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1.
ABSTRACT

Although there is a proliferation of information available on the Web, and law professors, students, and other users have a variety of channels to locate information and complete their research activities, the law library catalog still remains an important source for offering users access to information that has been evaluated and cataloged by experts. The usability of the catalog needs to be effectively measured before any necessary improvements can be made. This study was undertaken to investigate the information retrieval patterns of users of the Rutgers Law Library Online Public Access Catalog and to develop the catalog into a more effective search tool for these users. This study used an experimental approach to measure the usability of our catalog by analyzing the transaction logs from the OPAC system and the results from Google Analytics. The findings provided not only important information on user demographics and their computer systems, but also more insight on the search behaviors of users. The specific findings included the following:

  1. As a Web-analytic tool Google Analytics provided extensive information on the OPAC and the navigational behaviors of users.

  2. Fifty-eight percent of our users visited the Web site regularly.

  3. The most popular search method, which was employed by 37% of our users, was by title.

  4. Most patrons used computer systems with a high resolution and color depth monitor and visited the catalog Web site with a high-speed Internet connection.

  5. Suggestions were made by the authors to improve the users’ search experience of the catalog Web site.

This study is significant to libraries with Web catalogs because it demonstrates the potential value of using Google Analytics as a Web analytics tool in combination with the OPAC transaction logs to measure catalog usability.  相似文献   

2.
Abstract

Many libraries use RSS to syndicate information about their collections to users. A survey of 65 academic libraries revealed their most common use for RSS is to disseminate information about library holdings, such as lists of new acquisitions. Even though typical RSS feeds are ill suited to the task of carrying rich bibliographic metadata, great potential exists for developing applications that can exploit metadata exposed to Web services via RSS. Using the MODS metadata format, entire catalog records can be seamlessly embedded in RSS 2.0 feeds. Existing tools, such as Library of Congress Java toolkits and XSLT stylesheets, can facilitate this process, while a new XSLT stylesheet may be used to create the RSS feeds complete with MODS records. As an example of the added functionality these MODS/RSS feeds can offer, records from a MODS-enriched RSS feed can be ingested into a non-RSS application such as Zotero. As more emerging library technologies use Web services architectures to handle data objects, the ability to syndicate catalog records will become more critical to providing innovative library Web services.  相似文献   

3.
Abstract

Mozilla's Firefox web browser is well-known among developers for its functionality and extensibility. Now, with a market share of more than 8 percent, Firefox is becoming more popular with library users and offers opportunity to increase access to library tools through browser plugins. This tutorial explains how to integrate the library catalog into the Firefox search bar. Step-by-step instructions are provided for interpreting your library catalog's URL structure, building an XML file that will control how the search box functions when your search is selected, creating an icon, and testing the new search tool. This tutorial is appropriate for beginning to intermediate users.  相似文献   

4.
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5.
ABSTRACT

Despite a general decline in recent years in academic libraries’ reference desk statistics, research indicates that library users continue to have complex research questions but are largely unaware that librarians are waiting and ready to assist them. The challenge for librarians is to connect with users at their point of need. At Bowling Green State University, we are making a move in this direction with proactive (pop-up) chat widgets embedded within our library Web pages, catalog, and databases. Since implementation, the number of chat reference questions received has more than doubled, helping us reach additional users from on-and off-campus.  相似文献   

6.
ABSTRACT. Underappreciated data concerning libraries' holdings and circulation over the past century and a half offer insights into the behavior of libraries and their users. Book circulation per public library user indicates an outcome of users' demand for books and libraries' supply of books. From 1856 to 1978, library users borrowed from U.S. public libraries about 15 books per user per year. From 1978 to 2004, about 25% of book circulation shifted to audio‐visual circulation. Over about a century and a half, library book circulation per user shows no strong, long‐run trend either up or down. This outcome suggests that libraries have adapted to maintain the stability of their operation and that library borrowing practices are well‐embedded in popular life.  相似文献   

7.
《The Reference Librarian》2013,54(75-76):205-216
Summary

Dealing with difficult patrons can be stressful. However, if we look at business literature and practice, we can learn much about how to deal with these difficulties. This paper focuses specifically on customer complaints. The business world regards complaints as valuable opportunities to improve customer service and satisfaction. Libraries should provide channels for their patrons to make complaints, follow up on those complaints, and train staff to deal with user dissatisfaction. Otherwise, our users may decide the library is not valuable to them, and we could lose valuable support.  相似文献   

