Library Gateway Usability Reports

The goal for these tests was to determine how users categorized a sample of pages currently grouped under Services, Departments and Libraries on the Library Gateway to see if there might be better ways to group and label these items.

 The gateway includes a group of links on the bottom (footer) of each page called “Quick Links.” These links are meant to provide convenient access to some of the most frequently used and/or most requested links related to both library and university business.

 This survey was designed and administered by the MLibrary Mobile Devices Working Group: Karen Reiman-Sendi (chair), Anne Beaubien, Suzanne Chapman, Kathleen Folger, and Gary Munce. The survey was intended to supplement national survey data about mobile use with actual responses from MLibrary patrons.

 The goal of this survey was to offer users the opportunity to select a graphic to represent the Ask Us reference service from a variety of options (as determined by a review of how other libraries represent this service).

 The Library Outages web page lists the status of current problems with online resources. The overall goal of this project is to make the Library Outages page easier for patrons to find and easier to use once found.

 This survey, a broad overview of how our library’s users view the web site and the tools we offer, provides the Web Team with a starting point for conducting focus groups and usability studies.

 The goal for this study was to conduct a simple comparison of how some other libraries link to their electronic reference services to inform & inspire changes for the MLibrary gateway.

 This was a followup test following changes made as a result of the previous Ask Us Service Guerilla test from April 2007 (see above). First, we wanted to compare two prototype icons that had different ways of displaying “email, chat, phone”. Second, we wanted to get feedback about how to make the icon more noticeable.

 The goal for this test was to determine if users notice the main Ask Us bubble graphic and current use of the Ask Us services and IM in general.