Evaluation of Visual Art Researcher Information Needs: Visualizing Patron-Library Interaction in the Art Repository

<div class="page" title="Page 1"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> This study focused on how art researchers understand, interpret, and interact with visual art resources and how these interactions influenced their research initiatives. In an effort to contribute new evidence to the established discourse on research behaviors for the visual art field, oral interviews were conducted at the Sloane Art Library at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty art scholars to determine differences and similarities in behaviors and perceptions. These interviews were followed by a survey questionnaire about their experience as a researcher utilizing art library collections and additional information about their research discipline. This study explores how art researchers find and use library sources and identifies information seeking behaviors unique to art professionals. The data collected outlines new recommendations that increase patron engagement and collection circulation for art libraries. </div> </div> </div>