8.
Abstract

The researchers conducted a task-based usability test of the effectiveness of online research beginning on the library Web site homepage. The participants included five university faculty members, six graduate students, and six undergraduate students. All participants reported feeling satisfied with their overall research experience, though most were unable to effectively complete all the research tasks of the test. The researchers identified weaknesses in the approach and process of many participants, and overall usability issues of the library discovery tool and other library Web site pages and research interfaces. Findings indicate the need to strategically incorporate self-service information literacy and research skills help into the library Web site, and to implement navigation and design changes to the library homepage, discovery tool interface, online catalog, and across all the library's Web services.  相似文献   

9.
《资料收集管理》2013,38(4):31-42
Abstract

For decades libraries have created subject guides to assist users in navigating their collections. These guides are universally accepted as a core library product of high value across all user groups. No longer confined to paper stashed in kiosks and on counter tops, subject guides are now available online from library Web sites and often emphasize and link to other Web resources. Typically, a link on the library's home page directs users to a Subject Guide List which offers active links to the topical guides. But are these links and listings sufficient to attract users? This article describes the results of a study to catalog selected subject guides on U.S. and British History and analyze usage statistics before and after cataloging. It appears that the library catalog is effective at exposing subject guides and should be considered an additional point of access amidst a growing number of discovery mechanisms.  相似文献   

10.
ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of an academic library Web site is to serve as a portal to library-acquired content. Navigational design of a library Web site affects the user's ability to find and access content. At Albertsons Library, the goal of the navigational design of the Web site is to mimic user behavior on the Web site to help them access information and articles from over 300 different library vendors. Coordinating with different vendors makes tracking the navigational flow of user behavior difficult with the tool Google Analytics. Using the events feature in Google Analytics, the team responsible for Web design was able to track user flow, and was able to quantify how many users were actual “drop-offs” versus those that were clicks into library resources. Decisions made after acquiring these data resulted in a Web site with a 10 percent or less bounce rate, and decreased the number of clicks required for users accessing the library's content.  相似文献   

11.
《期刊图书馆员》2013,64(1-2):223-236
ABSTRACT

An overview of the preliminary analysis of focus group and semi-structured interviews identifies how and why college and university information seekers meet their information needs. In the age of immediate gratification, in certain situations users may settle for information that is quickly and easily available instead of library sources that are considered more authoritative and trustworthy. Meeting user needs in the library environment requires updating library catalogs to implement discovery and recommender services that provide the associations and links that are available to users in other Web-based environments and that meet these users' expectations of online systems and sources.  相似文献   

12.
ABSTRACT

The Fresnes public library chose to enhance its bibliographic catalog by loading the complete backfile and regular updates of the BNF authority files. This unique solution allows them to put an end to local cataloging (notably subject assignment and the maintenance of the subject index) and to considerably reduce the “cost per title cataloged” based on the formula proposed by ISO Standard 11620: Information and Documentation—Library Performance Indicators.

The authority files improve the quality of online services: they reduce the number of unsuccessful searches, reduce aberrant responses and allow for numerous OPAC possibilities; they offer library staff a valuable aid in their mission of assisting the public; they facilitate and improve the tasks of collection development and management.

The new information system anticipated for the opening of the new library in March will give the authority files a larger role. Beyond assisting the simple catalog search, the authority files will function as a search engine for the whole network. The CD-ROM and DVD-ROM readers, and a selected number of Internet sites will, in fact, link to the authority files (notably subject and corporate author files) by the authority record number, using the same headings as in the library catalog.  相似文献   

13.
Abstract

The climate of change in music reference represents a challenge to librarians. The three issues in the library literature that probably have the greatest impact on music reference service and are the subject of this paper are changes in users, sources, and modes of access to sources. These three issues are certainly related, as users need to use sources, and they need to know how to access them in order to use them. Reference librarians are called upon to mediate this process. Music library collections have their own peculiarities, however. Because they contain a wider variety of materials than many other kinds of library collections, reference librarians for music collections must be aware of the format, content, and intended uses of these materials, as well as the research patterns of their patrons. In the recent past, as cultural norms have changed with the paradigm of Western culture, users have wanted to use music libraries in new ways, and librarians are challenged to accommodate them. The musical genres used and requested by today's library patrons are different than they once were, both for listening and for academic study. Musical reference sources are being issued in electronic formats, and this represents a challenge for some users. The expanded use of interlibrary loan and electronic access to materials represents new opportunities and challenges. Music librarians are being called upon to provide services to patrons they may never see.  相似文献   

