DASH! Usability Results

Link to original doc

Huda Khan, Astrid Usong, Tim Worrall
April 2021

GOAL

Understand how pages dedicated to author and subject information can help catalog users find relevant resources and information. 

METHODOLOGY

We sent out recruitment emails to the Mann and Olin student employee email lists and Olin grad student carrel holders.  When students responded, we scheduled a half hour Zoom session with them and sent them a link to the consent form.  During the Zoom session, after obtaining verbal consent from the participants, we provided a link to the tasks and link to the interface for them to evaluate.   We ended the session with a few follow up questions.   

PARTICIPANTS

5 undergraduate students

SCHEDULE

April 9 - 19

KEY OUTCOMES

• Info button and “view full record” link: We were not planning on testing or evaluating the design or placement of the info button or view full record link, but our user testing showed clear patterns emerging in these areas.
• We need to clarify the role of the info button with respect to the author link next to it.  The info button was often not recognized as a clickable button that would result in an action separate from the Author link.  Four out of five participants clicked first on the name link itself and had to be prompted or directed to click on the info button.   
• We should clarify the connection between what is currently identified as the “view full record” link and the resulting page.  Two participants had to be prompted to click this link.  Two participants noted that the term “view full record” did not seem to describe the content on the resulting page. As one participant noted, we may also benefit from more clearly distinguishing the “view full record” link from the underlying page and from the info button.  
• The label “alternate forms” should be made clearer for end-users.  Additionally, the type of alternate names may be useful information to provide users.  For example, if names listed are the author’s name in different languages or if they are pseudonyms.   
• The role and function of the digital collections and repositories sources should be made clearer.  Although all of the participants were able to find these tabs when completing the tasks to find results from these sources, when asked if they were familiar with these sources, a majority indicated they were not familiar with repositories.  Although most interpreted the term “digital collections”, most had not interacted with this source before. 
• The display of broader and narrower subjects, and the relationship of these subjects with the main subject displayed on the page, may have room for greater clarity.  Four participants were able to use this section in answering their questions.  One noted that the “>” between the broader and narrower columns was not clear.   
• The function of the “Display all subjects” needs to be made clearer and the checkbox can be brought closer to the timeline to denote its connection with the timeline.  While three participants did find and click on the checkbox, two did not find the checkbox as easily.  One suggested bringing the checkbox closer to the timeline.    
• The function of the subjects timeline and the relationship between the map and the timeline can be clarified further.  Although participants were able to use the timeline to find subjects, some participants noted some confusion around what exactly was being displayed on the timeline.  One participant saw a location highlighted on the map and wondered whether the subjects displayed were related only to that location.  

TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES

This document outlines the tasks which are also repeated below along with relevant screenshots.

The pages for author tasks: 

The pages for subject tasks:

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Which locations were related to this event?
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?

TABULATED SUMMARY

OVERVIEW

Info button and full record link

Name link: 

Four out of five participants clicked first on the name link itself and had to be prompted or directed to click on the info button.   Only one participant clicked on the info button and “view full record” link to find information on their own and without any prompting.

Full record link:

Two participants clicked the “view full record” link on their own without being prompted while two other participants had to be prompted.  With the remaining participant, we had to prompt them to use the info button and then also directed them to use the “view full record” link so they were not asked to try to find that link on their own.  Two participants noted that the “view full record” link did not seem to describe the content on the resulting page. . One of the participants who was prompted to click the link said they had seen the link but did not think the link would take them to the intended information.  Additionally, they noted the “view full record” link had the same color as the info button and the same background as the underlying page so it was hard for them to distinguish between the link and the page.

Alternate names

Four participants saw and used the alternate names tab to complete the task of finding other names for George Eliot.  That said, two said they were unclear about the phrase “alternate forms” while one wondered whether the tab showed names for the person at different points in time.  One participant did not use the alternate forms tab and concluded there were no alternate names when looking at the author heading at the top of the page. 

Analysis: The author used for these tasks is George Eliot.  In this case, the name of the author used at the top of the page is in fact the pseudonym.  Participants weren’t given this information as part of the task.  Additionally, the alternate forms tab showed names in different languages with some strings displayed in a right to left order.  This last aspect may have made the dates appear different (when they were simply listed in right to left order instead)

Conclusion:  In addition to changing the term “alternate forms” to another term that more clearly indicates other names for the author, we should consider whether it would be useful to provide details regarding whether a name is a pseudonym or alternate spelling or the name in a different language since these scenarios are different from each other.  

