Navigating Online Menus: A Quantitative Experiment

Eliasen, Karen; McKinstry, Jill; Fraser, Beth; Babbitt, Elizabeth P.

doi:10.5860/crl.58.6.509

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Empirical methods, particularly a formal usability test, have been more frequently used than inspection methods in digital libraries. In 1997, Eliasen et al (1997) tested users' abilities to select relevant databases from a library homepage. Participants were asked to perform tasks using three versions of low‐fidelity prototypes, and the researchers compared the prototypes on the basis of the user observations.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the usability of academic digital libraries

Joo

Lee

2011

The Electronic Library

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PurposeThis study aims to develop a measurement instrument, which involves four usability dimensions of efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, as a way of assessing the usability of academic digital libraries.Design/methodology/approachTo generate measurement items, previous research related to usability frameworks, usability guidelines, and empirical usability tests was reviewed. The measurement instrument was then verified in terms of reliability and validity, empirically using data from 230 actual users of an academic digital library. To ensure the reliability of the instrument, internal consistency of measurements, measurement item reliability, and construct reliability were examined. Construct validity, which consists of convergent validity and discriminant validity, was also examined on the basis of confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe usability evaluation instrument suggested in this study comprises four dimensions: efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, and three to four items were identified to measure each dimension.Originality/valueTo date, while many of the usability studies have relied on either experimental methods or inspection methods, few studies have been conducted to identify evaluation measures that can assess the usability of a digital library from a survey method. This study is one of a few studies to develop a measurement instrument tailored to academic digital library environments.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the usability of academic digital libraries

Joo

Lee

2011

The Electronic Library

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“…Their study found that student search success increased as a result of enhancements to the database interface. 4 However, the interface discussed in this article was not Web based. In an article that examined and compared the GUIs of several online database services, Allison J.…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Preferences for Search System Interfaces and the Role of Emotive Forces: A Research Challenge

Bell

1999

CRL

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Information professionals have observed that Web-based search interfaces simplify database searching and are preferred over other interfaces. A further anecdotal observation is that their features, in comparison to other interfaces, enhance the quality of search sessions, resulting in better outcomes. One explanation is that Web interfaces ease the negative emotive forces searchers experience with other interfaces. This paper examines the challenges in designing a research method to test the validity of these assumptions and observations. Although Web interfaces may provide a more supportive search setting, particularly for less experienced searchers, there is no evidence they contribute to better search outcomes.rofessional and end-user searchers of commercial online databases have more interface options today than at any time in the recent past. The three primary interface options are Windows clients for PCs or Macs, Web clients, and Telnet or DOS clients. Windows and Web clients are characterized by their point-and-click, graphical user interface (GUI), although Windows clients typically offer greater functionality than Web clients, whereas Telnet or DOS clients are character-based systems. Having more options means more confusion about choices. The PC client may offer the greatest level of search functionality, but it brings the burden of distributing client software to the user population and of offering an update mechanism each time a new upgrade is available. Library managers may prefer the Web client because it is more easily distributed, is customized, and provides a platform-free environment. Online searchers will seek out the interface that is most compatible with their computing capabilities and individual informationseeking styles. This may help the searcher achieve better results.This article examines the impact of the system interface on searcher behavior and the quality of search results. A widely held assumption is that Web-based interfaces are easier to use. This is one reason for their

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LibraryFind: System design and usability testing of academic metasearch system

Jung

Herlocker

Webster

et al. 2007

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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Using off-the-shelf search technology provides a single point of access into library resources, but we found that such commercial systems are not entirely satisfactory for the academic library setting. In response to this, Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries designed and deployed LibraryFind, a metasearch system. We conducted a usability experiment comparing LibraryFind, the OSU Libraries Web site, and Google Scholar. Each participant used all three search systems in a controlled setting, and we recorded their behavior to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each search system. In this article, we focus on understanding what factors are important to undergraduates in choosing their primary academic search system for class assignments. Based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results, we found that mimicking commercial Web search engines is an important factor to attract undergraduates; however, when undergraduates use these kinds of search engines, they expect similar performance to Web search engines, including factors such as relevance, speed, and the availability of a spell checker. They also expected to be able to find out what kinds of content and materials are available in a system. Participants' prior experience using academic search systems also affected their expectations of a new system. IntroductionToday's academic library Web sites serve as gateways to digitally accessible library resources, ranging from full-text newspaper and journal articles to online catalogs of physical collections. Yet, undergraduate students often use Web-based search engines as primary tools to find class-related information not only because they are familiar with Web-based search engines (Augustine & Greene, 2002;Notovny, 2004) but also because they struggle to use library Web sites as a gateway for finding information (Chisman, Diller, & Walbridge, 1999; Eliason, McKinstry, & Fraser, 1997;Notovny, 2004;Stephan, Cheng, & Young, 2006;Yakel, 2004).Many researchers in library and information science focus on improving library Web sites so that navigating library services is easy. These include local resources (e.g., the library catalog) as well as databases offered by third-party vendors (e.g., Academic Search Premier). Yet, navigation remains difficult for novice users unfamiliar with exploiting the multiplicity of library services: They do not know where to start in part because they do not know which databases are appropriate for their current information need (Eliason et al., 1997;Stephan et al., 2006). Novice users also find it difficult to identify useful documents from the returned results (Eliason et al., 1997;Stephan et al., 2006). Undergraduates expect disparate library resources to be aggregated so that a single query will return satisfactory results (Augustine & Greene, 2002;Notovny, 2004).One promising approach to these persistent issues is simplifying the search rather than constantly revising the library Web site to improve navigation. For that reason, researchers are experimenting wi...

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Navigating Online Menus: A Quantitative Experiment

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Measuring the usability of academic digital libraries

Measuring the usability of academic digital libraries

Understanding Preferences for Search System Interfaces and the Role of Emotive Forces: A Research Challenge

LibraryFind: System design and usability testing of academic metasearch system

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