A clickstream data analysis of Chinese academic library OPAC users' information behavior |
| |
| Authors: | Tingting Jiang Yu Chi Huiqin Gao |
| |
| Institution: | 1. School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Luojiashan, Wuchang, Wuhan 430072, China;2. School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 135 N Bellefield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;3. Department of Computer Science, W&N, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Bolelaan 1081a, 1081HV, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| |
| Abstract: | Chinese academic libraries have been devoting great effort into introducing next-generation online public access catalogs (OPACs) in order to provide a better user experience. However, there is a lack of empirical research on their usage. In this study, a transaction log file from a typical next-generation OPAC, the Wuhan University Library OPAC, formed the basis for an investigation of users' information behavior, using a clickstream data analysis framework. The 26,732,368 clickstream records in the original log file were cleaned, parsed, coded, then analyzed at the footprint, movement, and pathway levels. The results showed that the users relied heavily on the single-box simple search interface, seldom involved themselves in an exploratory search process, and preferred page navigation over search refinement when interacting with search results. The OPAC was used as a lookup tool to locate known academic resources and as a personal information management tool to utilize basic library services, instead of as a discovery tool as intended. |
| |
| Keywords: | Corresponding author |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