Broader, narrower, and other related subjects

When asked to identify related subjects or the count of related subjects, four participants used information from the broader and narrower subjects section.  One participant had to be prompted to use this information. Another participant noted that they were unclear about the meaning of the “>” symbol displayed in between the broader and narrower columns.  Three participants also used the “browse call numbers” link to look at related subjects on that page.  

Digital collections and Repositories: 

All the participants found the tabs for digital collections and repositories when completing the tasks.  When asked if they were familiar with these sources, four indicated they had never heard of repositories and one said they were not sure which repository they would look at.  With respect to digital collections, one person stated they had seen this option before in the catalog while one stated they were not sure how digital collections were different from other library resources.  The remaining three had either seen similar collections (such as the Johnson Museum collection) or understood the term to mean a collection of visual resources. 

Conclusion: The role and content for these sources is not entirely clear, and we could do more to highlight the purpose of these sources. 

Subject timeline and map: 

Display all subjects checkbox:

When asked to see if they could see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated, three participants were able to find and use the “display all subjects” checkbox. Two participants did not see the checkbox.  One participant suggested the checkbox could be moved closer to the timeline to enable users to see the connection. 

Map and timeline function: 

All the participants were able to find related subjects on the subject timeline (check that this is true) once they had clicked the “display all subjects” checkbox.  Two participants indicated they were not clear regarding the role or function of the timeline, with one stating some level of confusion around the timeline’s purpose and the other saying they were unclear about what was being displayed on the timeline.  For the latter, they wondered if all the subjects were related to Russia.  It should be noted that Russia was one of the countries highlighted on the map as being related to the main subject in the task. 

Current search practices:

When asked about what kinds of search tasks users perform in their own work, all mentioned some use of subjects including related subjects and broader and narrower subjects.  Three participants mentioned that they look for or use information related to authors such as author suggestions or author birth names.  (?) participants noted they often use Google for searching for related subjects.  One participant noted they may also employ the library catalog to look at authors and subjects related to books. (Confirm)

Useful features: 

When asked which features from the prototype they may find useful, participants noted the following:

• For subject information
• Related concepts
• Narrower events
• Timeline for subjects and the map which enable displaying context
• For author information
• Which authors wrote on the same subject
• Influences for authors
• Timeline of works
• Alternate forms and other names for the authors which could help to expand the search

All participants noted that at least one feature related to subjects would be useful. Three participants noted the timeline for authors was helpful.  Two participants noted alternate forms or names would be useful.

NOTES FROM SESSIONS

Participant 1

Tasks

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
• Assuming I can click on the link
• Didn’t see info button at first next to author (and thought the subject text would help learn)
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
• Found that on the entity page
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
• Didn’t see alternate forms
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Went back to the main record first
• Saw the editor
• Prompted to go back to entity page and then saw the influences tab
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• Same as above
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• Saw total works by
• Was surprising how quickly she found this. Is that because it mirrors other parts of the system?
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• Found those
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?
• Found the publication timeline
• Answered the question

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?
• Found the info button
• Then went to full record
• Saw library resources
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Found that
• Which locations were related to this event?
• Found that in the top panel
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• Found the number under catalog
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Found that
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• Found the result
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
  • Library catalog
  • Thought there was a scroll button but there isn’t to see all the resources
  • Scroll button would be easier to navigate
• Went to browse related call numbers
• Had not noticed broader/narrower at first
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• Saw broader/narrower
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?
• Scrolled through timeline
• Didn’t find the display all subjects
• Had to be told the button for display all subjects
• Good way to visualize info along with broader/narrower
• Definitely some confusion on how the timeline worked, though maybe that was due to her having accidently expanded it

When asked, they said the map shows locations for events because clicking on display all subjects showed the map as well.

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
  • Multiple authors suggested
  • Specific practices
• Research: research papers.  More centered around subjects and not time periods. 
• Environmental science: benefits of agricultural practices.
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
  • Helpful to use related concepts
  • Did before in research for MS class - would want to narrow down to specific authors or authors that use the same subject
  • Name of people influenced by a certain author - to find similarities between different works
  • Which works were written first on the timeline
  • Not sure what repository would use
• What I would use 
• What I wouldn’t use
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Collection of journal articles?
• Have used the Johnson Museum collection 
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?
• Was not familiar with repositories
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?
• Related concepts: relatedness in terms of time period, related authors who wrote about the same subject

Q: How does research methodology change from topic don’t know anything about to one you know more about it?

