Observational study of Rubenstein Photography Gallery - April 2016

Abstract

An observational study of the Rubenstein Photography gallery was conducted from March 9th, 2016 to April 13th, 2016. It was observed that the majority of people passing through the gallery seem to use it mainly as a thoroughfare as opposed to a “destination”, with only 25.85% looking at the exhibit. “Looking at the exhibit” was defined as someone who looked at the exhibit as they passed through as well as those who stopped to interact with it. Additional publicity and signs on the library’s efforts to increase research visibility in the reading rooms could increase exhibit driven traffic, specifically in the form of vinyl lettering on the glass walls of the research room. Individuals who chose to remain in the gallery spent an average of 2 minutes and 43 seconds minutes in the space, with the majority of them spending less than 60 seconds there. An unexpected percentage of individuals were observed peering into classrooms and reading rooms, potentially curious about the use of those rooms.