University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Competitive Usability and the Catalogue: A Process for Justification and Selection of a Next-Generation Catalogue or Web-Scale Discovery System

Gallaway, Teri Oaks; Hines, Mary Finnan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/34602

Description

Title
Competitive Usability and the Catalogue: A Process for Justification and Selection of a Next-Generation Catalogue or Web-Scale Discovery System
Author(s)
  • Gallaway, Teri Oaks
  • Hines, Mary Finnan
Issue Date
2012
Keyword(s)
  • Next-Generation Discovery and Access
  • Library Catalogs
Abstract
This case study demonstrates how competitive usability testing informs the selection and purchase of a next-generation catalogue (NGC) or Web-scale discovery system (WSDS) to enhance a current library catalogue. Using competitive usability techniques, the authors explain how different NGCs and WSDSs solve issues that catalogue users may face when searching for materials in the online catalogue. The goal of this study is to provide a framework that identifies concrete evidence in support of purchase recommendations for an effective system that adequately addresses locally identified issues with catalogue searches. The process of selecting live system implementations from peer institutions is outlined. Steps include surveying library staff about their current library catalogue. Survey results and documented reference questions provided the foundation for user tasks created by testers for use in this study. This multifaceted research design resulted in a case study that captures current issues that users encounter in the discovery and access to library materials and shows how to include competitive usability techniques as part of a purchase rationale while assessing how well a variety of next-generation discovery and access systems address users’ issues.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/34602
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2012.0027
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2012 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 61 (1) Summer 2012: Next-Generation Discovery and Access in Library Catalogs PRIMARY
Library Trends 61 (1) Summer 2012: Next-Generation Discovery and Access in Library Catalogs. Edited by Kathryn La Barre.