Google Scholar to look for things and then would find I don’t have access and then see if I can find access in the library catalog.

Q: Specific features helpful when further along in research?

Lots of choices: way to find similar authors and subjects.  

Participant 2

Undergrad, engineering

Tasks

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
• Found the info button right away
• Clicked on the full record
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
• Saw place of birth
• And she pronounced Warwickshire correctly!
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
  • Might be what am looking for.  Assume that’s what the label means
• Thought it might say it in bold tab (field)
• Saw library holdings section
• Clicked through to alternate forms
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Saw influences tab
• J.K. Rowling
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• “Go the other way”
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• Found pretty fast
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• Found the holdings section
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?
• “Oh it’s scrolly”
• Mill on the floss first in 1860

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?   
• Info button and then view full record
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Can see it in title
• “Could go narrower but don’t know which yet”
• Which locations were related to this event?
• Location: japan and russia
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• Seems like 500 (under library catalog section) and also “works about”
• 1-3 seems very small (usually 1-10/1-15)
• Some uncertainty about how this was supposed to work
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Found the tab pretty easily
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• Saw the tab
• “Don’t know what repositories”
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
  • Narrower: related/happened after
  • Could also browse related call numbers - perhaps similar time period
  • Could also try clicking on the book and seeing if there are subjects in there
• Could go broader and narrower (related in terms of scope)
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• Could see  “works about” under eastern question
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?
• Tried scrolling to see other subjects
• “Maybe display all subjects”
• “Seem to have lost russo-japanese war” in the lineup
• Wasn’t sure but since there wasn’t much on the timeline/map
• Wondered if “display all subjects” would change the library catalog

“Do you want to see more results”?

    “Maybe click here to see more”

Like the map

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
  • Time period no
  • Location maybe
  • Catalog results: if trying to find a book
• In anthropology class
• More likely to looking for subject related searches rather than author, because looking for topic (and topic within that) for my paper
• Not much related to history - wouldn’t really using a timeline
• Categories/call number and related subjects
• Names and books on related topics
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
• Other names - find more stuff in other search engines
• Not sure what influences does 
• Publication timeline and seeing what the works seem most useful
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Vaguely - things aren’t necessarily books. Not hugely sure. 
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?
• No idea what these are
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?
  • Expected the top part
  • Publication/alternate forms: makes this page special
  • Something that indicates there’s more stuff and 
  • Her not being clear about the difference between the author name link and the info button is significant.
• Like it
• The scrolliness of histropedia seems very slippery - a bit sensitive
• Maybe a slidewheel? 
• Info button: saw that, but wasn’t sure about view full record

Participant 3

Tasks

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
• Tried to click the link and found the results
• Saw the panel underneath the virtual browse
• Looking at notes
• Did not know the info button was clickable
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
• 1891 from string
• Place of birth listed in panel 
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
  • Not sure what is meant by
  • Are these other names? Maybe in different languages?
  • Referred to as?
• Clicked on alternate forms
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Found the influences tab
• “Influenced for”: the right side
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• Balzac
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• Found total works by pretty fast
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• Found that too
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?
• Looked at publication timeline and answered the question pretty fast

First intuition to click on the name.  Didn’t really to occur to me that the info button worked, and also didn’t really see full record until told.  Used to clicking the link. 

Alternate forms: goes by a different name or pen name, not sure what to make of that phrase. 

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?
• Now know where the info button and full record
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Saw heading
• Which locations were related to this event?
• Saw locations in panel
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• Works about: 500
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Saw the tab
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• Saw tab
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
  • Looked at broader first and then looked at it
• Narrower: event that happened under it
• Grafton affair
• Not sure what the “>” is for
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• 0 for grafton affair
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?
• Clicking on the narrower one and finding info
• Then saw the timeline below but wasn’t sure what to do 
• Prompted to select display all subjects and then saw the subjects on the timeline

Did not occur to click on display all subjects. Maybe move to the display all subjects to be nearer the timeline. Sort of distance so don’t associate it with the timeline. 

