Failure in the Library: A Case Study

Abstract

The ability of the library to produce the documents its users require is important, not only for the advance of scholarship but also for the credibility of the library with those who use and fund it. A large academic library measured the extent to which its users failed to find known items they were seeking in the catalog or on the shelves. A total of 2,991 persons were interviewed, and the overall failure rate was 35.9 percent. Failure rate at the catalog was 26.2 percent, and user errors of one kind or another caused almost two-thirds of the failures. Failure rate at the shelf was 46.1 percent, and user errors contributed to more than half the failures. These findings are generally in line with those of similar studies conducted elsewhere. Academic research libraries which seek to be effective partners in the teaching, learning, and research process must take steps to reduce the rate of user failure.