Website Usability

Data

Q1:  Using this printout and keeping in mind that everything on this page is linked:

(a) Please circle any of the links on this page that you have used in the past month.

(b) Can you prioritize these links in order of importance to you: 1 is the most important.

(c) In addition to the links you have followed in the past month, have you used any of the other links on this page? If yes, please highlight them.

User's comment: n/a

Observer's comment: n/a

Q2: 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 the "interlibrary loan" link.
Number of links: 1

Follow-up to Q4 if unsuccessful: If students did not make it to the ILL page, 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: Do students navigate to the ILL page and if so, how (through the how to box or the ILL link)? This student did not have any trouble finding the ILL page through the "interlibrary loan" link.

Q3: Using the library web site, how would you find a journal article about the health benefits of chocolate?

Successful_____                     Unsuccessful__X____

Observer's comment: The student started by clicking on the "find articles" link. She scrolled through this page, asked, "can you search within that?" and went back and then clicked on " research by subject." The student asked, "can you search there?" as she scrolled through the page. "I don't know she said." The student went back and asked if she could do a keyword search in the library catalog for an article. She clicked on the eJournals A-Z link, remarking that she can search there. She was about to try a search for health benefits chocolate when she realized that she did not have a keyword option on this page. She tried the search anyway and went back, she then clicked on indexes and databases and then stopped trying.

Number of Links: 8

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Do students use the "find articles link" to find articles? This student did use the "find articles" link to begin this search. She said that a link called "search articles by subject" was what she was looking for.

Q4: How would you change the library's web site to make it more useful for you?

Student's response: The student said that a phrase like "search articles by subject" would be helpful. She said that she didn't know if she needed to know actual journal titles or if she could just search. She uses the website for journals and articles the most.

Q5: What is your status at BU?

Student's response:

Undergraduate __X__     Graduate ____    Faculty ____     Staff ____    Other ____