Broader:

Think of a tree map: above

Narrower: smaller event under this subject

Maybe having Russo-Japanese War in the middle between broader and narrower

Showing more of the path/hierarchy

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
  • Don’t normally use the library catalog
  • The internet
  • Research paper: normally class already gives resources
  • Use JStor and encyclopedia: sources I can actually cite
  • If know what writing about, wouldn’t look at this kind of stuff
  • Probably wouldn’t look at a timeline
• Preliminary: look at author, what did they write about, subject matter, impressions
• Wouldn’t look at broader/narrower events. Depends on stage of research
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
  • May not look at broader
  • Author is not primarily English or Western
  • If can find something in a different language
• Narrower part is helpful (even though don’t do it now) - being able to click on details
• Alternate forms would be helpful.  
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Familiar with - knew were an option before
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?
  • Info button
  • Display all subjects
• A lot of the features were helpful
• But how to use them not intuitive:

Participant 4

(Set one of notes)

Tasks

Undergrad, college of engineering

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
• Clicked on the link
• Text is blue: is hyperlink (takes them to catalog results) ->
• Then clicked on the info
• Found the wikidata link
• Did see “view full record” but did not relate it to the full information
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
  • Clicked around the page. 
  • Was looking for a date - saw place of birth in the info box section.  Thought there would be date of birth and date of death there. 
• Found place of birth right away: England
• When? 
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
• Saw the alternate forms tab - looks like different names
• When asked, may not have assumed “alternate forms” meant names they went by
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Sees influenced tab right away
• “Influence for”
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• Found Balzac
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• Total works by: 170
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• Also found this: 3
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?
  • Maybe could find books in order
  • Mill on the floss was first
• Clicked on library holdings first/ books
• Then remember the publication timeline

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?
• Having gone through authors, familiar with the path through panel to view full record
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Had scrolled down to map so used the map element times
• Which locations were related to this event?
• Saw the locations in the top panel
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• “Works about 500”  (although hovered over broader first)
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Didn’t see digital collections tab at first
• Went to call number browse -> finding all the works related to russo japanese war and then filter to digital collections
• Then clicked back and then clicked digital collections tab
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• Found the repositories tab
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
• Went to browse related call numbers again - have related topics
• Considered the book name as a related topic
• On prompting, found broader and narrower
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• Clicked on narrower
• Zero results
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?
• Went to the timeline
• Found display all subjects!

Saw works about for broader first than works about:500

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
  • Anything at all to see if correlation will help/that would fit into my argument for a specific
  • Not sure what a repository is so would not go into 
• Currently, hadn’t really had to look for resources
• Last time, I used Google not a library catalog
• When researching, may look at broader or narrower info
• Usually something in mind that am researching, would know what looking for
• If writing an essay, didn’t have enough to write about, would like at stuff related
• Not do: would depend on what I was looking for
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
• If aware of these resources, would use them more
• No classes require me to use them
• Would be a helpful resource if doing research related to authors and works (subjects page also potentially helpful)
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Some kind of visual (video/photos)
• Don’t usually look for them (if looking for photo, would just google it)
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?       
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?
  • Confusing as not sure if page behind it
• Didn’t think bar code was clickable
• View full record: color same as info button, background same as large page

(Set two of notes)

Tasks

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot? Would click on link of author’s name, brings me to catalog with more books by him. So I would go back and click on ‘Info’.
• Does not see full record
• Hovers above each of the links to see what she can click on.
• Goes to wikidata
• We had to point her to view full record. Didn’t relate it to more information about author.
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born? Didn’t see when he was born in title, looks further down page to timeline, doesn’t find it, scrolls back up, and then finally finds it.
• What other names did George Eliot go by? Alternate forms, was already on it, but may not have assumed it was alternate names he went by.
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work? Influences tab, influence for
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot? Same tab
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog? 170
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot? 3
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first? Clicks on Books first but then goes to timeline

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war? Subject > Info > View full record now that she knows that’s where to go.
• Within which time period did this war take place? Found answer on timeline
• Which locations were related to this event? Locations
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war? Works about: 500
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. Has trouble finding Digital Collections tab, clicks Browse related call numbers
• Please find one related result from repositories. Finds tab
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  Would assume this is Browse related call numbers, related call numbers may have related topics?
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog? Related topics: Far East, Grafton Affair
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information? Maybe go to timeline and see all subjects, could look at locations

When I was first looking, when asked to find works related, not sure it would related. 

