Accessibility and Usability Evaluation of Digital Library Article Pages

2022 ◽  
pp. 58-76
Author(s):  
Gonca Gokce Menekse Dalveren ◽  
Serhat Peker
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Web Interfaces ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Computing Machinery ◽  
Electronic Engineering ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Web Developers

This study aims to present an exploratory study about the accessibility and usability evaluation of digital library article pages. For this purpose, four widely known digital libraries (DLs), namely Science Direct, Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineering Xplore, Association for Computing Machinery, and SpringerLink, were examined. In the first stage, article web interfaces of these selected DLs were analyzed based on standard web guidelines using automatic evaluation tools to assess their accessibility. In the second stage, to evaluate the usability of these web interfaces, eye-tracking experiments with 30 participants were conducted. Obtained results of the analysis show that article pages of digital libraries are not of free of accessibility and usability problems. Overall, this study highlights accessibility and usability problems of digital library article interfaces, and these findings can provide the feedback to web developers in making their article pages more accessible and usable for their users.

Usability evaluation with tasks characterized by the information search process

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuichang Ma ◽  
Shujin Cao ◽  
Tinghua Gu
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Usability Tests ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Knowledge States ◽  
Perceived Usability

Purpose The purpose of this study is to present an approach to evaluating the usability of digital libraries in terms of knowledge states within the information search process (ISP) by investigating the connections among components with which users interact, perceived usability and task stages. The China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the most popular digital library in China, was chosen to be studied. Design/methodology/approach With the research framework, measurements were generated for perceived usability in task stages for efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Two usability experiments and usability tests were administered to 22 subjects in two groups. Three information retrieval tasks were designed according to the characteristics of knowledge states within the ISP for each experiment. The transaction logs were captured and the experimental results were recorded. The users completed a pre-search questionnaire and post-search questionnaire, and interviews were conducted. Findings The study showed that both interactions on components of the digital library and usability scores differed with sequential tasks characterized by knowledge states within the ISP; new usability problems relating to the CNKI were found based on the empirical results. Originality/value Many studies on the usability evaluation of digital libraries focused on the outcome rather than on the ISP. This study proposed an effective approach to usability evaluation based on users’ knowledge states within the ISP.

University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yavuz Inal
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
National Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
System Usability Scale ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Library Websites

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the National Library of Turkey website developed for all citizens in the country to retrieve information available in a wide range of areas. Design/methodology/approach The evaluation performed by 57 undergraduate university students involved the identification and analysis of usability problems in the selected website. The assessment process was mainly based on Nielsen’s Heuristics. The data obtained in the evaluation process were enriched using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to conduct a more detailed analysis. Findings The participants identified many usability problems concerning the evaluated website and considered it as having low usability characteristics. The most violated heuristic item was found to be “consistency and standards” whereas the least violated heuristic item was “match between system and the real world.” The total number of the usability problems in heuristic evaluation correlated significantly and negatively with the SUS and the NPS results indicating that the more participants identified usability problems, the less they considered the website as usable and recommendable. Research limitations/implications The participants were not usability experts, however they were selected from among the students who received the Human Computer Interaction course to ensure that they had sufficient information and experience concerning the evaluation of a website with heuristics. Besides, the study was limited to a small number of university students. The implication is that results of this study have potential to guide libraries, which plan to adapt themselves to the digital world by delivering web services, by addressing critical points influencing users’ points of views toward library websites and their usability evaluation result. Practical implications Depending on the changes in user habits regarding the retrieval of information, libraries have made considerable investments in web technologies to meet their users’ demands, and recently, digital libraries have begun to take over physical libraries. Users always need to perform tasks efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily when using websites. As one of the most crucial sources of digital materials, library websites are expected to have usable characteristics that satisfactorily meet user requirements. Therefore, the practical implication is that the findings of the study will guide designers, developers and practitioners in the development of library websites. Originality/value In the context of usability evaluation of digital libraries, this is the first study to analyze effects of usability problems identified by users during the heuristic inspection on their overall evaluation score and willingness to recommend the website to their friends or colleagues.

scholarly journals A Community-Driven Usability Evaluation: The Case of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region Digital Library

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Stobbs ◽  
Ali Shiri ◽  
Sharon Farnel ◽  
Cathy Cockney ◽  
Dinesh Rathi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Usability Evaluation

This paper reports a usability evaluation study of the Digital Library North prototype that wasconducted in May 2016. It proposes a culturally-aware and community-informed approach to theusability of digital libraries for Northern communities in Canada along with the emerging themesand the changes that were implemented as a result of the evaluation.

scholarly journals Supporting Web Developers in Evaluating Usability and Identifying Usability Problems

2010 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael B. Skov
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Test Session ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Formal Training ◽  
Software Developers ◽  
Usability Engineering ◽  
Usability Test ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
Web Developers

Support to website developers without formal training in human-computer interaction that enable them to conduct their own usability evaluations would radically advance integration of usability engineering in web development. This chapter presents experiences from usability evaluations conducted by developers and results from an empirical study of means to support non-experts in identifying usability problems. A group of software developers who were novices in usability engineering analyzed a usability test session with the task of identifying usability problems experienced by the user. In their analysis they employed a simple one-page tool that has been developed to support identification of usability problems. The non-experts were able to conduct a well-organized usability evaluation and identify a reasonable amount of usability problems with a performance that was comparable to usability experts.

