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If you're bored or trying to procrastinate, and feel like helping me in some preliminary research for the library's web page, then read on. I'm going to be applying this test to actual users of our library later this summer, but I'm thinking that getting some feedback now will help me structure the usability test. Or help me procrastinate.
This is going to be part of the usability test called a card-sort, or 'clustering and labelling' test. I've got a list of all the various forms, pages, links, etc on the library's website, and I'd like you to have a look at them, and sort them into groups that you think are connected - this will help me restructure the site into categories that make a more intuitive sense, because I have a sneaking suspicion that the current categories make more sense to librarians that patrons. I have also probably committed a Grievous Research Error and biased you in saying that up front, but you're all smart enough to realize that I think there's a problem with the organization as is, or I wouldn't be bothering with this. :)
Guidelines
--There's no right or wrong placement, of course.
--I'm not going to give you category labels, because I want to see what you associate these things with.
--Feel free to put an item in more than one category. That's the magic of the Internet: I can link to one page from several places in the menu. :)
--If you don't understand what an item is, please mention it. Some of them will makse sense to students and faculty at this school and not to outsiders, so I don't expect you to know them - I've tried to provide a bit of explanation on those. Others are, I think, obscure to anyone but the librarians here, and I need to know which ones those are, so I can rename them for the actual test, and for the page itself when I get around to recoding it later this summer.
--I dunno if your replies will fit in the LJ reply boxes; feel free to email them to telophase14 at gmail dot com. If you want to do it on a textfile or Word doc and attach it to an email, that's fine too. Obvisouly, this is sort of awkward online: in the actual test, I'll write them on index cards and have the test-takers physically stack them.
--Thank you!!
Da List o'Links o'Doom
Ask A Librarian
Comments
Renew Items
My Library
University Home Page
Guest Borrower Application
Directions to Library
Guest Databases
Guest Borrowing and Access Policies
TexShare - What Is It?
TexShare - Visitors
TCU Faculty/Staff Borrowing Policies
TCU Student Borrowing Policies
Copyright Compliance
Music Library Copyright Guidelines
Course Reserves
Course Reserves Copyright Information
Electronic Reserves
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Students
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Faculty
In-Library Reserves
Administration Department
Library Mission, Vision, and Values
University Library Committee
Acquisitions Department
Books In Print
Publisher Information
New Materials Added
Suggest Materials Form
Brite Library Department
Cataloging Department
Circulation Department
Collection Development
Government Information Department
Government Information Pages
Information Commons Department
Information Commons Site
Interlibrary Loan Department
Interlibrary Loan Document Delivery
Interlibrary Loan Request Form - Graduate Students and Faculty
Interlibrary Loan Requests - Undergraduates
Save a step - interlibrary loan direct
Interlibrary Loan - What is it?
Music Library Department
Periodicals
Reference Department
Reference Site
Research Guides
Virtual Reference Collection
Special Collections Department
Special Collections Site
Systems Department
EReserve Submission Form - Faculty
Library Instruction Request Form
Remote Storage Request Form
Clark Society (TCU alumni who have library privileges)
Friends of the Library organization
Windows Newsletter for Friends of the Library
Faculty Handbook
Graduate Student Fact Sheet
Regular Hours
Special Hours
Summer Hours
Information Commons (library computer lab and reference desk)
Library Instruction Main Page
Library Tutorial
Bibliographic Management Software
Databases by Title
Databases by Subject
Electronic Journals
Electronic Reserves
Full Text Journal Locator
Other Libraries
Electronic Resource Trials
Subject Guides
TCU Library Catalog
Virtual Reference Collection
WWW Search Engines
Staff Directory
Tutorials
Exhaustive list, huh? You can see why good organization is key here.
[ edit ] Oh, and if anyone knows of any free online software type stuff where I can set up the above card-stacking/item-grouping exercise so that it's not a bunch of cutting-and-pasting for people, let me know. :D
This is going to be part of the usability test called a card-sort, or 'clustering and labelling' test. I've got a list of all the various forms, pages, links, etc on the library's website, and I'd like you to have a look at them, and sort them into groups that you think are connected - this will help me restructure the site into categories that make a more intuitive sense, because I have a sneaking suspicion that the current categories make more sense to librarians that patrons. I have also probably committed a Grievous Research Error and biased you in saying that up front, but you're all smart enough to realize that I think there's a problem with the organization as is, or I wouldn't be bothering with this. :)
Guidelines
--There's no right or wrong placement, of course.