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Haven’t had to look for resources recently. The last time, I used Google as opposed to a library catalog,
• When I’m researching, look at narrower/broader, but I would usually have something in mind that I’m researching. Not sure what a repository is. Assuming dig collections would be digital version of item. Haven’t looked for them before. If I was looking for a form, I would just google it.
• Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
• No classes right now that would require her to research like this, but would be helpful if she was.
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items? no
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository? no
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?

• Wiki icon doesn’t look clickable. F
• ull Record Button doesn’t pop off background.
• UG: engineering

Participant 5

Undergrad, architecture (3rd year)

Tasks

Author

You are learning about various English works and authors in the 1800s.  You are on the page for Middlemarch (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10854756 ).  

• On this page, can you find a way to learn more about the author of Middlemarch, George Eliot?
  • All Library articles coming from this 
  • Maybe not looking for if looking for general info
• Clicking on author link which takes them to results 
• Saw info button -> thought it would just say that the link has info 
• Knowledge panel itself has basic info
• View full record (clicked on it)
• When and where was Goerge Eliot born?
• Found both
• What other names did George Eliot go by?
  • At different points of times? Other spellings ?
• Not seeing - oh (then sees alternate forms)
• Can you find the name of a person who was influenced by George Eliot’s work?
• Influences tab (pretty fast)
• Right author: authors GE was influencing
• Leo Tolstoy
• Can you find the name of a person who was an influence for George Eliot?
• Balzac
• How many titles are there by George Eliot in the catalog?
• General: 170
• How many musical scores relate to George Eliot?
• 3
• George Eliot wrote both the Mill on the Floss and Romola.  Which work was written first?
• Use the publication timeline
• Zoom in function helps
• Mill written first

Subject

You are exploring political events and conflict during the twentieth century.  You are interested in learning more about the Russo-Japanese war and how it may connect to other topics.  You are reviewing the item “The Russo-Japanese war in cultural perspective, 1904-1905” (http://hjk54-dev.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3549938 ). 

• On this page, can you find a way to get more information  about the subject of the Russo-Japanese war?
• Info button (based on last example)
• View full record
• Within which time period did this war take place?
• Looked at the title itself
• Which locations were related to this event?
• Looked at the description
• Also location field
• How many catalog results are there for the subject Russo-Japanese war?
• Looking at the author page to see the details on the right
• Works about: (library catalog results)
• Did they see the works about section?
• Please find one related digital collections result and state its title. 
• Saw the tab and picked one
• Please find one related result from repositories.
• Repositories tab and found that
• What are the names of some related topics related to the Russo-Japanese war?  
• Saw broader and narrower subjects and picked those
• Would go with narrower (no results) so then go to border
• Could also see the sino japanese war
• For one of these related concepts, are there results in the library catalog?
• Narrower: no results
• Broader: can see 174 right under it on the page
• You want to see with which time periods other subjects in the catalog may be associated.  On this page, can you find a way to see this information?
• There is a timeline
• Unclear what is being summarized in timeline
• After a bit of playing around, found display all subjects (but seemed to be confused)
• Things that russia was involved in? (had clicked on the map as well)

Follow up questions

• Which of these tasks do you currently do when researching or looking for resources?  Which of these tasks would you not do? Would you please explain why?
  • A lot of the author questions - do ask when looking at sources 
  • A person I would further study
  • Born/names
  • Looking at books and articles and mostly just those two forms
  • Other categories/music less relevant
  • Related subjects: would be looking at Google, and library website more for pulling specific books
  • But may look for related authors/subjects if in catalog
• Author
• Subject
• Sources? Google or related references from the lecture if looking at author/subject for class
• Would any of these features be useful to you in how you search or do research?  
  • Helpful if bunch of different areas involved (map) - if subject was broader and had lots of related regions
• Timeline for both author and subjects was helpful, even though didn’t understand whether timeline was related to subject - helpful to see in chronological order, helpful to contextualize
• Were you familiar with digital collections before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found digital collections items?
• Not sure how different it is library resources
• Would look at articles tab and get online version
• Were you familiar with repositories before this session?  If so, how have you interacted with or found  items in the repository?
• Don’t know what those are
• Assume other types of media that library that pull
• Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?
• Info button: assumed part of link
• Doesn’t read as its own button - reads as tag for link

When looking at first example, saw things like birth place and dates relevant and places - if I was going to find info about author, wouldn’t necessarily about library holdings but more description of author (more similar if Googled info).