Usability: what's it all about?

Software usability is a term which frequently appears in trade journals, industry project plans, and in research articles. This article discusses the qualities that make up usability and how these qualities can be measured. The practice of usability is discussed and problem areas are identified. The article notes the relevance of the papers in this edition to the current problems facing usability practitioners.     

Editorial

This article presents a systematic review of the current practices of creating, maintaining, using, and evaluating East Asian studies guides across North America. We examined 137 East Asian studies subject guides published by 44 major East Asian libraries and surveyed the East Asian librarian community. In this article, we discuss the common issues and unique challenges faced by East Asian studies librarians and propose recommendations. Our aim is to provide insight for East Asian studies librarians in order to help them better manage their subject guides and serve the evolving needs of users in this digital age.     

The Library Course Page and Instruction: Perceived Helpfulness and Use among Students

Research guides can be divided largely into guides on particular subjects—subject guides—and guides tailored to the specific needs of courses—course pages. Recent studies indicate that online research guides are generally not helpful to college students unless the guides are linked to a course, either by being a course page or by being accompanied by an instruction session with the librarian. In this article, we report the findings of a study where students in a medium–sized (25 student), upper–division business course were asked about the helpfulness of a course page, the helpfulness of the librarian's accompanying instruction session, and how much they used the page. The student survey used mostly Likert scale questions. The study also reports on the course page's link traffic. Our results confirm earlier findings that a course page used in conjunction with librarian instruction is an effective tool to enhance student research. There were no control groups, and all respondents received both course page and instruction session. Seventy–one percent of the respondents indicated that the course page helpfulness ranged between “somewhat” and “very helpful,” and less than 10% of respondents said that they would not recommend a course page to other classes. Link traffic results indicate that neither a business subject guide nor a legal subject guide would have been as helpful to the respondents. These results support the argument that course pages should be preferred to subject guides when feasible.     

The System Usability Scale: Past,Present, and Future

The System Usability Scale (SUS) is the most widely used standardized questionnaire for the assessment of perceived usability. This review of the SUS covers its early history from inception in the 1980s through recent research and its future prospects. From relatively inauspicious beginnings, when its originator described it as a “quick and dirty usability scale,” it has proven to be quick but not “dirty.” It is likely that the SUS will continue to be a popular measurement of perceived usability for the foreseeable future. When researchers and practitioners need a measure of perceived usability, they should strongly consider using the SUS.     

Non-Commercial Digital Newspaper Libraries: Considering Usability

With the advent of the Internet there is now a growing expectation on the part of researchers to be able to have more immediate and functional access to newspaper archives and collections. In recent years newspaper digitization has moved to the forefront of efforts to provide this increased access to both historical and current newspapers. This article offers a brief overview of the unique challenges associated with creating non-commercial digital newspaper libraries and provides a preliminary look at the efficacy of these tools for the end user. The article focuses on a case study of usability testing done on the University of Florida's Florida Digital Newspaper Library (FDNL) and the National Digital Newspaper Project (NDNP)/Library of Congress Chronicling America digital newspaper collection. Additionally, it details a survey focused on gathering data regarding usability testing at other digital newspaper initiatives. Preliminary results from the small sample group surveyed indicate that for a variety of reasons testing is often underemphasized.     

Usability of Geographic Information: Current challenges and future directions

The use of Geographic Information or GI, has grown rapidly in recent years. Previous research has identified the importance of usability and user centred design in enabling the proliferation and exploitation of GI. However, the design and development of usable GI is not simply a matter of applying the tried and tested usability methods that have been developed for software and web design. Dealing with data and specifically GI brings with it a number of issues that change the way usability and user centred design can be applied. This paper describes the outcomes of a workshop held in March 2010 exploring the core issues relating to GI usability. The workshop brought together an international group of twenty experts in both human factors and GI, from a wide range of academic and industrial backgrounds. These experts considered three key issues, the stakeholders in GI, key challenges applying usability to GI and the usability methods that can be successfully applied to GI. The result of this workshop was to identify some areas for future research, such as the production of meaningful metadata and the implications of blurring of the line between data producers and data consumers.     

