The Web Usability Team and Task Team conducted environmental scans of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) web sites to determine trends and best practices in academic library web site design and features. To compile the list of web sites to review, we used a usability testing technique – the Five-Second Test -- that allows one to quickly assess if a web page design is clear, concise and facilitates users’ information-seeking goals and tasks. Based on our initial impressions, we selected 23 web sites to review. Each team member then selected two to four web sites to review, ranking them using a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) for
- Aesthetic appeal: overall visual organization, balance, color scheme, contrast, imagery, and design identity
- Layout: consistency, organization, balance, visual hierarchy, and use of space
- Navigation: consistency, labeling, organization, presentation, and functionality
- Utility features: quantity and quality
- Site features: quality, quantity, uniqueness, and presentation
- Help/instruction: quantity of help options, embedded help options, display, organization, quality, and presentation
- Electronic resources presentation: organization, presentation, labeling, browsing and searching options
- Usability and accessibility: how effectively and efficiently a person can utilize the site in order to meet his or her needs regardless of their abilities.
The usability and accessibility criterion was subsequently removed, since our reviews did not pay enough attention to determining usability and accessibility.
At a joint team meeting we each selected up to three of our high-ranking sites and discussed the pros and cons of each. We next developed a home page features matrix to assess which features are commonly used. Those features are
- Major Headings Used
- Catalog Search From Home Page
- Other Searches From Home Page
- Site Index
- Chat/Instant Messaging
- News
- Contact Information
- Quick Links
- Segmented Audience
- RSS Feeds
- Events Calendar
- Customization
ARL Web Sites We Reviewed
- Arizona State University Libraries
- Auburn University Libraries
- Boston University Libraries
- Brigham Young University Library (Harold B. Lee Library)
- Brown University Libraries
- Columbia University Libraries
- Dartmouth College Library
- Duke University Libraries
- MIT Libraries
- McGill Lilbrary and Collections
- Northwestern University Library
- Ohio University Libraries
- Penn State University Libraries
- Syracuse University Library
- University of British Columbia Library
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
- University of Buffalo Libraries
- University of Georgia Libraries
- University of Kansas Libraries
- University of Kentucky Libraries
- University of Tennessee Libraries
- Virginia Tech Libraries
- Williams College Libraries
Comments About Web Sites (partial)
Brown University
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/index.php
Nicely Structured. Use of General Terms like: Quick links, Research, Library Services, and For You. I found it interesting that they still provide a link to their previous library website. Better use of white space and visually appealing with the new site for sure. I like their “Did You know…” feature and “Resource Spotlight” Category. Some consistency throughout site with top and bottom navigations. Large search bar at top of page. Their “Search Books & More“ is integrated with their library catalog and databases.
Northwestern University
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/
Nicely Structured. Use of General Terms for Headers like: Find, Services, Research Assistance, About and Help. Searching for Book/ Journals, Articles and Databases is a prominent search bar on left side of website. Library News/Announcements is a weblog with RSS feed featured on page on the right side of page. Consistent top navigation links but lack of Drop down menus from headers. Strong use of listed links. Their “Search the library website” is at the bottom of website. Color contrast on home page not too appealing (brown on green). Also, nav bar color scheme changes for each Header.
University of British Columbia Library (UBC)
http://www.library.ubc.ca/
The main page has a clean look but second level pages are just columns, text and links. The navigation bar remains constant throughout site. Headers are clear: Find, How to.., Resources by Subject, My Library Account. The blue nav bar is consistent throughout site. You can get back to library home page by clicking on logo from any page. Their chat service is prominent on their home page in two places. Library news is feature on the right side of page but the text is very small. Very little use of images throughout site. Main page has a nav bar for undergraduates, graduates, alumni, faculty staff and visitor/community users, but this is only accessible from the main page.
Ohio University Libraries
http://www.library.ohiou.edu/find/index.html
LIKE
Tabbed interface (Find, Services, Collections, Library Info). The use of tabs creates a very organized structure.
The options that appear within each tab are easily understood.
When clicking the tabs, the left navigation area is consistent, which includes a catalog search and journal articles search; on subsequent pages, the left nav area is replaced by context appropriate links (i.e., Services > Borrowing Services, the left navigation has Borrowing-specific links, such as “Checkouts and Returns”.
Various ways to contact the library (Ask a Librarian – IM, chat, phone, email, Skype)
Searches (catalog, journal articles and site search in the left navigation area.
Site Index
Text-only link
Major content fits on the screen (home page and subpages)
The searching commands and contact information remain visible and in the same position from tab to tab.
DON’T LIKE
The way PR stuff is organized.
Needs better labeling of news items
Syracuse University Library
http://library.syr.edu/
LIKE
ASK US is always visible from each page.
Comprehensive search on home page, which includes the catalog, databases, e-journals, staff directory, books (catalog), digital collections, local libraries, the SU and library website, and the Web.
Task-oriented labels (Find Books, Find Article, Find E-Journals, Find a Librarian, Find Facts)
Great online tutorials.
DON’T LIKE
Too much text on home page
Poor use of space. The commands/links are easily understood but not enough spacing between each item/link – seemed too jammed together.
University of Buffalo Libraries
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/
LIKE
The use of tabs creates a very organized layout.
