Lorcan Dempsey blog comment:
"There is some evidence that electronic resources - databases say - near the top of lists are more heavily used. The 'default user' seems a relevant way of describing those library users that pick the database from near the top of the list. One way of characterizing the challenge of providing access to electronic resources is to try to get relevant resources to the 'default user'. "
Default user is defined in an article (The battle of the portals -- Oct 20th 2005 | SAN FRANCISCO --From The Economist print edition) :
"Default users are “the great unwashed”, says Mr Varian. They are the ones who, for instance, use MSN because it comes pre-installed in Internet Explorer, the web browser that itself comes pre-installed on new computers. By contrast, teenagers and geeks mix and match their web mail, IM, online maps, search, blogging and so on from whichever service on the internet they happen to like best. Default users are less demanding, older but nonetheless rich enough to target with small hyperlinked text advertisements. "
15 November 2005
09 November 2005
Web fonts
I've been following a thread on the Innopac Users list about use of web fonts. In general, the responses have all been similar -- Verdana, Arial, Helvetical, sans-serif. On thing pointed out to me which I needed reminding about is that Verdana distinguishes between O and zero, I and l, etc., which some sans serifs don't. One respondent also referred people to this url which is a good brief refresher:
http://www.accordmarketing.com/tid/archive/websafefonts.html
http://www.accordmarketing.com/tid/archive/websafefonts.html
05 October 2005
Points to ponder
Excerpt from ... Avoid Bad Web Design
Words, words, words
On a Web page, less is more. Usability studies show that, on average, people can read about 25 percent as much text on a monitor as they can read on a printed page. Choose your words carefully. Make your most important point first. If you have lots to say on a topic, give your visitor a synopsis, then link to your full article on a separate page. Break up big blocks of text with white space.
Words, words, words
On a Web page, less is more. Usability studies show that, on average, people can read about 25 percent as much text on a monitor as they can read on a printed page. Choose your words carefully. Make your most important point first. If you have lots to say on a topic, give your visitor a synopsis, then link to your full article on a separate page. Break up big blocks of text with white space.
Long pages
Usability studies demonstrate greater comprehension and memory in readers presented with one or two screens of material on a page. Organize your longer articles into screen-sized blocks, then use "next" and "previous" links to guide your visitor through the pages. Sometimes, though, you may have a collection of relatively small chunks of information that are loosely related, like a glossary or a FAQ. It does make sense to put these all in one page, regardless of the length, if you provide some basic navigation elements. At the top of the page, list each topic in your glossary with a hyperlink to the full item. At the end of each item, provide a "back to top" link. This will enable your visitors to find what they are looking for easily.
Usability redux
| According to usability guru, Jakob Neilsen, founder of http://www.useit.com, “User testing is different from focus groups, which are a poor way of evaluating design usability. Focus groups have a place in market research, but to evaluate interaction designs you must closely observe individual users as they perform tasks with the user interface. Listening to what people say is misleading: you have to watch what they actually do.” Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use. The word "usability" also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process. Usability has five quality components: Learnability : How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? Memorability : When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency? Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? Satisfaction : How pleasant is it to use the design? For more information, go to www.useit.com . |
05 September 2005
Fitting metasearch into the library website
Lorcan Dempsey often puts into words thoughts I can't articulate (because I am so poor at that) about providing better access/service to information resources for our primary users. I've been stewing for months about a better way to accomodate the gotta-get-it-quick-or-not-at-all approach that many of our users employ -- not just the students. I don't have the programming skills, nor do I really feel like we should necessarily provide some form of metasearch as a primary means for obtaining information for student assignments. I'm as torn as the next person about our responsibility to teach "proper" research techniques. There are lots of articles in our literature about this. I guess I feel that we should offer some form of the ggiqonal approach so we don't lose them immediately, but... I'm not sure how to best do that.
Some thoughts expressed by Lorcan Dempsey in a larger article worth reading:
( http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000768.html )
Metasearch is not an end in itself, although we sometimes talk about it as if it were. The aim is to provide search services at the level of database combination that makes sense for the user, to provide guidance on those combinations, and to present the services in ways which make sense in user environments. This last point is important; one may want to present a metasearch service as a web page, as a box in a reading list or course page, as a machine interface which other applications talk to, and so on. Metasearch, like all other library services, will be part of an eco-system of services. One can talk of its place in the discover-locate-request-deliver chain, and we have seen much work of late providing integration with resolution and fulfilment services of various kinds, so that the user can move from discovery to fulfilment in a more streamlined way. Increasingly, we may want data to flow more easily (to work with reference/citation managers), or to mix metasearch capacity into particular environments (a course apparatus is an example).
Some thoughts expressed by Lorcan Dempsey in a larger article worth reading:
( http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000768.html )
Metasearch is not an end in itself, although we sometimes talk about it as if it were. The aim is to provide search services at the level of database combination that makes sense for the user, to provide guidance on those combinations, and to present the services in ways which make sense in user environments. This last point is important; one may want to present a metasearch service as a web page, as a box in a reading list or course page, as a machine interface which other applications talk to, and so on. Metasearch, like all other library services, will be part of an eco-system of services. One can talk of its place in the discover-locate-request-deliver chain, and we have seen much work of late providing integration with resolution and fulfilment services of various kinds, so that the user can move from discovery to fulfilment in a more streamlined way. Increasingly, we may want data to flow more easily (to work with reference/citation managers), or to mix metasearch capacity into particular environments (a course apparatus is an example).
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