Usability engineering laboratories: limitations and challenges toward a unifying tools/practices environment

This article discusses the limitations and challenges surrounding the present usability engineering (UE) labs. Usability laboratories include hardware and software tools to observe users, collect and analyse diverse data about the users' interactions, behaviours, actions, and reactions including their raw feedback regarding their experiences. Using statistical analysis and data mining software, these qualitative and quantitative data are transformed into design insights and recommendations for future usability improvements. First, we survey the existing stationary, portable, and remote laboratories. We then review the current usability tools while highlighting the gap between the existing tools/labs and the UE practices. We will show how this gap can be closed via a roadmap using a computer-assisted usability engineering environment (CAUTE). A CAUTE provides a unifying user interface that exploits a process-sensitive architecture for integrating the large variety of the existing tools into the best UE practices. Beyond the technical problems, there is also a need to address research issues including determining the interest of the CAUTE approach in comparison with the current usability labs.     

Slashdotting Digital Library Resources

This study analyzes 1557 chat reference questions received at Grand Valley State University Libraries over four semesters to determine the quantity and nature of the questions. Results indicated that use of chat reference was low and that less than a quarter of chat questions required a librarian to answer. The cost of a librarian answering a chat question ranged from $37 to $439 per question. The findings suggest that assigning chat reference to trained reference assistants will not affect patron service and that it is not cost effective to use reference librarians to answer chat questions.     

Communication,Face Saving,and Anxiety at an Academic Library's Virtual Reference Service

This study investigates the communication between patrons and librarians at a large research university's virtual reference service. Reference transactions were analyzed for type of transaction and evidence of deflection, deference, and rapport building to determine if face-saving communication by librarians appeared to lower patrons’ stress and anxiety levels during the course of the virtual reference transaction. The transactions analyzed showed that despite the fact that few patrons self-disclosed feelings of library anxiety, there was evidence of deferential speech and rapport building, two essential elements of face saving, between patrons and librarians.     

Dust off Those Encyclopedias: Using Reference Sources to Teach the ACRL Framework Concepts

What if the ideal tools for teaching undergraduate students the most critical information literacy concepts have been sitting in the stacks all along collecting dust? Reference sources are an optimal medium to introduce all six of the Association of College &; Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework's central concepts for information literacy. Additionally, by understanding a reference source's place in the information search process, students learn to consciously avoid the common pitfall of neglecting exploratory research before specifying research inquiries. Thus, incorporating reference sources thoughtfully into instructional design contributes to the development of both information literacy and metacognition.     

Planning and Implementing a Federated Searching System: An Examination of the Crucial Roles of Technical,Functional, and Usability Testing

SUMMARY

Federated searching software offers much promise to users as a convenient way of accessing the wealth of electronic information resources libraries provide. But metasearching is not the same as Google searching; care must be taken in organizing and presenting search options and results so that they are comprehensible to users. From software installation to usability testing and creating documentation, most of the work of implementation is behind-the-scenes and hidden from most library staff and users; however, the decisions made during implementation greatly affect staff and user experiences with the product as well as its overall utility and usability. Systematic testing of the product is necessary to make informed and defensible decisions. This article details three layers of testing (technical, functional, and usability) recommended during implementation of a federated search product, based on best practices in the literature, metasearch standards, and the authors' own experiences with implementing a locally developed broadcast search system and the federated search system WebFeat.     

User-Centered Design and Reference Services in International Librarianship: A Case Study of Nazarbayev University Library

Major changes over the past decade have moved Kazakhstan and its university students out of the old Soviet model of education and into the realm of international scholarship. While students from this region are being prepared in new and innovative ways, their research needs are still unique and require a firm understanding on the part of academic librarians. With an eye to better serving students at Nazarbayev University, librarians undertook a usability of the library's web resources in February 2013. This article presents findings from the study, which address the distinct needs of university students from post-Soviet nations.     

