This project was funded by the OCLC-ALISE Library & Information Science Research Grant. The grant is awarded annually through the collaboration of OCLC Research and the Association for Library and Information Science Education.
How do Latino populations seek, access, and use information online? What role does social media and digital technology play in their lives? What role can libraries play to increase Latino access to information and library resources?
The goals of this qualitative and exploratory project were to identify the ways in which multiple Latino populations use mobile technologies and social media for information- seeking; create profiles for various user types; and seek the feedback of librarians on the usefulness of those profiles in creating interactions with library users.
Our research focused on the Latino communities in the Midwestern United States, and we sought information using three methods: interviews with community gatekeepers who helped us find participants, interviews with community participants who used mobile technologies and social media in their daily lives, and triangulation with existing data sets on mobile and social technology use among Latino populations.
The interview protocol for Gatekeepers and the interview protocol for community informants we used are available here as PDFs.
Denice Adkins is an associate professor at the University of Missouri's iSchool, former Fulbright Scholar to Honduras, and past-president of REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking).
View her research at http://deniceadkins.com
Heather Moulaison Sandy is an associate professor at the University of Missouri's iSchool. Her primary research area is organization of information, where she focuses on access to information especially through the use of internet-based technologies.
View her research at http://moulaison.net