Remote Usability Evaluation of Web Interfaces

2007 ◽  
pp. 273-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naouel Moha ◽  
Ashraf Gaffar ◽  
Gabriel Michel
Keyword(s):  
Usability Testing ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Interfaces ◽  
Usability Problems ◽  
The World ◽  
Remote Usability Testing ◽  
Usability Criteria ◽  
Testing And Evaluation

Usability testing is a process that employs a sample of future users to evaluate software according to specific usability criteria. With the unprecedented growth and reach of the Internet, it is hard to reach representative users of Websites across the world. The new branch of remote usability testing has emerged as an alternative. While it is prohibitively expensive to conduct usability testing on a global range of users, it is technically possible and is more feasible to remotely collect the necessary information about usability problems and to analyze them the same way we do local tests. In this chapter, we present systematic methods and tools to support remote usability testing and evaluation of Web interfaces.

Usability of Digital Libraries in a Multicultural Environment

2005 ◽  
pp. 270-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine L. Borgman ◽  
Edie Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Subject Knowledge ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Multicultural Issues ◽  
Library Users

Usability is a critical issue for digital libraries, complicated by the fact that users have varying levels of knowledge of library systems and subject knowledge and may be novices or experts and frequent or occasional users of specific digital libraries. Usability is further complicated by multicultural issues, as digital library users may come from many cultures and nations, or it may be necessary to orient a digital library toward the needs of users from one or more specific localities or cultures. Usability evaluation may be formative, summative, iterative or comparative and is usually specific to a particular digital library context. The four papers in this section, illustrating formative, iterative and summative approaches, cover a variety of contexts—education, music, cultural heritage and a national digital library.

Quality of Governance at the Communal Level in Poland: an Exploratory Study of the Worst Performer Case From the Opolskie Province

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-55
Author(s):  
Bartosz Czepil
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Quality Level ◽  
Case Method ◽  
Major Conclusion ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Quality Of Governance ◽  
Governance Quality

The objective of this paper is an attempt to explain the determinants of the lowest governance quality level in one of the communes of the Opolskie Province, Poland. The first stage of the research consisted in developing a commune-level governance quality index in order to measure the quality of governance in the 60 communes of the Opolskie Province. Subsequently, the commune with the lowest score in the index was qualified for the second stage of the research which was based on the extreme case method. The major conclusion from the research is that the commune leader's governance style which allowed him to hold on to power for many terms of office was responsible for generating low governance quality. Furthermore, the low quality of governance was not only the effect of the governance style but also the strategy aimed at remaining in the commune leader office for many terms.

Ciência da Informação e Humanidades Digitais

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO CARLOS PALETTA
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Digital Humanities ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Web Of Data ◽  
The University ◽  
The Web

This work aims to presents partial results on the research project conducted at the Observatory of the Labor Market in Information and Documentation, School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo on Information Science and Digital Humanities. Discusses Digital Humanities and informational literacy. Highlights the evolution of the Web, the digital library and its connections with Digital Humanities. Reflects on the challenges of the Digital Humanities transdisciplinarity and its connections with the Information Science. This is an exploratory study, mainly due to the current and emergence of the theme and the incipient bibliography existing both in Brazil and abroad.Keywords: Digital Humanities; Information Science; Transcisciplinrity; Information Literacy; Web of Data; Digital Age.

scholarly journals Perceptions of usability and usefulness of digital libraries

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 133-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna K. Matusiak
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
User Intention ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Content Coverage ◽  
Visual Materials

This paper provides an overview of a case study research that investigated the use of Digital Library (DL) resources in two undergraduate classes and explored faculty and students' perceptions of educational digital libraries. This study found that students and faculty use academic DLs primarily for textual resources, but turn to the open Web for visual and multimedia resources. The study participants did not perceive academic libraries as a useful source of digital images and used search engines when searching for visual resources. The limited use of digital library resources for teaching and learning is associated with perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, especially if considered in a broader information landscape, in conjunction with other library information systems, and in the context of Web resources. The limited use of digital libraries is related to the following perceptions: 1) Library systems are not viewed as user-friendly, which in turn discourages potential users from trying DLs provided by academic libraries; 2) Academic libraries are perceived as places of primarily textual resources; perceptions of usefulness, especially in regard to relevance of content, coverage, and currency, seem to have a negative effect on user intention to use DLs, especially when searching for visual materials.

scholarly journals The International Children’s Digital Library: A Case Study in Designing for a Multilingual, Multicultural, Multigenerational Audience

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Browne Hutchinson ◽  
Anne Rose ◽  
Benjamin B. Bederson ◽  
Ann Carlson Weeks ◽  
Allison Druin
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Design Criteria

The challenges encountered in building the InternationalChildren’s Digital Library (ICDL), a freely availableonline library of children’s literature are described. Thesechallenges include selecting and processing books fromdifferent countries, handling and presenting multiplelanguages simultaneously, and addressing cultural differences. Unlike other digital libraries that present content from one or a few languages and cultures, and focuson either adult or child audiences, ICDL must serve amultilingual, multicultural, multigenerational audience.The research is presented as a case study for addressingthese design criteria; current solutions and plans forfuture work are described.

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