Talking Through It: Using Student to Student Interviews and Brainstorming Activities for Facilitating Critical Inquiry

Facilitating student engagement, critical thinking, and strategic research approaches are key goals for many teaching librarians in academia. Librarians generally develop different tools to address these goals, depending on the class, the students, and the research in which students are participating. This paper outlines a peer-to-peer interview method developed as part of a workshop for an advanced chemistry class. The goal of this activity is to improve engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking before upper-level students delve into research literature. The activity iterations as well as outcomes, observations, and overall success are described in detail.     

Big Data and Libraries: Identifying Themes in the Literature

The availability of big data is increasing in various sectors of the economy worldwide. Consequently, opportunities for data services are expanding in special, academic and public libraries. Librarians’ cataloging, archiving, research, and reference skills remain especially suited for the provision of big data services. In this article the authors examine the literature on big data and libraries to identify major themes as well as highlight possibilities and problems with the management of large datasets. Librarians can utilize this information to develop or improve data services in their institutions’ libraries.     

Moving from the Consortium to the Reference Desk: Keeping Chat and Improving Reference at the MSU Libraries

The experience of the Mississippi State University (MSU) Libraries illustrates the challenges presented by moving from consortial to local chat, as well as an evaluation of the advantages of chat reference in an academic setting. Countering the consortial, instant-messaging model prevalent in virtual reference today, the MSU Libraries have found chat offers advantages in an academic community. Moving to a local setting, it was possible for the MSU Libraries to maintain quality control over chat transactions while building relationships with faculty and students across campus.     

Integrating e-Books into Academic Libraries: A Literature Review

Academic libraries continue to face challenges of physical space, changing access demands from technology, and the delivery and accessibility of resources to populations both on- and off-campus. To address these challenges, academic libraries increasingly turn to e-books to build and supplement existing print collections. This review article examines the various streams within the library and information science literature related to e-book adoption in academic libraries. Topics within the literature examined include e-book technology, academic library adoption, cost, and modes of reading. This review of the literature is relevant to all academic librarians and administrators engaged in collection development decisions.     

Communicating with Faculty,Staff, and Students Using Library Blogs: Results from a Survey of Academic Health Sciences Libraries

This study investigated use and management of blogs in academic health sciences libraries. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected with a questionnaire distributed to bloggers and administrators representing 22 libraries self-identified as using blogs to publish library newsletters. Perceived barriers to use of blogs included lack of patron awareness and technical issues. Blogs were viewed as easy to use by librarians and blogs are used to promote licensed resources. Blogs do not replace other interactions with librarians, but in the future, could be used to develop a community, provide tools for learning, and increase visibility of the library.     

Byte-Sized Pieces: Equipping Academic Librarians to Integrate Technology into Library Instruction through Manageable,Maintainable, and Meaningful Staff Development

Technology changes how classroom instruction happens, and, unlike K-12 educators who receive pedagogical training, academic librarians are not always experts in teaching information literacy—especially with the advent of twenty-first century technology tools. As such, the question of how to prepare on-the-ground academic librarians to effectively teach with technology tools while still addressing the Association of College and Research Libraries information literacy competency standards needs to be considered. This article shares how one academic library addressed this need while also considering how to: assess knowledge, competencies, and needs; share information in meaningful ways; and encourage librarians to build their technology knowledge independently and as part of a cohort.     

Student engagement and blended learning: Portraits of risk

The widening participation agenda was instigated by a government seeking to develop skilled workers in the global economy, yet it has consistently refused to fund the burgeoning student population adequately. Managers and academics within the HE sector have to reconcile requirements for the implementation of policies with an increasing ‘audit’ culture and a mass education system. For these stakeholders, perceptions of the benefits of moving aspects of learning online can be attractive. But does this help the widening participation student, struggling to adjust to University life, juggling working to minimise debt and family commitments?