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The design and development of the VitroLib prototype was a collaborative effort that spanned multiple institutions and roles. Early on, we recognized the need for using a user-centered design approach to understand how catalogers approach their tasks and how to support those tasks using a new underlying model and a new interface. We were fortunate in being able to tap into cataloger knowledge using multiple approaches from informal conversations, focused meetings, usability evaluations, and hands-on experiments with the prototype. We'd like to thank all the catalogers who participated in meetings or usability evaluations including the catalogers at Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Stanford. Thanks also to all those who attended our VitroLib conference calls. The sections below include links to more information about the process and lessons learned from our iterative approach to design.
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