Loading...
Use and Usability of a Discovery Tool in an Academic Library
Hanrath, Scott Kottman, Miloche
Hanrath, Scott
Kottman, Miloche
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
In order to assess the use and usability of a new discovery tool, staff at the University of Kansas Libraries conducted usability tests with twenty-seven users and analyzed three semesters of the tool’s usage as measured by custom event tracking implemented in Google Analytics and usage statistics drawn from the discovery tool and server logs. An initial study with sixteen users was conducted prior to launching the new tool, and a subsequent study with eleven users was conducted a semester after the launch. This article describes test participants’ success using the new tool to complete basic library research tasks, details the specific features they used in their attempts (e.g., facets, “did you mean” suggestions), and identifies areas where changes were made to address problems identified in the studies, including changes outside the tool itself. In addition, comparisons between feature use in the discovery system as observed in usability testing and feature use as measured by event tracking and log analysis are discussed, including implications for the design of future tests.
Description
Date
2015-02-23
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Usability testing, Academic libraries, Web analytics, Web-scale discovery
Citation
Hanrath, Scott, and Miloche Kottman. 2015. “Use and Usability of a Discovery Tool in an Academic Library.” Journal of Web Librarianship. http://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.983259.