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__X___                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment: The student started by clicking on the "eJournals A-Z" link, she examined the drop down menu on this page and said, "no this is not right." She clicked on the "indexes and databases" link and said, "that's not the right way either." She went back twice and then clicked on the research by subject link. She clicked on health and medicine in the "guides by subject" box. She commented that there was no search box here. She clicked on the word, "nutrition," (not the "e") and scrolled through the page. She stopped on the "selected web links" section and clicked on the American Diabetic Association. She did a search for chocolate through this page. She did scrolled through the results and found an article about health benefits of chocolate.

Number of Links: 8

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Do students use the "find articles link" to find articles? This student did not use this link.

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

Student's response: The student thought research by subject should be more visible. She did not think we needed to have the catalog search box and the link to find books on the page because it was redundant--only need one. She thought it would be helpful to list the actual hours on the top page.

Q5: What is your status at BU?

Student's response:

Undergraduate __X__     Graduate ____    Faculty ____     Staff ____    Other ____