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Unexpected insights from our summon usability study
The document details a presentation on library search techniques by Kevin Gilbertson, Lauren Pressley, and Joy Gambill, highlighting successes and challenges faced by students in accessing eBooks and other resources. It notes that while students were generally able to find their books, some struggled with searches for classic authors and specific titles. The presentation emphasizes the importance of using effective search strategies and understanding search result mechanisms.
Unexpected insights from our summon usability study
- 1. Presented by: KevinGilbertson, Lauren Pressley and Joy Gambill Wake Forest University, Z. Smith Reynolds Library NC LITe, Appalachian State University, May 21, 2012
- 3. 1. Every student was successful with this search. 2. Every student clearly knew when they had selected an ebook and how to access the 0% 0% 0% ebook. We learned very quickly that ... .. ... 3. kn es y kl cc y ic rl su qu ea as cl even basic searches are not as ry w t ve en t en ud d ud ne st st ar ry simple as we thought. ry le ve ve e E W E
- 4. 1. Everything (Summon) 2. Books 3. Databases 4. Films 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% ) s ls on les s es lm ok na m as ic Journals Fi Bo ur rt um ab 5. A Jo at (S D ng hi yt er Ev 6. Articles
- 5.
- 6. 1. Everything (Summon) 2. Books 3. Databases 4. Films 5. Journals ) 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% s ls on les s es lm ok na m as ic Fi Bo ur rt um ab Articles A Jo at (S 6. D ng hi yt er Ev
- 8. 1. Students were easily able to find their books. 2. Two students were not able to find books by classic authors. 3. Searching for “Harry Potter” gave 6 titles before a Harry 0% 0% 0% Potter book was listed. ... .. ... r. w re fo ts we en g in ud ts ch en st ar ud o Se Tw St
- 9. 1. 8 2. 5 3. 3 4. 1 5. 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8 5 3 1 0
- 10. 1. Have you thought about using quotation marks for phrase searching? 2. Do you realize the facets go away after each search? 3. Have you thought about looking 0% 0% 0% 0% at your results more closely? .. .. .. . e.. g. g. o. ou ou iz ab al th th he re u u ft u yo yo yo o ll e e All of the above. o av av A D 4. H H
- 11. 1. Starbucks 2. Author 3. Article Title 4. Journal Name 0% 0% 0% 0% or e e s itl am ck h T bu ut N le A ar al ic St rn rt A u Jo
- 12. 1. 8 2. 5 3. 3 4. 1 5. 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8 5 3 1 0
- 13. 1. 8 2. 5 3. 2 4. 1 5. 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8 5 2 1 0
- 14. 1. Alt F4 2. Ctrl-F 3. PrtSc 4. Ctrl-C 0% 0% 0% 0% l-C l-F c 4 tS F tr tr Pr lt C A C
- 15. 1. 1 (If they don’t know where else to go.) 2. 2 (If they don’t know where else to 0% 0% 0% go.) .. .. .. . . . wh wh wh w w w 5 (If they don’t no no no 3. tk tk tk n’ n’ n’ do do do ey ey ey th th th know where else to f f f (I (I (I 1 2 5 go.)
- 16. 1. Relevance—most obvious things should come up at the top. 2. Limit options from the beginning. 0% 0% 0% 0% 3. Sorting by format (books . ... .. r.. . t.. o. ns fo ab os tio by m he op e— and journals) g ft in it nc o rt m ll va So Li A ele R 4. All of the above.
Editor's Notes
- #3 We began with what NC State called “Standard Framing.” The purpose was to get an idea of how proficient the students were in using the library’s resources and how easily the could navigate the library homepage. While it was meant to be preliminary, this section turned out to be very interesting and useful!
- #4 Did not notice books about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (thought it was on Bill Gates)Did not recognize when came across and ebook. In one of the reflections questions at the end, one of the students asked, “What is an ebook?” Another student found a book in the Professional Center Library and they did not realize it was not in the ZSR Library.
- #5 Two students typed in the title of the article in the Journals and one started with the Books search box. These students spent a long time trying to make it work, but eventually went to the Everything link and found the article.Two used the journals link and were successful.One used the Articles link (hooray) and was successful.One starts with the Everything link and is successful.One started with the catalog and after a long and winding search, he found the Journal.
- #7 One starts with Everything and is successful.Two use Articles link successfully.One starts with Databases, but switches to JSTOR because she can’t find one that would work.Journals link and types in “stress among college students.” Switches to advanced search and it still did not work. Not successful.Starts in Journals tab, types in title of article. Switches to the Everything link.Starts with Databases and is not success with “stress” and then switches to catalog and find “Stress: International Journal on the biology of Stress.”One starts with Everything link.Two students were not successful with finding a scholarly journal article on this topic.
- #8 We told the students that from this point on we would use the Everything link.
- #9 The students who searched for J.D. Salinger and H.G. Wells were not successful with this search! One tried to use the author facet but did not figure out that the authors were listed by last name.2 used the books facet and were successful.
- #10 First student struggled with just finding the journal. Finally she retyped using the date slider and limited to journal articles. Could not figure out how to find the latest until prompted by Kevin. However, the results were not articles from this journal, but articles that cite this journal.Second student finds print article in Carpenter Library. Then goes back and narrow by year and finds articles from 2012. Again, finds articles cited, but not the actual journal.Limits to journal article facet on left, but what comes up are articles with citations to the journal. The student thinks she is successful, but she is not.Last student came the closest. She found an article, but when she clicked on it the article was not there and she did not know to click on the 360 link at the top of the page.
- #13 Describe how you would capture the citations from the search results?
- #14 Two found “New York Times Magazine” and thought they had the “New York Times” A couple were sent to other databases through links and found their way to Proquest Historical Newspapers.Two just did not notice that their articles were not from the NY Times.Two were successful.