Applying web usability techniques to assess student awareness of library web resources

Krueger, Janice M.

doi:10.1016/s0099-1333(04)00060-6

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Krueger et al (2004) analyzed students’ awareness concerning the website of their university library. Data were collected from 134 students, who were assigned eight search tasks and used their web browser to perform these tasks.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

İnal

2018

AJIM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the National Library of Turkey website developed for all citizens in the country to retrieve information available in a wide range of areas. Design/methodology/approach The evaluation performed by 57 undergraduate university students involved the identification and analysis of usability problems in the selected website. The assessment process was mainly based on Nielsen’s Heuristics. The data obtained in the evaluation process were enriched using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to conduct a more detailed analysis. Findings The participants identified many usability problems concerning the evaluated website and considered it as having low usability characteristics. The most violated heuristic item was found to be “consistency and standards” whereas the least violated heuristic item was “match between system and the real world.” The total number of the usability problems in heuristic evaluation correlated significantly and negatively with the SUS and the NPS results indicating that the more participants identified usability problems, the less they considered the website as usable and recommendable. Research limitations/implications The participants were not usability experts, however they were selected from among the students who received the Human Computer Interaction course to ensure that they had sufficient information and experience concerning the evaluation of a website with heuristics. Besides, the study was limited to a small number of university students. The implication is that results of this study have potential to guide libraries, which plan to adapt themselves to the digital world by delivering web services, by addressing critical points influencing users’ points of views toward library websites and their usability evaluation result. Practical implications Depending on the changes in user habits regarding the retrieval of information, libraries have made considerable investments in web technologies to meet their users’ demands, and recently, digital libraries have begun to take over physical libraries. Users always need to perform tasks efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily when using websites. As one of the most crucial sources of digital materials, library websites are expected to have usable characteristics that satisfactorily meet user requirements. Therefore, the practical implication is that the findings of the study will guide designers, developers and practitioners in the development of library websites. Originality/value In the context of usability evaluation of digital libraries, this is the first study to analyze effects of usability problems identified by users during the heuristic inspection on their overall evaluation score and willingness to recommend the website to their friends or colleagues.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

İnal

2018

AJIM

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“…7 Kruegar et al points out that "The majority of studies agree that users are frustrated by confusing library terminology and an overwhelming amount of information." 8 Understanding that library jargon could affect student ability to find the full text of articles from the five selected databases, the authors designed this study to include a survey to test student comprehension of the three most vital words needed for article retrieval: "abstract," "full text," and "pdf. "…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial Database Design vs. Library Terminology Comprehension: Why Do Students Print Abstracts Instead of Full-Text Articles?

Imler

Eichelberger

2014

CRL

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When asked to print the full text of an article, many undergraduate college students print the abstract instead of the full text. This study seeks to determine the underlying cause(s) of this confusion. In this quantitative study, participants (n=40) performed five usability tasks to assess ease of use and usefulness of five commercial library databases and were surveyed on their understanding of library terminology. The study revealed that more than half of the students correctly defined the term "Abstract" and over 75 percent understood "full text." However, only 25 percent of the students were able to successfully complete all five database tasks.ver the past 10 to 15 years, while working at the reference desk, the authors have come across hundreds of printouts of journal article abstracts lying unclaimed next to the library's printers. These orphan abstracts beg the question, "Do students know the difference between an abstract and the full text of an article before they hit the print button?" For all of the abstracts that were left unclaimed, the authors knew that many more were being given to professors as examples of journal articles and being used as sources for research papers. In a previous research study, the authors found that, of 39 students who had been exposed to the concepts of "abstract" and "full text" through library instruction, only 62 percent were able to find and print the full text of five articles related to their research assignment. The remaining 38 percent of students printed at least one abstract in place of the full text. 1The authors were interested in studying the underlying cause or causes of this disconnect. Did our students not know the difference between an abstract and the full text of an article, even when they had received instruction on these concepts? Or were the database results pages designed so that the full text of the article was too difficult to find? Or was there a combination of factors leading to the students' obvious confusion?

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“…To implement usability methods and/or testing tools, libraries need additional resources, including staffing, training, and technical expertise. Some institutions employ graduate or other student assistants (Kuregger, Ray, & Knight, 2004; Ward, 2006); others collaborate with academic departments (Clark, 2004; Manzari & Trinidad‐Christensen, 2006; Ward & Hiller, 2005) or Human‐Computer Interaction Institutes (George, 2005) to oversee testing. Off‐campus consultants are also utilized to assist with the testing process or to facilitate focus groups (Tolliver et al, 2005; VandeCreek, 2005).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An exploration into the practices of library Web usability in ARL academic libraries

Chen

Germain

Yang

2009

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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A survey of the 113 academic libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) was administered to investigate whether Web usability Policies/Standards/ Guidelines (PSGs) are in place, the levels of difficulty surrounding implementation, the impact of PSGs on actual usability practice, e.g., testing, resources, etc., and the relationship between ARL ranking and usability practice or PSGs. The response rate was over 74%. Results show that 25 (30%) libraries have PSGs dedicated to Web usability. Seventy-one (85%) libraries have conducted usability testing on their main Web sites, online public access catalogs (OPAC), or lower-level pages. Nevertheless, only seven libraries performed iterative testing of these platforms at pre-, during, and post-design stages. Statistical analysis indicates that having PSGs does not affect the amount of usability testing performed or the resources available for library Web usability initiatives. In addition, ARL ranking has no or little impact on PSGs, testing, or resources.

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Applying web usability techniques to assess student awareness of library web resources

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

Commercial Database Design vs. Library Terminology Comprehension: Why Do Students Print Abstracts Instead of Full-Text Articles?

An exploration into the practices of library Web usability in ARL academic libraries

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