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  • GOAL
  • METHODOLOGY
  • PARTICIPANTS
  • SCHEDULE
  • KEY OUTCOMES
  • RESULTS SUMMARY
    • Prototype (system and/or mockups) results summary
    • Production results summary
  • TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES
    • TASKS
    • Screenshots from the production catalog
    • Screenshots from the prototype
    • Screenshots used by the last participant
  • SUMMARY BY PARTICIPANT
  • NOTES (Huda)

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GOAL
GOAL
GOAL

We wanted to understand if participants could easily navigate to and find the additional relationships we had added to the interface.  We also wanted to understand which of the relationships the participants might find useful. 

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METHODOLOGY
METHODOLOGY
METHODOLOGY

We sent out a recruitment email to contacts who forwarded the message to Mann and Olin student employee email lists and to a list for student supervisors.  When participants responded, we scheduled a half hour Zoom session with them and sent them the consent form as an attachment.  During the Zoom session, after obtaining verbal consent from the participants, we provided a link to the tasks and links to the prototype and production catalog.   In one case, due to technical difficulties, we provided a link to slides with screenshots from the prototype. We began the session with a preliminary question about how participants conducted their research and ended the session with a few follow up questions.   

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PARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS
PARTICIPANTS

Name

Student or staff

Area of study or work


01

Undergrad, rising senior

Human ecology


02

Staff member

Veterinary school


03

Staff member

Collections assistant


04

Undergrad, rising senior

Development sociology


05

Grad student

Public health


06

Grad student

Plant pathology


07

Grad student



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SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE

July 5 - 10

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KEY OUTCOMES
KEY OUTCOMES
KEY OUTCOMES

  • The prototype design enabled many participants to find translations, adaptations, and sequels.  With the production design, none of the participants found the last sequel, and most had trouble finding a translation. 
  • Participants were able to use the prototype to find availability for particular resources, so the changes in design did not appear to make availability information harder to locate.
  • Although most participants were able to eventually find and use the “explore related items” link, the display and labeling for the “explore related items” link could be updated to highlight the function and resulting content.  Suggestions include changing the link to a button and changing the language to more clearly reflect that the resulting work page has directly related versions and works.  
  • Although some participants noted that they do not usually look for sequels, movie adaptations, and/or translations, they found the prototype pages to be easy to use.  Examples of other information that may be considered useful were multiple editions of textbooks. 

Although we did not include tasks focusing on the reordering of information on the item page to display work information first and then instance information, none of the participants discussed the re-ordering or seemed hindered by it when working on their tasks. 

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RESULTS SUMMARY
RESULTS SUMMARY
RESULTS SUMMARY

Prototype (system and/or mockups) results summary

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  • Biggest areas of struggle: finding sequels and translations.
    • All seven could not find the last sequel
    • Five could not find the translation
    • Three could not find the first sequel
    • Two did not identify the movie adaptation
  • Exhibited combination of search strategies
    • Keyword, author facet, language facet, format facet
  • Many used the “Other forms of this work” link thinking it could also help them with finding translations and adaptations.  Search strategies included using that link and then the following facets: 
    • Translation search using language facet
    • Adaptation search using format facet
  • After having selected other forms, some participants exhibited confusion when they tried to add another search term or facet but the OCLC Work ID facet was still selected.  

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TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES
TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES
TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES

We alternated the order of the interfaces the participants tested, with three participants starting with the prototype first and three with the catalog first.  Due to technical difficulties, we had to provide the last participant screenshots of a previous version of the prototype in lieu of the functioning prototype and they then tested the production catalog like all the other participants. 

These two documents outline the tasks, with one having the prototype link first and the other having the Cornell production catalog link first.  We are also including the text of the questions and tasks below.  Screenshots from the prototype and production catalog are included below for documentation.  We are also including the screenshots we used with the last participant below. 

TASKS

Preliminary question

  • How do you normally do research using the catalog?

Tasks 


You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at [prototype link or catalog link].  Please go to this page.

  • If this particular item is checked out in the library, find other options for checking out Dune items.
  • Find a Dune item which is an online resource.
  • Find a Thai translation of Dune.  Is this translation available to check out?
  • Find the first Dune sequel by Frank Herbert.
  • Find the last Dune sequel by Frank Herbert.
  • Find a movie adaptation of Dune.

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?  
  • Do you have any suggestions or feedback about any of the features you saw?

Screenshots from the production catalog

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Screenshots from the prototype

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Screenshots used by the last participant

The link to the slide deck used by the last participant is here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rk-Y0ISIBed56zEbQf0wCeVDxtBbGc3FRHKYf4rkCNg/edit#slide=id.g1368f02aa3f_0_9 and screenshots are included directly below.

