Website Usability

Scripts & Questions

Original Question for Student

1 . Let's assume your professor has asked you to find some resources such as books or journal articles for a paper you've been assigned. Using the library website, how would you begin?

User's response comments: "I've used eJournal Locator and Databases." Student clicked on eJournals and said she would normally get suggestions from professor for journal names to use depending on the subject.

For books the student said it took a little while for her to figure it out. She usually uses the telnet computers to search for books by keywords. The student clicked on the books tab and said, "oh you can find books here, too"

The student demonstrated how she just found an article using a "database," Student typed in the name of the journal provided by her professor in the eJournal locator, followed the link, and then did a search in the journal in the Wiley Interscience database. Student commented that it was difficult to limit search results to just the past 10 years.

Observer's comments: Patron was in the library to get articles for a paper. She demonstrated how she went about doing this for us. She had a specific journal recommendation from her professor. Student said she searched databases, but she was using this work to describe the eJournals list. She used the list to get to the journal's website which was part of Wiley Interscience. She did use this database to search for articles in the journal.

Successful: yes?

Original Question for Student

2.   Using the library website, can you tell if the library has any books written by Al Gore?

User's response/comments: clicked on the books tab, clicked on the author radio button and did a search for al gore. She scrolled through the list. She switched her search to keyword Al Gore and found books by Al Gore.

Observer's comments: observed the typical confusion about the results that are returned by a search in the catalog entered as author first name, last name.

Successful: yes

3.  Using the library website, can you find the Journal of the North Atlantic online?

User's response/comments: clicked on the eJournal Locator, entered journal of the north atlantic and found the journal.

Successful: yes

4. Using the library website, can you find a print or hard copy edition of the Journal of marriage and the family?

Observers response/comments: clicked on the books tab and did a keyword search for journal of marriage and the family and found the catalog record.

Successful: yes

5. Using the library website, how do you find books on reserve for a particular class?

Observers response/comments: looked through the navigation bar at the top of the page and clicked on the "How To" Link. She then clicked on the "find course reserves link."

Successful: yes

6. Using the library website, how do you renew a book that's almost overdue?

Observers response/comments: clicked on the "How To" Link. She then clicked on the "renew your books" link.

Successful: yes

7. Using the library website, how would you find a journal article about stem cells?

Observers response/comments: clicked on the eJournal Locator link, entered stem cells, found several journals whose titles start with "stem cells."

Follow up question: Show the student the Articles tab and ask, "Is there a better way or us to label that?"

Users's response/comments: I may have used the article search box if you asked me to find an article.

Successful: yes

8. Can you find the home page for the Science & Engineering Library?

Observers response/comments: clicked on the Libraries link in the top navigation bar and then clicked on Science and Engineering Library."

Successful: yes