--I'm not going to give you category labels, because I want to see what you associate these things with.
--Feel free to put an item in more than one category. That's the magic of the Internet: I can link to one page from several places in the menu. :)
--If you don't understand what an item is, please mention it. Some of them will makse sense to students and faculty at this school and not to outsiders, so I don't expect you to know them - I've tried to provide a bit of explanation on those. Others are, I think, obscure to anyone but the librarians here, and I need to know which ones those are, so I can rename them for the actual test, and for the page itself when I get around to recoding it later this summer.
--I dunno if your replies will fit in the LJ reply boxes; feel free to email them to telophase14 at gmail dot com. If you want to do it on a textfile or Word doc and attach it to an email, that's fine too. Obvisouly, this is sort of awkward online: in the actual test, I'll write them on index cards and have the test-takers physically stack them.
--Thank you!!
Da List o'Links o'Doom
Ask A Librarian
Comments
Renew Items
My Library
University Home Page
Guest Borrower Application
Directions to Library
Guest Databases
Guest Borrowing and Access Policies
TexShare - What Is It?
TexShare - Visitors
TCU Faculty/Staff Borrowing Policies
TCU Student Borrowing Policies
Copyright Compliance
Music Library Copyright Guidelines
Course Reserves
Course Reserves Copyright Information
Electronic Reserves
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Students
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Faculty
In-Library Reserves
Administration Department
Library Mission, Vision, and Values
University Library Committee
Acquisitions Department
Books In Print
Publisher Information
New Materials Added
Suggest Materials Form
Brite Library Department
Cataloging Department
Circulation Department
Collection Development
Government Information Department
Government Information Pages
Information Commons Department
Information Commons Site
Interlibrary Loan Department
Interlibrary Loan Document Delivery
Interlibrary Loan Request Form - Graduate Students and Faculty
Interlibrary Loan Requests - Undergraduates
Save a step - interlibrary loan direct
Interlibrary Loan - What is it?
Music Library Department
Periodicals
Reference Department
Reference Site
Research Guides
Virtual Reference Collection
Special Collections Department
Special Collections Site
Systems Department
EReserve Submission Form - Faculty
Library Instruction Request Form
Remote Storage Request Form
Clark Society (TCU alumni who have library privileges)
Friends of the Library organization
Windows Newsletter for Friends of the Library
Faculty Handbook
Graduate Student Fact Sheet
Regular Hours
Special Hours
Summer Hours
Information Commons (library computer lab and reference desk)
Library Instruction Main Page
Library Tutorial
Bibliographic Management Software
Databases by Title
Databases by Subject
Electronic Journals
Electronic Reserves
Full Text Journal Locator
Other Libraries
Electronic Resource Trials
Subject Guides
TCU Library Catalog
Virtual Reference Collection
WWW Search Engines
Staff Directory
Tutorials
Exhaustive list, huh? You can see why good organization is key here.
[ edit ] Oh, and if anyone knows of any free online software type stuff where I can set up the above card-stacking/item-grouping exercise so that it's not a bunch of cutting-and-pasting for people, let me know. :D
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One thought I had right away--is there a Search the Catalog link that can be put up front and scattered liberally throughout? (If that isn't a completely separate part of the site.)
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The webpage - heck, I'll just link to it (http://lib.tcu.edu) - features a Search the Catalog box right up front, which is a feature I like and will keep, although I think there needs to be some rearranging and rephrasing of things. (And the look of the catalog itself, once you get into it, will require recoding and redesigning, but we jsut implemented this system 6 months ago, and I don't want to touch it until we've got it tweaked enough.)
The original idea of the site, from what I understand, was that it was supposed to be as simple as Google. However, what I think the committee didn't appreciate is that Google is a one-application site, and we are not a one-application site: we are a portal site, and thus have a different aesthetic and purpose.
I just have to get that across. :) Which is where I think the usability test I'm attempting to design will come in.
