Capitalizing on new forms of academic library’s intellectual assets: a new library mobile application proposition

Abstract

Library and information science experts around the globe are currently exploring ways of capitalizing student workflow data within library walls. Within this realm, the researchers designed and pilot-tested a user-driven lightweight application that envisions library as a crucial contributor of co-curricular data to learner profiles’ contextual integrity. The prototype usability test conducted in December 2018 with the participation of 30 students at the University of West Attica, Greece, aimed not only to record participants’ perspectives about the application but also to trace their attitudes towards this new kind of intervention. Post-test questionnaires yield a variety of positive rich-textured comments indicating students’ interest in the emerging conversation around library use data capitalization. The participants felt positive about the need to develop a culture that fosters the reconsideration of library value constituents and their new dynamic role in the educational context. The pilot-tested application could serve as a reference for the improvement of academic library use data collection practices. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.