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

[Annie Rex]

Jess, direct your friend to http://www.bartleby.com/ for some ideas. I
believe this site does a fairly good job of both identifying the
different types of domains and allowing the user to search within each.
The home page and the global navigation element expose the content and
many features of the site in logical groupings. (Although I admit I'm
still sometimes confused by the concepts of Author, Subject and Title
Indexes as browse nodes.) The search feature includes a drop-down list
that could be a bit much for some users but will probably work well for
an academic library's constituents. Allowing the user to browse to
winnow his search can also be a helpful functionality that Bartleby.com
utilizes in many cases. As a library's home page allows the user to
begin his search and is probably the most important page of the entire
site, your friend should "take a page" from Bartleby.com and pay close
attention to what's on the Home page and above the fold at 1024x768.
What I would guess are the most frequently accessed sources (or at least
recognizable) are listed in the right column and you can see the name
Harvard on the left side. Giving the user what he wants and suggesting
that they're smart while doing so can't be a bad idea. You'll also
notice that brief descriptions of some of the content are available.
Sure the mission statement might be a bit much, but this is one site
that does live up to its claims. 

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
- Annie



-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org] On Behalf
Of jess at cognissa.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 6:23 PM
To: sigia-l at asis.org
Subject: [Sigia-l] multiple search index usability/conceptual model


So a friend is redesigning an academic library web site, and I was
wondering:

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).

In usability testing, *everyone* (all undergrads) assumed that there is
one "Library Search" and if they don't find it in that first search,
it's not there...this was most problematic for a search of the website
itself, labelled "Search Site"..so they ditched the site search, but
there are still a large number of other search tools for patrons to wrap
their heads around....

the same problem exists anytime there's multiple search indexes (say, on
a large corp. site where one might search the division's web pages, the
entire corp. site, or a product database...)

thoughts?

I think that one search field with radio buttons to choose the search
index used can work for a small number of options that are controlled by
the same IT group (doesn't work for multiple licensed content like a
library subscribes to, though)

thanks,

Jess

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