The influence of familiarity and signage on wayfinding in academic libraries : the case of Bilkent University Library

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between utilized signage types, familiarity and confidence in respondents’ cognitive maps in academic libraries. Besides, it is to understand the influence of utilized signs on wayfinding performance. The experiment was administered in Bilkent University Library. Seventy one non-architecture university students from Bilkent University participated in the study, which was conducted in two parts. The first part was a library tour which involved reaching two target rooms. The second part utilized a questionnaire which inquired about respondents’ familiarity, confidence in their cognitive maps and signage. The study found that although newcomers had higher number of wrong turns and time spent to reach destination points, there was no difference in hesitation. As in other types of spaces, wrong turns and time spent decreased with increasing familiarity.