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Here's a quick-and-dirty attempt at categorizing (done before I looked at the actual site ...)
==============
TCU LIBRARY CATALOG [This gets a link of its own up front and center -- and maybe include it in the sidebar links on every page, too]
HOURS AND LOCATIONS
Regular Hours
Special Hours
Summer Hours
Directions to Library
FIND MATERIALS
(not sure about the best order for these, or whether they need to be broken down further)
TCU Library Catalog
Subject Guides
New Materials Added
Suggest Materials Form
Government Information Pages
Interlibrary Loan (this then links to a separate page or section for the Interlibrary Loan categories below)
Reference (links to reference section below)
Research Guides
Special Collections Site
Books In Print
Publisher Information
Bibliographic Management Software (this is a guess -- not sure on what this one means/where it goes)
Journals and Databases (links to the section below)
My Library (not completely sure what this is)
JOURNALS AND DATABASES
Periodicals
Databases by Title
Databases by Subject
Electronic Journals
Electronic Reserves
Full Text Journal Locator
BORROWING AND RENEWALS
EReserve Submission Form - Faculty
Renew Items
TCU Faculty/Staff Borrowing Policies
TCU Student Borrowing Policies
RESERVES
Course Reserves
Course Reserves Copyright Information
Electronic Reserves
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Students
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Faculty
In-Library Reserves
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
Interlibrary Loan - What is it?
Interlibrary Loan Department
Interlibrary Loan Document Delivery
Interlibrary Loan Request Form - Graduate Students and Faculty
Interlibrary Loan Requests - Undergraduates
Save a step - interlibrary loan direct
REFERENCE
Reference Site
Virtual Reference Collection
Information Commons (library computer lab and reference desk)
Information Commons Site (what does this mean?)
GUESTS
Guest Borrower Application
Guest Databases
Guest Borrowing and Access Policies
TexShare - Visitors
HELP
Ask a Librarian
Library Instruction Request Form (if this is for students needing help)
Library Instruction Main Page
Library Tutorial
Tutorials (is this different from library tutorials?)
Comments (this one possibly should also go on every page among the sidebar links)
FACULTY AND GRADUATE STUDENT RESOURCES
Graduate Student Fact Sheet
Faculty Handbook
EReserve Submission Form - Faculty
Library Instruction Request Form (if this is for faculty wanting instruction for their classes)
Remote Storage Request Form (if for faculty—but maybe it's for grad students?)
TCU Faculty/Staff Borrowing Policies
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items – Faculty
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Information Commons (library computer lab and reference desk)
EReserve Submission Form - Faculty
Electronic Reserves
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Students
Viewing Electronic Reserve Items - Faculty
Virtual Reference Collection
Electronic Journals
Electronic Reserves
Full Text Journal Locator (if this is in fact an electronic resource)
Electronic Resource Trials
TEXSHARE
(can this go under some sub category? Is it an electronic resource?)
TexShare - What Is It?
TexShare - Visitors
ALUMNI AND DONORS
Clark Society (TCU alumni who have library privileges)
Friends of the Library organization
Windows Newsletter for Friends of the Library
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Compliance
Course Reserves Copyright Information
Music Library Copyright Guidelines
LIBRARY DEPARTMENTS
Acquisitions Department
Administration Department
Brite Library Department (where else it goes depends on what it is)
Cataloging Department
Circulation Department
Collection Development
Government Information Department
Information Commons Department
Interlibrary Loan Department
Music Library Department
Special Collections Department
Reference Department
Systems Department
Staff Directory
University Library Committee
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
Library Mission, Vision, and Values (but only include if this is really needed – because it's not going to interest an outside borrower)
OTHER RESOURCES
Other Libraries
WWW Search Engines
University Home Page
===========================
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FYI, TexShare is a thing where libraries in the program share resources and borrowing privileges - if you've got a TexShare card from your local library, you can come into ours and get a card good for checking out a limited amount of material and using a number of our databases whose licenses allow us to share them.
But it's not something students will know right off unless they've been exposed to it somewhere, and it's certainly not something that people in the community who think they might want to use the library will know offhand, unless their libraries have told them about it.
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