[Sigia-l] multiple search index usability/conceptual model

[Blake Carver]

For anyone *really* interested in this topic, I have an extensive annotated
bib on usability studies done in libraries. I've been working on, and I'd be
happy to pass it along.
It's a bit too long to send to the list.

As someone who works on a large library web site every day, I can say people
do NOT understand the differences between the multitude of searches offered
on a library site.  We are going through a major redesign, and this is one
of the big problems. We have so much stuff, and it's incredibly hard to find
a way to make that all findable.
To make things worse, most library web sites have been built by & for
librarians, who do things differently than users do. This is now beginning
to change, most newly redesigned sites will organize things from the users
perspective.

In many ways, we are still at the mercy of our vendors who are in general
awful to work with, and not at all helpful.


-----------------------------
Blake Carver
LISNews.com
Librarian and Information Science News
http://www.lisnews.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Lash" <jeff at jefflash.com>
To: <jess at cognissa.com>; "SIGIA" <sigia-l at asis.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] multiple search index usability/conceptual model


> > How do we get people to understand the differences between the multitude
of
> > searches offered on a library site (which includes a catalog search,
> > half-a-dozen licensed databases, and a tool to help newbies search the
web).
>
> You could have a default search "sphere," and on the results page, have
> something like "Didn't find what you were looking for? Try your search for
> [search term] in [database name]!" The [database name] could be a
pulldown,
> or could be repeated for each resource.
>
> Obviously you could test it to see if people notice it or not. I'd imagine
> that having it above the results would work well, or perhaps having a link
> after each result (similar to the way that Google provides "Cached" and
> "Similar Pages" links after results) that would allow the user to run a
> query on that result on another resource.
>
> Ideally you could search all of the databases/catalogs at one time, and
have
> all the results displayed on one page; at Amazon when you search for Bill
> Cosby, for example, there are results for music, books, video, DVD,
zShops,
> and auctions. (I'd imagine if there were Bill Cosby themed cosmetics or a
> Cosby video game, that'd appear as well.) However, if this is not possible
> for technological reasons, I think providing feedback on the search page
> would be a good solution.
>
> Good luck!
>
> .jeff.
> --
> http://jefflash.com
>
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