14.
An increasing number of library user studies are employing ethnographic techniques as an alternative to more traditional qualitative methods such as surveys. Such techniques, however, are only beginning to see significant application to catalog user studies. Beginning with a discussion of the applied ethnographic method and its current usage within the field of Library and Information Science research, this article will assess methods that have traditionally been applied to studies of catalog users and present the case for the potential of an ethnographic approach for future catalog evaluation and design.  相似文献   

15.
Abstract

Library pathfinders are a time-tested method of leading library users to important resources. However, paper-based pathfinders suffer from space limitations, and both paper-based and Web-based pathfinders require frequent updates to keep up with new library acquisitions. This article details a step-by-step method to create an online dynamic pathfinder with a clean, intuitive interface that performs predetermined searches in online library catalogs. This tool leads users to resources much as a traditional pathfinder does, but it is always up-to-date, requires almost no maintenance, and familiarizes patrons with the library's catalog as they use it. This article requires a basic knowledge of HTML. PHP and JavaScript are also used. While knowledge of these languages is helpful, these parts of the dynamic pathfinder are described in enough detail that no prior knowledge is required.  相似文献   

16.
《The Reference Librarian》2013,54(93):99-108
Abstract

E-mail reference has been utilized as a reference tool in academic libraries since the early 1980s. Today it is one of the most common media for providing digital reference service. An important aspect of providing any service is evaluating users' satisfaction levels with that service. Users of the Ask-A-Librarian e-mail reference service at a large academic library over a ten-month period voluntarily completed a seven item web-based questionnaire. The results indicated that the majority of respondents were satisfied with Ask-A-Librarian overall. This paper discusses how the library used the survey results to improve the existing service, and to implement a new one-chat reference. Reference service providers should not only ask users for feedback on existing services, but also should include them in the planning and design phase of new services. In doing so, they demonstrate their commitment to providing adequate and appropriate services to their patron community, and ultimately can save their institutions time and expense.  相似文献   

17.
ABSTRACT

Libraries use surveys and other instruments to gather feedback from their users. However, with competition from many other campus entities requesting input, how can survey fatigue be avoided? To gather this feedback, the Social Sciences Reference Desk utilized a short, fun and easy method. Each week for 10 weeks during the fall semester of 2017, the reference assistants wrote a survey question on a whiteboard and provided sticky notes for patrons to write their answers. The survey provided valuable information about patrons’ needs and expectations. It also fostered changes that were easily implemented to improve the delivery of library services.  相似文献   

18.
Abstract

Nearly every library where the dominant language is English also has materials that are written in other languages. These materials can present unique challenges for catalogers. Many non-English language materials are located in the array of collections of the Special Collection Department of Mississippi State University (MSU). To properly process and catalog these materials, the cataloger used online tools which provided a greater understanding of the materials, allowing a higher cataloging standard. The author discusses the various tools and methods that were used to catalog these materials.  相似文献   

19.
ABSTRACT

This article illustrates the collaboration of three entities- the library, its online system and the authority service vendor-to achieve online authority control in a medium-sized academic library efficiently and cost-effectively. The authority service vendor checks and revises (as needed) the headings of the library's new bibliographic records, providing new authority records for them. Through a separate notification service, the vendor also provides revised authority records for the existing authority file, alerting the library when in-house online maintenance is needed. In this online environment, authority records and bibliographic records are maintained automatically by the vendor authority service. Thus, using various authority heading reports which can be generated by the local online system in conjunction with the notification service, the library concentrates its authority work on the elimination or correction of obsolete headings. The authority vendor services are effective and reduce the cost of maintaining the online catalog. Ultimately, accurate standardized headings enhance the ease and effectiveness of online searching and retrieval for all who consult the library's catalog.  相似文献   

20.
Abstract

Citation management programs are tools used to organize references and to create citations and bibliographies. Libraries are often the central point for providing training and support in using these tools. To determine how we could improve our support and training services, we surveyed users to determine what software in being used, why they chose that particular program, what features are important, and how they use citation management programs to collaborate. Results indicate that users chose a particular program because it was freely available or recommended to them by others and that they thought that importing references and creating citations were important features. We also found a majority of respondents used citation management programs to collaborate and turned to the library for training and support.  相似文献   

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