River Campus Libraries

Metadata That Supports Real User Needs

David LindahlDirector of Digital Library Initiatives

University of Rochester Libraries

Agenda

Assessing real user needs Issues finding library content (books, etc.) CUIPID project Issues finding online content (articles) Find Articles project GUF project Moving forward

Assessing real user needs

User-Centered Design User Research

Issues finding library content

Precise queries are necessary for good results

Large result sets are unwieldy and difficult to comprehend

Unclear boundaries - what is and isn’t in the catalog

Issues finding library content

Precise queries are necessary for good results Choose a search type Set limits Omit initial articles Use correct spelling

Improving the situation Metadata Perspective System Perspective

Issues finding library content

Large result sets are unwieldy and difficult to comprehend Users just use the first hits and may miss the

best ones Multiple editions: what’s the difference? Relevance ranking not sufficient

Improving the situation System Perspective Metadata Perspective

Issues finding library content

Unclear boundaries - what is and isn’t in the catalog “What am I searching: the website, the catalog, a

database? Don’t make me decide!” “Articles, Books, Digital repository, ILL, which link do I use

for what?”

Improving the situation Metadata Perspective System Perspective

CUIPID Project

CUIPID: Catalog User Interface Platform for Iterative Design XML database MARCXML copy of catalog records Multiple metadata schemas User interface platform

Demo

CUIPID Project

Metadata Perspective Make the most of existing metadata Precise results using FRBR model Multiple schemas, more flexibility

System Perspective Separate system interoperates with ILS User centered interface

Issues finding online content

Difficulty selecting and using databases User perceptions around search skills Problems getting to full-text

Issues finding online content

Difficulty selecting and using databases Don’t know that you have to use a database Can’t choose a database or a subject area

Improving the situation Metadata Perspective System Perspective

Issues finding online content

User perceptions around search skills Users think they are skilled searchers Users expect websites to be easy to use Valuable content goes unused

Improving the situation System Perspective Metadata Perspective

Issues finding online content

Problems getting to full-text Can’t tell if it’s available from the results screen Navigation pathways are long, slow, and error prone Usability testing proves failure

Improving the situation Metadata Perspective System Perspective

Find Articles Project

User centered design Usability tested Metasearch technology Two clicks to full-text

Demo

Find Articles Project

Metadata Perspective Metadata for database selection Display configuration

System Perspective Metasearch software customization Website integration

GUF Project

GUF: Getting Users to Full text OpenURL link resolver “Don’t make me choose or follow links” Dependent upon:

Web services Knowledge base

Demo

GUF Project

Metadata Perspective No standard for 3rd party citation metadata MARC free-text holdings Multiple metadata transformations Full text available?

System Perspective Screen scraping Hiding the system complexity Two clicks

Moving forward

Users Range of skills and backgrounds Many different tasks

Shift focus from technology to user Metadata Interface design

Flexible Platforms User-Centered Design

River Campus Libraries

Metadata That Supports Real User Needs

David LindahlDirector of Digital Library Initiatives

University of Rochester Libraries