Information Seeking through Students’ Eyes: The MIT Photo Diary Study

In 2006, a team of librarians at MIT conducted a photo diary study of thirty-two students' academic information-seeking behaviors. The aim of this qualitative research approach, based on analyzing a week of student-generated photos and diary entries, was to understand how to design MIT's library systems and services to more effectively support students' information-seeking practices. The project generated data on 275 distinct information-seeking tasks used by the students. Examination of their goals, tasks and methods informed the MIT Libraries' priorities and planning efforts for improving library online systems in the following areas: improving discovery and search, incorporating trusted resources in finding tools and increasing links to library resources in external sites popular with the MIT community.