Website Usability

Recorder's Sheets

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:

Observer's comment:

Q2: Using the library web site, how would you get a book or article we do not own?

Successful_____                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment:

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)?

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

Successful_____                     Unsuccessful______

Observer's comment:

1 st Follow-up to Q5 if unsuccessful: If the students navigate to a database through research guides or similar, the librarian should praise the student and show her the indexes and databases link and ask, "is there a better way to word that?"

Student's   response:

2 nd Follow-up to Q5 if unsuccessful:

Student's   response:

Observer's comment about underlying question of: Do students use the indexes and databases link to find articles?

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

Student's response:

Q5: What is your status at BU?

Student's response:

Undergraduate ____     Graduate ____    Faculty ____     Staff ____    Other ____