discovery on a budget: improved searching without a web-scale discovery product

DISCOVERY ON A BUDGETImproved searching without a Web-scale discovery product

Chris Bulock, Electronic Resources Librarian

cbulock@siue.edu

Lynn Fields, Director of Technical Services

lfields@siue.edu

Who we are• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE)

• Master’s level with several professional programs• Approximately 14,000 students

• 11,000 undergraduates• 3,000 graduate and professional school students

Who we are• Library and Information Services (LIS) (Lovejoy Library)

• Collections• Approximately 800,000 volumes• 10,000 cataloged eBooks• 3,000 print journals• 19,000 full-text eJournals• 650,000 government publications• 1.6 million pieces of microform• 142,000 maps• 31,000 multimedia items

Resource discovery• Local and universal catalogs

Resource discovery• Local catalog – UFind

Resource discovery• Consortial catalog – I-Share

Resource discovery• Universal catalog – WorldCat Local Quick Start

Resource discovery• Journals and general and subject-specific database lists

Resource discovery• eJournal list - SFX

Resource discovery• Database list by subject

Resource discovery• All databases and eResources

User Studies• LIS Web Task Force formed in 2009

• Charged with considering the future of the website• Decided to approach website redesign from the bottom up

Paper Study One• Paper worksheet that simulated navigating the library

website• Seven navigational questions of varying complexity• Two additional questionnaires:

• Demographic information• Wrap up questions soliciting input on ways to improve the website

Paper Study One - Results• 109 participants

• 79 undergraduates, 11 graduate students, 14 faculty and staff, 5 other

• Data revealed confusion regarding the website both in terms of organization and use of library jargon

• Comments included:• “Too many links”• “Not meaningful. Find better labels for sections.”

Paper Study One - Action• Central section of the website was reduced to three broad

sections• No more than four links under each section

• Left column of the page reserved for quick links to specific resource discovery tools

• Right column links reserved for public relations items such as New Books, Featured Resources and Trials, etc.

• Planned a second paper study using the redesigned website

Paper Study Two• Survey instrument identical to first, but with images from

new website

Paper Study Two - Results• 75 participants

• 65 undergraduates, 6 graduate students, 4 faculty and staff

• Participants did a better job of completing the discovery tasks, but:• still confusion about possible overlap between links• terminology not always clear

• Comments more positive• “The division of links into concise sections was helpful.”• “I like the new layout, thanks for your dedication.”

Paper Study Two - Action• Because so much had been moved to secondary pages,

the Task Force decided a paper study was no longer telling the whole story• Decided an observational study would provide more data

Observational Study One• Limited to two tasks performed on live website

• Investigators notated each link clicked, and the time taken to complete the task

• Same demographic and wrap up questions as paper study

Observational Study One - Results• 25 participants

• 18 undergraduates, 5 graduate students, and 2 faculty and staff

• Success rates were lower than on the paper study, due to confusion on secondary web pages

• About half of participants were unable to complete the discovery tasks

• Comments were generally positive, but several participants noted that the website would be very clear and easy once they had more experience.

• Several participants noted that instruction would be helpful

Observational Study One - Action• Study showed more improvements were necessary

• Modified the order of links and the language used on secondary pages

• Goal was to help clarify the difference between the journal list, the list of all eResources (databases) and eResources (databases) arranged by subject

• Second observational study was planned

Observational Study Two• Same survey instrument as Observational Study One

• Participants were divided into two groups and shown two different versions of the main page, but the same secondary pages

Observational Study Two - Results• 50 participants

• 32 undergraduates, 16 graduate students, and 2 others

• Participants were much more successful with both tasks than Observation Study One

• The different versions of the main page did not seem to affect the results

• Comments were mostly positive• “Very easy to navigate.”• “Once you know where everything is, it is easy.”