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SUMMARY BY PARTICIPANT
SUMMARY BY PARTICIPANT
SUMMARY BY PARTICIPANT

In the table below, we summarize participant behavior indicating which tasks they might have struggled with or not completed using the prototype system or production.  For each participant, we also note if they provided specific comments on the prototype or production systems, which tasks they indicated they normally would or would not do with the system, and any features they thought might be useful.

No.

Tasks

-Prototype

Comments-

Prototype

Tasks -Production

Comments- Production

Tasks normally done/not done

Useful features and other comments

1

Did not use the explore link initially when doing Thai translation task.  Saw the link when looking for adaptations and then saw translation there as well. 

Good to have everything on one page.  Suggest adding facets to work page.

Did not find Thai translation or last sequel.  

Used “other forms of this work” link to look for translation and adaptation.  

Do not do any of the tasks normally but that for looking for availability information. 

Seeing if a particular item has online version.  

Finding translations. 

2

All completed without prompts


Did not find first sequel, last sequel, Thai translation, or movie. 

Used “other forms of this work” link to try to look for Thai translation, first sequel, and movie. 

Do not usually help others to find movies or translations. 

“Other copies” is a clear term.  Prototype seems clear and intuitive. 

3

Began by searching for and then using WorldCat to look for other copies.  Had to be prompted to 

“Adaptation” does not reflect regular catalog language.  Would help to use language like “format”.  Liked the explore/work page. “Explore” and “Browse” seem to mean the same thing. If keeping both explore and “browse related items by call number”, use same language.  

Did not find first sequel or last sequel.  Did see Dune 2022 in results but was looking for specific version.

Relied on keyword search with facets such as publication year, language, and format. 

Do all the tasks except finding sequels. Others that they help are usually grad students or researchers.  These people will often look for a particular published year or rare items in the library. 

Like the explore/work page which has images.  Inclusion of sequels is useful. 

4

All completed without prompts

Took a little while to find the translation as defaulted to looking at the left column.  Thought “explore related items” sounded like the page would show similar items.   

Did not find Thai translation or the last. 

Used “other forms of this work” to to find translation using the language facet. Used notes on item page (which gave the name of the first sequel) and keyword search to find the first sequel. 

Have looked for other copies and online resources.  Don’t usually look for translations, sequels, or movie adaptations. 

Translations might be useful.  Finding online options is useful. Labeling was easy to understand.  Automatically looked at the left column when looking for translations on work page. 

5

Successfully clicked on and navigated to the work/explore page but missed translations.  Tried to search directly and then filter by language facet but  had to be prompted to go back to explore/work page to find translation. 

“Explore all related items” seems to make sense.  Perhaps word “all” is not necessary.  Didn’t require the arrows next to headings on the explore/work page but those may be useful to others.  Missed translations on explore/work page because first only looked at left side. 

Did not get first sequel record  or last sequel, movie adaptation, or thai translation.

Tried to use “other forms of this work” to find Thai translation, sequels, and movie adaptation. 

Have looked for other copies or options, online resources, and movies. Have not looked for translations and sequels.

All features were helpful and useful.  Item page with additions is  not messy or crowded.

6

All completed without prompts

“Super clear!” Perhaps change “explore related items” to “access all”.  “Related” does not necessarily seem to imply sequels and different versions. 

Initially, did not find first sequel but later saw the name in the notes on the item page.  Did not find the last sequel. 

Used search strategies such as keyword search and facets

Would not usually look for translations  or movies. Would look for different versions of a textbook.

Good to know about translation.  Work/explore page is clear. 

7

Found the link for work page (labeled “view related items” in the older prototype screenshot) but missed the translation.  Had to be prompted to go back to the work/explore page screenshot to find the translation. 

Thought that “view related items” would show any items with title word “Dune” in it, similar to sequels.  Suggested labeling “view other adaptations and translations” or “View more related information and titles related to Dune”.

Suggested making the link boxed to stand out.  Noted that listing other copies under the libraries under availability would also be useful. Noted that adding book covers on the item page’s listing of other copies would help differentiate between copies. 

Did not find the last sequel or the Thai translation. 

Tried to use “other forms of this work” to find translation. 

Would not normally look for translations, movies, or sequels

Would consider perhaps not sequels but other editions useful.  Would consider sequels useful if reading for pleasure.  Wouldn’t consider movies useful



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NOTES (Huda)
NOTES (Huda)
NOTES (Huda)

Session One

Undergrad, going into senior year, human ecology

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