The Usability Test

Today the library website is probably the most important variable for academic libraries. Of all their tools their website is going to be used the most often. Therefor it is extremely important for their website to be user friendly or easy to navigate. Both Toliver and Thomsett showcase usability testing as the best way to improve the academic library website.

Website for Baron-Forness Library of Edinboro University of PA, my alma mater.

I think about the academic library websites I have used in my undergraduate and Graduate careers. Both articles were written when I was an undergraduate student. At that time and I’m sure still today all undergrads are given tutorials for how to use the library website. I think that in at least three separate classes the professor used a whole class period for library tutorial. We would meet in a computer lab in the library and a librarian would show us all the different ways to search for an item. This shows how difficult it is to use an academic libraries website. I also understand the difficulty in making it more usable. There are many resources on these websites. In Tolivier’s example we are only looking at a smaller library within the university system. Can you imagine the system for the main library? Indeed as the articles point out it is necessary to constantly improve the website, the best way to do this is through usability testing.

Everything these articles point out is very useful and would help a library looking to improve their websites navigation. Thomsett is a very helpful article for libraries beginning their process to improve a website. As a general overview of the different usability tests and how they work, the library looking to improve their website could use the article as a guide to decide what type of test would work best for their needs. Toliver’s article is useful for a library to learn from their process, as a case study the library could learn from their findings and save on testing costs. In both cases, I agree with the authors that usability testing is the best way to improve a website. I would even say it is imperative for an academic website in order to ensure they are providing their users with the information they desire or need, as most academic careers these days depend on retrieving information from the library website off campus. 

OPAC and Integrated Library Systems

            Marshall Breeding writes in 2005 that libraries and “the industry marketing marquees [were tending] to give top billing to link resolvers, metasearch interfaces, and electronic resource management”. He did believe that these new interfaces were a great benefit for libraries, but he was worried they would in fact “fall short” of library needs. He makes a very good argument that all the different programs are needed in order for the library to keep up with user needs and unfortunately these programs are not interoperable. Making the library website non-user friendly, which of course is the ultimate goal.

            Fast-forward five (five) years, Sai Deng conducts a study with the Wichita State University Libraries. Wichita State is trying to increase user operability on their website. They use local author search as their project model. Immediately I observe that five years after Breeding observed that there needed to be a single system and the current systems Innovative, Sirsi, Horizon, and Voyager all together is too confusing and not efficient for libraries. Fiver years after his article was published Deng is commenting on the same issue.

            Deng doesn’t raise new problems. Both talk about interoperability, the library needs to buy different programs. And a single program option is too expensive for most libraries. One progress is made that is worth talking about and that is appealing to the user. Deng mentions the Wichita University library adds pictures to their search, which helps the user identify what they’re looking for. It will prevent them from “losing attention […] to the ever-popular nonlibrary interfaces such as Amazon.com and Google” as Breeding puts it. Which is still an increasing fear among libraries.

            My conclusion? Something is not addressed and maybe it is a good research topic, why are we still facing these same problems? Is it just financial problems? What systems exist that can help libraries create a user friendly, efficient online public access catalog?