Improving Wayfinding in a UK Higher Education Institution Library

This paper provides an analysis of ShelfMap, an online wayfinding tool which was the centrepiece of a mixed methods case study which aimed to improve understanding of the information practice of students interacting with classification schemas in order to find material in the stacks. It measured changes in wayfinding skill levels resulting from the introduction of ShelfMap to a UK Higher Education Institution (HEI) library. There was a 39% time saving to find the correct stack which held the item sought and a 33% time saving to find the item itself. Locating the stack was found to be more difficult than finding the item itself, so this time saving is encouraging. A reduction in anxiety levels was also detected suggesting a more positive relationship between the students and their environment had been fostered. There are recommendations on how libraries can improve their wayfinding and boost students’ information literacy