Website Usability

Data

Q1: Using the library web site, can you tell if the library has any books written by Marc Bekoff?

Successful__X?__                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment: The student followed the link to "find books" and then did an author search in the library catalog page for Marc Bekoff. The student did not reverse the order of the author's name, so she never actually found any books by Marc Bekoff
Number of Links: 1

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Are students able to navigate to the catalog to look for a book? The student was able to link to the library catalog, in this case the "find books" link seemed to attract her attention.

Q2: Using the library web site, can you find an electronic copy of Journal of Asset Management ?

Successful__X___                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment: The student clicked on the eJournals A-Z link, then on the link to Mugar Library, then E-Journals, then alphabetical list, then j. The student scrolled and found this journal. The student remarked that she always uses the SEL page.
Number of Links: 5

Observer's comment about underlying question of:   Do students use the eJournals A-Z list for electronic journals? Yes.

Q3: Using the library web site, can you find a print copy of the Journal of the American Helicopter Society ?

Successful_____                     Unsuccessful___X___

Observer's comment: The student started by clicking on the eJournals A-Z link and then the alphabetical list, then j. The student searched this list for america and then helicopter, then went back, then clicked on indexes and databases, then back, then clicked on research guides, scrolled through this page, then went back back. The student then performed a title search in the library catalog box for helicopter, not finding the journal.
Number of Links: 9

Follow-up to Q3 if unsuccessful: If the student is unsuccessful, the librarian should ask what word or phrase were you looking for, but did not find?

Student's   response:

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Are students able to navigate to the catalog for a print journal? This student struggled with this question. It seemed like she really did not know where to go to find print journals.

Q4: Using the library web site, how would you get a book or article we do not own?

Successful__X___                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment: The student clicked on request a book ar article we do not own link.
Number of Links: 1

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Do students navigate to the ILL page and if so, how (through the how to box or the ILL link)? The student navigated to the ILL page through the how to box.

Q5: Using the library web site, how would you find a journal article about depression?

Successful__X___                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment: The student started by following the eJournals A-Z link, then Indexes and Databases, then SEL, then Indexes and Databases, then Mugar, then library catalog where the student did a title search for depression. The student then scrolled through the many results, clicking next twice and scrolling, the student then attempted to limit the search by material type, but did not finish, instead she hit the back button 5 times and followed the link to the SEL page. The student clicked on indexes and databases and then chose PubMed from the SEL list. She performed keyword search for depression and found many articles.
Number of Links: 15

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Do students use the indexes and databases link to find articles? This student ultimately did use the indexes and databases link from the SEL page to find the article. She seemed to know that she was looking for something related to a "medical" topic. During Question 2 she also mentioned that she had experience using SEL's pages.

Q6: How would you change the library's web site to make it more useful for you?

Student's response: The text is small, it should be bigger. She does not like everything all "clumped together."

Q7: What do you find useful on the library's web site?

Student's response: She likes the indexes and databases. She also likes how the page is "divided by school" (referring to the branch links on the top right part of the page).

Q8: Is there anything you would like to tell us about the library's web site?

Student's response: She is "always confused about where to go first." She would like something like "find this here." It would be "okay to treat us like 6 year olds" to make it easier to find things. Also, "more color, possibly."