Academic-watching : library web usability and information seeking : a case study at the University of Trieste

Arabito, Stefania Academic-watching : library web usability and information seeking : a case study at the University of Trieste., 2003 UNSPECIFIED. (Unpublished) [Other]

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English abstract

At the University of Trieste academics tend to make use of library resources without the intermediation of librarians. As a rule they bypass reference services and library instruction courses. On the other hand they advise students on how to seek and gather information for their papers and dissertations. Our library web site is becoming more and more “stuffed” with resources and with instructions on how to use such resources. Is our site usable (easy to use, easy to learn, supportive) for our “expert” users? Hence, the need to conduct a task oriented formal usability test with think aloud protocol on a small group of academics from different faculties. Further detailed evidence was collected through semistructured interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and informal post-test debriefing and conversations. While analyzing and interpreting the data, the emerging theory determined a paradigm shift, thus highlighting the need to pursue further investigations to gain deeper understanding of how to target our “expert” users and profile our services accordingly.

Item type: Other
Keywords: expert users, disintermediation, usability testing, information-seeking behaviour, University of Trieste
Subjects: D. Libraries as physical collections. > DD. Academic libraries.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BI. User interfaces, usability.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BG. Information dissemination and diffusion.
Depositing user: Stefania Arabito
Date deposited: 01 Sep 2006
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:04
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/8065

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