Users and technology: are we doing research now?

There is an obvious need for user studies. Libraries are facing new technologies within a rapidly changing digital environment. New services need to be developed and tested. Until lately, librarians primary received money for building something, such as a digital library. Whether that service actually met users needs often seemed secondary, and research about users, their behavior and their needs were an add-on at the end of a project. In the last two years, this situation has changed. The topic of user experience is suddenly omnipresent at conferences and in journal articles. Librarians seem to have realized that the user's involvement in as many development steps as possible is a real need – and a real plus.