| Subject guides are lists of resources created by academic librarians to assist students in meeting their research needs. While academic librarians ascribe great importance to the creation and maintenance of subject guides, it is often difficult to tell whether students and faculty find them useful. A review of the literature reveals a lack of user-centered data in this area. This study involves the distribution of two survey research instruments to investigate if and how undergraduate students and teaching faculty use subject guides at San Jose State University. Students in three areas of study---Nursing, Journalism & Mass Communications, and Organization & Management---are surveyed on their use of subject guides. Teaching faculty across all disciplines are also surveyed on the use of subject guides in their field(s). Study results show that students who have received library instruction are likely to use subject guides more frequently. Also, teaching faculty members who use subject guides are more likely to encourage their students to do so. |