Tabbed interface, although the tab colors could be more prominent. (Home, Libraries, Catalog, Resources, Services, Help)
The HOW DO I box, which is located on all pages at the top, is an excellent tool
Chat, Email, Telephone links in the footer give multiple ways to contact staff.
There is a Forms List that pulls together all forms that patrons can use from various other points and that is a nice feature.
DON’T LIKE
Small lettering
University of Georgia Libraries
http://www.libs.uga.edu/
Liked quadrants (Resources, Services, Research Help, About Us)
A-Z list is upfront
The site isn’t afraid to include Google.
News is on the right
Everything fits on the screen (no scrolling is necessary)
University of Tennessee Libraries
http://www.lib.utk.edu/
LIKE
Number of major headings (Find Information, Use Our Services, Get Help)
Jargon is minimized.
Clean design
Uses IM; AskUsNow icon placed prominently in the left navigation.
Consistent navigation
DON’T LIKE
Wasted space on left under the navigation area.
Findings - Home Page Features Matrix (draft)
Major Headings
From our scan, the trend is to use task-oriented labels on the home page. Thirteen of 17 web sites used a variation of “Find,” such as “Find Books,” Find Articles,” “Find Information,” “Find Facts,” “Find a Librarian,” and “Find e-Journals.” The web sites have moved away from organizing content according to their internal structures, and have taken a user-centered approach to providing information.
A “Service” heading was included on xxxx of the web sites, with the "Services" category further segemented by audience.
“About,” “Help,” “News,” and sections were included on all web sites
Catalog Search from Home Page
Seventeen of the 23 sites (74%) allow patrons to search the catalog directly from the home page. The catalog search is prominently positioned at the top of the pages. Four Voyager sites, Auburn University Libraries, Cornell University Libraries, Northwestern University Libraries and the University of Georgia Libraries, offered multiple ways of searching the catalog. Auburn University provided searches by title, author, journal title, browse subjects, browse authors, browse call numbers, quick search, and advanced search from drop-down menus placed on the home page. Northwestern provided searches by keyword, author, and title, and the University of Georgia provided searches by title, journal title, author, subject and keyword. Cornell University Physical Sciences Library provided searches by title, author, subject and keyword.
Other Searches from Home Page
An additional 16 (70%) allow searching of ejournals, databases, the library web site. One, Penn State University Libraries, allows searching of Google Scholar. Brigham Young University Libraries and the University of British Columbia Librariesprovide a federated search of library resources (WebFeat and OneSearch).
Site Index
Nineteen (83%) of the libraries' web sites had a site index.
Chat/Instant Messaging
Eighteen (78%) of the web sites provided a link to an “Ask Librarian” type of service through chat. Four sites used instant messaging. Users were further provided multiple ways to contact staff by email, chat, IM, a feedback form, or by phone. Ohio University offers a Skype and Internet video reference service.
News Section
A news section was included on all the home pages, either using static text or RSS Feeds [% of libraries doing this]. The news sections typically occupied no more than an eighth of the screen real estate.
Contact Information
Quick Links
The majority of the web sites did not have a Quick Links section. Because links to information were prominently displayed on the home pages using task-oriented, intuitive labels, a Quick Links section appeared to be unnecessary.
Segmented Audience
Thirteen (57%) web sites segmented services by audience, most often by faculty and staff, undergraduates, and graduates. Some further segmented the audience by persons with disabilities, off campus users, services for community users, distance learners, and visitors.
RSS Feeds
Seven of the 23 libraries used RSS feeds.
Events Calendar
None.
Customization
None of the web sites offered customization. Brigham Young University Libraries is redesigning its web site and will offer customization using the MyLibrary software.
Recommendations
(under development)
- Include a way to search the catalog from the home page.
- Enable multiple types of searches from the home page (catalog, articles, databases, web site, the Web)
- Eliminate library jargon. Use meaningful labels instead of library jargon, such as Academic Liaison Program, Circulation, Databases, Resources, Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery, Information Literacy. The labels and terminology will be based on the results of card sorting exercises performed by library patrons and library staff.
- Link to Subject pages from the home page.
- Eliminate the “Customize This Site” feature on the home page. Web statistics show that users more often select a subject from “Customize This Site” and rarely make the subject or campus the default page. Further, the “Customize This Site” feature takes up one-half of home page real estate.
- Explore the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs, RSS Feeds, LibX, podcasts, and vodcasts, to deliver information to patrons.
- Review web site content to better categorize content.
- Review web site content to eliminate or consolidate redundancies.
- Write for the web instead of for print. Because users scan for information, use meaningful headings and bulleted lists to make the page scannable.
- Position content on the home page according to the most common user tasks.
- Structure content by user goals and tasks instead of the libraries’ internal structure.
- Position the most important links at the top of the page.
- Use task-oriented descriptive labels to help users accomplish their tasks.
- Include content links on the home page in addition to category links. Category links lead to more links; content links link to actual content.
- Use consistent navigation so users know where they are within the web site.
- Ensure that link names match the headings of the pages they link to.
- Consider segmenting services by audience (for instance, Faculty, Staff, Students, Visitors, Alumni, Community Borrowers, Disabled Patrons).
