Usability & Libraries
Peter Webster, Systems Librarian, Saint Mary's University
Yu-Hui Chen, Bibliographer & outreach Librarian for Education
Carol Anne Germain, Networked Resources Education Librarian, University at Albany
Libraries know that their online services are not perfect.
But users view library online services as "broken" and unusable
What We Hear from Users
-There are too many places and choices to search, I can't find what I need.
-The library needs more stuff. Finding good references that are not available is really frustrating. ***I get this ALL the time.***
-I'll just use Google instead. Everything is in Google anyway.
Beyond user friendly software and reliable hardware
-users expect easy, direct and immediate access to needed info
-users have ever improving alternatives to judge library services by
-users have little tolerance for services which fail to meet rising expectations
Basic Service expectations
-Confusing, Inconvenient, Unreliable, Slow = broken
-Less than immediate access to information = broken
-Limited or incomplete collections = broken
Areas for focus for the future
-seamless, simple, fast and reliable systems and services
-Common interfaces, seamless and integrated discovery
-Comprehensive information access
Project Overview
-Online survey ARL academic libraries
-84 institutions participated
-Survey content
--Policies/standards/guidelines
--Usability testing
--Resources (staff, time, training)
Issues, Challenges, & Recommendations
-Stakeholders
--Little knowledge of and support for usability
--Limited usability expertise
--Political agenda
-Resources
--Staff and time
--Organizational knowledge
If we have good usability, then users will stay. If we do not have what they want or can use then they will go elsewhere. ***I have been saying this for years, yet I still do not have any listeners. Librarians do not necessarily know what is best for the user.***
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