recruiting function — obtaining contact details of employees willing to participate in the next round of the survey. This enabled us to conduct five in-depth interviews. These were semi-structured interviews conducted in accordance with a pre-scripted scenario. They were aimed at gaining a deeper insight into the problems that the employees engaged in research at the given institution are faced with. We needed to arrive at a more specific focus of the project that was at this phase defined in relatively vague terms as “research support in academic libraries”. The data gained through the questionnaire and the interviews crystallized into three personas, model (in this case all female) representatives of the target group. We also identified several issues. The most significant ones were: ⊲ difficulty in convincing library management about research benefits, ⊲ insufficient human resources basis to conduct research, ⊲ insufficient knowledge to conduct the research or adapt it to the needs of the institution. We entered the creative phase of the design process with a clearer idea of the target group and with ideas for a solution that needed to be tested. We prepared two prototypes and presented them to the representatives of the target audience during a focus group session. The first prototype was a conference; the workshop participants were putting together an ideal programme using suggestions prepared in advance or their own contributions. The second idea tested was an information sharing platform. Its form was not specified — whether e.g. a website or a regular newsletter will be used. The final design was to reflect the needs of the target group.