Overall - Demographics

Overall - Finding a Journal by Title

Overall - Finding an Article by Subject

Outcomes• Website redesign was guided by user input

• Observational Study Two showed that more improvements were still needed

• Studies emphasized the importance of regularly surveying users and using those results to aid in website redesign

Catalog User Study

Catalog User Study • Three separate surveys

• eBooks• Searching and facets• Shared catalog (I-Share)

• Short – 4 questions plus demographics and wrap up

• Observational – “talk out loud”

• 42 participants• 35 undergraduates, 7 graduate students

Demographics

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undergraduate graduate

Library Experience

Frequency of Library Visits

Catalog User Study - eBooks• What we wanted to determine:

• Could participants:• Find an eBook in our catalog• Distinguish between an eBook and a print book• Sort through a large hit-list to find eBooks

• Results• Hit or miss performance• Narrowed results to “electronic” 9 of 60 times• Lots of scrolling through results screens• Occasionally misidentified print books as eBooks

Catalog User Study – Lovejoy Searching

• What we wanted to determine:• Could participants:

• Decipher our catalog displays• Limit by using facets

• Results• Participants could generally navigate catalog• Used facets in some cases, but usually not• Again, often favored scrolling over limiting• Had difficulty dealing with uncertainty

Catalog User Study – I-Share Searching

• What we wanted to determine:• Could participants:

• Decipher the I-Share display• Limit by using facets

• Did participants understand the difference between the local catalog and I-Share

• Results• Students could navigate I-Share• Some had trouble finding local holdings in I-Share• 7 of 12 students narrowed by language on appropriate question• 8 of 12 narrowed by format or region on appropriate question

Overall - Searching

Overall - Facets

Participated in Library Instruction

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no intro major other

Impact of Instruction• Students with instruction used average of

• 1.62 non-keyword searches• 1.04 facets

• Students without instruction used average of• 1.38 non-keyword searches• 0.69 facets

• Not statistically significant

What We Learned• Gap between freshman instruction and senior capstone

instruction

• Need to develop more specific instruction sessions on topics such as eBooks and facets

• Need to develop more collaborative partnerships with teaching faculty

What is Discovery?• More than journey from search box to full text• Many factors affect end result

• Research question, search terms• Organization of library website• Place of search/browse tool• Description/name of tool• Terminology and labels• Look of database/catalog• First page of results• Ease of getting to full text• Technical problems

Space shuttle discovery, NASAhttp://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-13/html/iss013e48788.html

Core Lessons

1. Names and Language

2. Order Matters

3. Be Familiar

4. Let Users Help You

5. Search Boxes

6. Work Together

1. Names and Language• Define the following:

• Database• Research• Periodical• E-resource

• Will students know what these are?

1. Names and Language• Action-based language

• Get, find, search, ask

• Cut down on vendor branding• Meaningful service names (not SFX)

• User needs to know what they can do

2. Order Matters• First impressions are important

• Front page• First page of results• First link

• Arrange for prominence• Services listed on page• Sources in resolver menu• DBs in subject guide

Jason Molenda http://molenda.us/photos/alameda-criterium-2006-03-05/_DSC8458-r.html

2. Order Matters

•Minimize reading

3. Be Familiar

3. Be Familiar• Doesn’t have to mirror Google, but certain conventions

are worth noting• What do you see in different parts of the screen?

4. Let Users Help You• Surveys, focus groups, observation studies• Get more than just the vocal minority• Feedback forms• Blogs

4. Let Users Help You• Automate whenever you can• Link resolver• Proxy server• Use language users will understand• Google forms

5. Search Boxes• No box can search everything

• But people will use it for anything

• NCSU single search analysis• Used for articles, catalog, website, more• http://crl.acrl.org/content/early/2012/01/09/crl-321.full.pdf+html

• If search box is limited, make that clear• Searches of database titles (not db content) problematic

5. Search Boxes• You can already bring article searching to the front page• Do you already have a starting point for article searching?

• WorldCat Local quick start• Multi-subject databases

• Do they have an API you could use?

6. Work Together• Discovery doesn’t respect department divisions

• Web design• Electronic Resources• Cataloging• Collections and Metadata• Instruction• Teaching faculty

• Work together from the beginning

Wrap up• Don’t just think like a user, get them involved• Keep changing• Remember that discovery process has many steps

“Fostering Discovery through Web Interface Design: Perpetual Beta as the New Norm”inPlanning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic LibrariesMary Pagliero Popp and Diane Dallis http://www.igi-global.com/book/planning-implementing-resource-discovery-tools/62623

Questions?