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: Never used any of the links. If I needed a book, I would go to BPL because most of the books I look for I would not expect to find at BU. Like books about baseball. If I needed research, I would try BU.

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 "other library catalogs" 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 navigate to the ILL page.

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 said, "Find articles or eJournals." The student started by clicking on the "find articles" link. He then clicked on "c" and then "h." He went back and clicked on research by subject. He scrolled through the page and clicked on health and medicine "e" under guides by title. He clicked on nutrition. "Wow, indexes to journals," he said. "I don't know what indexing plus full text means." He clicked on medline via ovid and then start ovid. He was prompted for a password and went back, saying, "password, grrr, what is this?" He clicked on password, saying "wow I have to input my information here." He want back, saying, "I'm betting indexes are similar to reference tools." From the reference tools section, he clicked on "USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference." He performed a search and then went back. He clicked on products and services and then we stopped him.

Number of Links: 16

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 said that it seems like it is going pretty well. He uses Needam Public Library's website and suggested making our page like that one. You both have "the same thing for searching the catalog box." The student said that he "never understood the purpose of subject and keyword searching--they are the same thing."

Q5: What is your status at BU?

Student's response:

Undergraduate _X___     Graduate ____    Faculty ____     Staff ____    Other ____