Karoline Hoff
PhD fellow at Oslo Metropolitan University
Karoline Kornkveen Hoff is a PhD candidate at the Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science at OsloMet. She holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the same department and has previously worked as an e-resources librarian at the University of Oslo Library. With a background in IT, her research interests include human-computer interaction, interactive information retrieval, and user behaviour.
Her current research explores how academic libraries can support students’ research practices by improving access to scholarly resources through digital gateways.
Tell us about your project!
This PhD project explores student information-seeking behaviour and information retrieval practices within the context of academic writing at the University of Oslo Library. Central to the study is the students' strategies for accessing full-text documents, using the digital gateways to the University Library’s collections. The research investigates how students use Oria, the library’s discovery system, but also what steps they take before reaching it and whether they opt for alternative approaches.
Combining qualitative methods such as think-aloud observations and interviews with transaction log analysis, the project aims to understand students’ information-seeking behaviour, their perceptions of the information landscape they find themselves in, and patterns in system usage. The emphasis is on user experience rather than system performance, situated within the fields of human-computer interaction, user behaviour and interactive information retrieval..
“This PhD project explores student information-seeking behaviour and information retrieval practices within the context of academic writing at the University of Oslo Library”
— Karoline Hoff on her PhD project “Students’ use and perception of the digital gateways to the University of Oslo Library collections”