Fostering humanization in academic libraries
a case study about scaffolding autonomy and trust in students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54886/ibersid.v18i2.4993Keywords:
University libraries, Reference services, Learning strategies, Humanization, Academic skills, User studies, Case studiesAbstract
The role of libraries in contributing to the humanisation of higher education, through proximity services, is discussed; and a user satisfaction study carried out on the subject in the libraries of the Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) is presented. A survey was applied to 100 users of a higher education library in Portugal, over 3 years (including the COVID-19 years). Having selected the parameters involved in the humanization of services, the results, measured on a Likert scale from 1 (dissatisfied) to 4 (very satisfied), reveal improvements in user satisfaction with the quality of the collections, the personalized reference services, and the training & support offered. Challenges identified include adapting information resources to users' needs, promoting community inclusion, ensuring equitable and quality care, and providing training in advanced research skills. Higher education libraries play a fundamental role in higher education humanization, providing proximity services that contribute to developing students' autonomy and confidence. The positive satisfaction indicators suggest that humanization in higher education can be successfully achieved with the contribution of these services.
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© 2007- . Authors retain their copyright, but transfer the exploitation rights (reproduction, distribution, public communication and transformation) to the journal in a non-exclusive way and guarantee the right to the first publication of their work to the journal, which will be simultaneously subjected to the license CC BY-NC-ND. Authors take whole personal responsibility on fulfilling all the appropiate ethical codes and laws, and obtaining all the necessary copyright permissions regarding their articles. Institutional and self- archiving is allowed and encouraged.
