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).

Library "In the Flow" of things

I was struck by the simple truth of the last statement in this paragraph. Especially now, users are very impatient -- or maybe, they are amazingly patient -- with trying to figure out and find information provided by the library. --mp

From Lorcan Demsey (17 July 2005)

In the flow. The library wants to 'fit in' with the working practices of their users. In the network world this increasingly means fitting in with emerging network workflows (net-work-flows?). These may be demand-side user combined workflows pulled together from RSS feeds, toolbars, and the growing number of network services like Flickr. Or they may be supply-side pre-fabricated flows, as in a learning management system for example. Users expect services to be visible in their environment, not to have to break into the library environment.

Library organization [off-topic]

Lorcan Dempsey -- June 27, 2005 -- Libraries, maps and platforms
http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000713.html

...
This aligmnent of 'horizontal' and 'vertical' services will be one of the most interesting things to watch over coming years in the library space. My view is that one of the major changes we will see is that more operations are moved into horizontal 'shared services' so that libraries can concentrate on creating value in their vertical, user-oriented services. These 'horizontal' services may not start out as 'platform' services in the sense that they are made available through web services and can be stitched recombinantly into other applications. However they will move in that direction.

Libraries and the system vendors which serve them cannot afford to build the full range of services which will be needed to meet user expectations and service ambitions moving forward. Think of virtual reference, repository infrastructure, recommender systems, metadata creation, exposure to search engines, directory and registry services, knowledge bases, selective web harvesting and preservation, aggregated repositories of open access and other materials. The list could be extended considerably. This is one reason why I think that some of the most interesting questions facing libraries are organizational: what organizational frameworks will best secure these services, and what will be the balance between local and shared or third-party activity?

Too many clicks...

June 20, 2005
http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,12891,1510686,00.html

Also includes top best and worst of UK university sites.
Excerpts...
Too many clicks and you've lost them. Nowhere is the culture clash between today's sixth formers and the universities trying to recruit them greater than in academic websites....... Students were given exactly a minute to find some specific information, such as the name of the vice-chancellor (a slightly bizarre test, you might think, as 99% of students go through their entire degrees without knowing the name of the vice-chancellor); information on fees and bursaries; and something about the local area. This test threw up a bigger variation between sites. "Many were far too busy with too much to take in at one time - too many menus. 'Messy' was the most frequent criticism. Many sites had a dull and heavy feel.

Some ideas about usability

I saw this poster on the Usability Professionals Assocication web site that addressed designing for usability:

“Designing the User Experience” on the Usability Professionals Assn Web site.

http://www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/ux_poster.html

I took the elements from the poster and put them into a word document for consultation when we are planning the redesign. The document is at
http://insideirt.austincc.edu/library/lweb/redesign/usability-poster.doc