Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
On Mon, Feb 04, 2008 at 02:36:55PM -0500, David Fiander wrote:
> Markus,
>
> Thanks. It's also available in the ACM digital library, which is where
> I found it.
Speaking of "usability", why is it I can search for the exact title
("usability evaluation of library online catalogues") at the ACM digital
library and the article is the 15th hit in the results?
Gabriel
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
Actually, the idea of using AJAX to create a way to add and remove
limits diagonally is exactly what U Virginia's blacklight interface
does, although with a slightly different interface:
http://blacklight.betech.virginia.edu/
It's also similar to the way that Engineering Village allows for
control of searches within its bibliographic databases.
- David
On Feb 4, 2008 3:42 PM, Genny Engel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hmm. From the problems they identify, their proposed solution of adding
> Ajax controls to a moded search, in my opinion, utterly misses the
> point. Moded searches (and moded interfaces generally) have long been
> known to create usability problems. Rather than providing a search that
> works differently depending on the previously selected settings, it's
> better to let the user choose their options on the fly, so they don't
> have to remember to toggle off an old setting.
>
> Many of the problems identified are things that are pretty easy to fix,
> but every fix comes at a price. On our catalog we set the "advanced"
> search not to include the heading browse, so the problem identified in
> this article with people trying to apply bibliographic-level limits to
> heading-level indexes just doesn't occur. The downside is, most people
> don't find the heading browse ("Begins with ...") option when they do,
> in fact, want an exact title.
>
> It'll be interesting to see the findings when the researchers test
> their proposed interface.
>
>
>
> Genny Engel
> Internet Librarian
> Sonoma County Library
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 707 545-0831 x581
> www.sonomalibrary.org
>
>
>
> >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 02/04/08 11:05AM >>>
> A New Zealand based study published by the ACM
>
>
> White, H., Wright, T., and Chawner, B. 2006. Usability evaluation of
> library online catalogues. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian User
> interface Conference - Volume 50 (Hobart, Australia, January 16 - 19,
> 2006). W. Piekarski, Ed. ACM International Conference Proceeding
> Series, vol. 169. Australian Computer Society, Darlinghurst,
> Australia, 69-72.
>
> Money quote from abstract:
>
> "The evaluation found severe usability problems with online
> catalogues--we found so many problems we were forced to use a card
> sorting technique to understand and classify the problems."
>
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
Hmm. From the problems they identify, their proposed solution of adding
Ajax controls to a moded search, in my opinion, utterly misses the
point. Moded searches (and moded interfaces generally) have long been
known to create usability problems. Rather than providing a search that
works differently depending on the previously selected settings, it's
better to let the user choose their options on the fly, so they don't
have to remember to toggle off an old setting.
Many of the problems identified are things that are pretty easy to fix,
but every fix comes at a price. On our catalog we set the "advanced"
search not to include the heading browse, so the problem identified in
this article with people trying to apply bibliographic-level limits to
heading-level indexes just doesn't occur. The downside is, most people
don't find the heading browse ("Begins with ...") option when they do,
in fact, want an exact title.
It'll be interesting to see the findings when the researchers test
their proposed interface.
Genny Engel
Internet Librarian
Sonoma County Library
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
707 545-0831 x581
www.sonomalibrary.org
>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 02/04/08 11:05AM >>>
A New Zealand based study published by the ACM
White, H., Wright, T., and Chawner, B. 2006. Usability evaluation of
library online catalogues. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian User
interface Conference - Volume 50 (Hobart, Australia, January 16 - 19,
2006). W. Piekarski, Ed. ACM International Conference Proceeding
Series, vol. 169. Australian Computer Society, Darlinghurst,
Australia, 69-72.
Money quote from abstract:
"The evaluation found severe usability problems with online
catalogues--we found so many problems we were forced to use a card
sorting technique to understand and classify the problems."
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Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
Markus, Thanks. It's also available in the ACM digital library, which is where I found it. - David On Feb 4, 2008 2:24 PM, Markus Fischer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > White, H., Wright, T., and Chawner, B. 2006. Usability evaluation of > > library online catalogues. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian User > > interface Conference - Volume 50 (Hobart, Australia, January 16 - 19, > > 2006). W. Piekarski, Ed. ACM International Conference Proceeding > > Series, vol. 169. Australian Computer Society, Darlinghurst, > > Australia, 69-72. > > > > Money quote from abstract: > > > > "The evaluation found severe usability problems with online > > catalogues--we found so many problems we were forced to use a card > > sorting technique to understand and classify the problems." > > If you want to read the article in fulltext: > > http://libra.msra.cn/paperdetail.aspx?id=2361959 > > cheers! > Markus Fischer >
Re: [CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
> White, H., Wright, T., and Chawner, B. 2006. Usability evaluation of > library online catalogues. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian User > interface Conference - Volume 50 (Hobart, Australia, January 16 - 19, > 2006). W. Piekarski, Ed. ACM International Conference Proceeding > Series, vol. 169. Australian Computer Society, Darlinghurst, > Australia, 69-72. > > Money quote from abstract: > > "The evaluation found severe usability problems with online > catalogues--we found so many problems we were forced to use a card > sorting technique to understand and classify the problems." If you want to read the article in fulltext: http://libra.msra.cn/paperdetail.aspx?id=2361959 cheers! Markus Fischer
[CODE4LIB] Usability evaluation of library online catalogues
A New Zealand based study published by the ACM White, H., Wright, T., and Chawner, B. 2006. Usability evaluation of library online catalogues. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian User interface Conference - Volume 50 (Hobart, Australia, January 16 - 19, 2006). W. Piekarski, Ed. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, vol. 169. Australian Computer Society, Darlinghurst, Australia, 69-72. Money quote from abstract: "The evaluation found severe usability problems with online catalogues--we found so many problems we were forced to use a card sorting technique to understand and classify the problems."
