Link to original Google Doc

Facilitators and note takers: Huda Khan, Astrid Usong

Post-session review: Steven Folsom

July 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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. 

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.   

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



SCHEDULE

July 5 - 10

KEY OUTCOMES

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. 

RESULTS SUMMARY

Prototype (system and/or mockups) results summary

Production results summary

TASKS AND SCREENSHOT REFERENCES

We alternated the order of the interfaces the participants tested, with four 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 (PDF) and the other (PDF) 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


Screenshots from the prototype

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.


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



NOTES (Huda)

Session One

Undergrad, going into senior year, human ecology

Preliminary question


Type in name of book- specific book. 

Tasks (prototype first)


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.


Explore related items: Didn’t see it at first.  Used link later on their own when scrolling down the page during the adaptation task.  

Thought link would be: “Other series” by Frank Herbert. 

Does make sense as far as “related items” 

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


Other forms of this work: Expect to see other languages.  Also for movie, would have expected it to be there - but then it’s not by the same author, so would expect to not find it there, now that I look at it. 

Follow up questions


A: What kind of materials do you usually use at the library?

Reading for pleasure.  Lookup the book.

Haven’t really looked for research options.

Go to GoogleScholar or PubMed

—----------

Session Two

Staff member at vet school

Preliminary question

Don’t do a lot of research. Sometimes help patrons to find info. Go to library website.  Type in title of book.  If having difficulties find a book, do a Google search for the book and copy and paste into the library catalog. 

Tasks (catalog first)

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.


Missed “movie” icon.  “Adaptations” works well in general

Follow up questions

—----------

Session Three

Staff member, assistant for collections

Preliminary question

Use catalog databases because questions focused on various studies.  Catalog is one tool.  Use our own databases which also connect with catalog as well.

Tasks (prototype first)


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.

    Had trouble finding “not listed as a movie” but then saw adaptations

“Adaptation” not same as catalog language.  “Format” language

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .

Tend to use databases more than books, so maybe other participants would use other options.  Never searched for sequel. 

Follow up questions

—----------

Session Four

Undergrad, rising senior, development sociology

Preliminary question

Use catalog if already know if specific source, or search for keywords if you don’t have a specific source in mind

Tasks (catalog first)

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.


Didn’t see sequels at first on the explore item page, because had to scroll a bit. 

Before clicking on it, “related items” sounds more like books that are similar. Not sure about what better title.  Different forms? Sequels, translations, adaptations. 

“Copies” makes most sense (Huda asked if “other forms” or “copies” ok)

Follow up questions

—----------

Session Five

Grad student, public health

Preliminary question

If starting research from general category, type whatever “transposable elements”

If looking for something specific and certain keywords, click on advanced search and add specific info that I need to know

Tasks (prototype first)


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.

Found the adaptation - 


Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


   

Follow up questions

—----------

Session Six

Grad student, plant pathology

Preliminary question

Research for scientific articles.

Look for titles for papers and see  in library.

When doing literature review.

Also look for books every now and then.

Tasks (catalog first)

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.

“Super clear!”



Follow up questions

—----------

Session Seven

Grad student

Preliminary question

Tasks (prototype first)


Prototype

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at http://dev-hjk54.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725.  Please go to this page.


Asked if green button was clear (as visible)

Seen green online button

Library catalog

You have searched for the book “Dune” in the library catalog.  You are viewing the page for one of the search results at https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/575725 .


Follow up questions


Explore all related items

    We’re ok with testing out 

    If on website, would click it

Thought it would be any tiles with word “dune” in it - similar to sequels

Would not have thought translations or adaptations

Wonder if could say like “View other adaptations, translations”

    Only difference between this and the item page - is adaptations and translations

Make the link boxed/white box

    Make it stand out

    It just looks like a different link

Don’t quite know what it’s going to be

“View more related information and titles related to Dune”

Liked the prototype - got to the point

Can copies that are available - 

    Helpful to see textbook - immediately go to availability

    Show under the availability 

Could get pictures of the books under the search results

Would make it more evident that it is a different copy