Staff Biography

Biography

As Head of User Research and Assessment at Syracuse University Library, I have responsibility for coordinating and conducting research that identifies user needs for library resources, services and facilities. Prior to my appointment in this area I led Digital & Electronic Resource Management Services at the Library. I’ve served Electronic Resources Coordinator at New Mexico State University Library, as Systems Librarian and Head of Technical Services at the Thomas Branigan Public Library (Las Cruces, New Mexico) and as a research specialist at the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I have an MLIS from Clark Atlanta University, an M.A. in social sciences from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Interests

• Qualitative research and analysis, particularly ethnographic methods

• User-centered design related to:

  • Research and information seeking

  • Libraries and learning

  • Library assessment and metrics

Related Presentations and Publications

• Turner, N. B. & Ryan, B. (2008, December) Patterns of Culture: Realigning Library Culture with User Needs. Paper presented at the fall task force meeting of the Coalition for Networked Information, Washington, DC. http://www.cni.org/tfms/2008b.fall/Abstracts/PB-patternsryan Turner, N. B. (2008, August) Patterns of Culture: Re-Aligning Library Culture to Meet User Needs. Paper presented at the Library Assessment Conference, Seattle, WA. http://libraryassessment.org/schedule/index.shtml

• Turner, N.B. (2007, October) Patterns of Culture: The “Evolution” of an Ethnographic Project. Invited paper presented at the annual meeting of the New England Library Association, Sturbridge, MA.

• Turner, N.B. (2006, April) Awash in Numbers. New Directions for Managing Electronic Resources and Their Usage Statistics. Paper presented at the spring conference of the Eastern New York/Association of Research Libraries, Hamilton, NY.

• Beck, S.E. & Turner, N.B. (2002, June) Search and Rescue: Repair strategies of remote users searching the online catalog. Paper presented at the American Library Association’s Eighth Annual Reference Research Forum, Atlanta, GA. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/sections/rss/rsssection/rsscomm/rssresstat/search.ppt

• Turner, N. B. (2002) Baffled, befuddled or bemused: Testing students' use of the online catalog. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 9(1), 71-79.

• Beck, S. E. & Turner, N.B. (2001) On the fly BI: Reaching and teaching from the reference desk. The Reference Librarian (72), 83-96. Published simultaneously in C. H. Mabry (Ed.) Doing the Work of Reference: Practical Tips for Excelling as a Reference Librarian. Hazleton, PA: Haworth Press

• Beck, S.E., Turner, N. B. & Hylen, J. (2001, April) So now what? Navigation and the online catalog. Paper presented at the meeting of the Voyager Users Group, Chicago, IL. Turner, N. B. (2001, October) Baffled, befuddled or bemused: Usability testing of library web sites. Paper presented at the meeting of the New Mexico Council for Higher Education Computing and Communication Services. Roswell, NM.

• Turner, N. B. (2000, May) Designing an OPAC from the ground up. Paper presented at the Integrated Online Library Systems Conference, New York, NY and published in Cibbarelli, P.R. & Nixon, C. (Compilers) Integrated Online Library Systems—Proceedings—2000. (pp. 159-166) Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.