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We need your input: Goals for the redesign of the Libraries’ website

May 19, 2008 on 8:14 am | In Redesign Plan |

The Libraries’ website redesign group, WPIT, has been gathering data on the current Libraries’ website. We’ve:

  • Done usability testing on the Libraries’ website
  • Studied use of the Libraries’ website through log analysis
  • Conducted a survey of perceived value of the links on the home page of the Libraries’ website
  • Carried out a competitive analysis of 30 comparable university library websites
  • Observed and recorded student research behavior
  • Solicited student visions of the ideal library website

Two significant findings of our data gathering:

  • The current website supports experienced researchers fairly effectively, but meets the needs of novice researchers less well.
  • Many consider the current Libraries’ website too crowded and the font too small

We have set the following as two of the main goals for the redesign of the Libraries’ website:

  • Creation of a more powerful tool for searching library content. Northwestern and Duke are two examples of the kind of search tool we have in mind.
  • Creation of a simpler, cleaner design laid out the way people read — top to bottom, left to right — and grouping resource links into more prominent, discrete sections.

We need your input. Do you agree or disagree? What would you change or add to our analysis and goals?

Thanks!
The Libraries website redesign team

6 Comments »

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  1. The Duke example is better. The font is easier to read. It’s bigger and darker. I don’t think the graphics are necessary. More is not always better.

    I would like to suggest Coates Library as another great example. http://lib.trinity.edu/

    [I am not a student just a visitor]

    Comment by Rosana Salinas — May 24, 2008 #

  2. Actually, I as a grad student was very happy with the current design.

    Context of the website is very good but main library site can be cleaned out of visual distractions.

    Comment by Anonymous — June 3, 2008 #

  3. I agree that there is nothing wrong with the current design. It’s direct, and gets you where you want to go quickly, without unnecessary graphics and too many unclear options.

    Comment by Anonymous — June 8, 2008 #

  4. Thanks to Tom for showing the newly designed subject pages yesterday. I do like how one gets access to subject pages for Duke. The left column allows the user to select the type of materials needed.

    I realize that use statistics are a key factor in deciding what is highlighted but remember that in many cases low use does not mean low value. All graduate students and faculty groups are relatively small. We have only 4 Latin American history professors but their library needs when met leads to new scholarship.

    Scott

    Comment by Scott Van Jacob — June 13, 2008 #

  5. I like the Duke example better as well: 1) the “search resources” box leads you directly to more of the most used types of resources. I would rather have it on the right hand side though. 2) the bold font on white background is easier to read. 3) having all the important info right away without having to scroll down is nicer.
    That said, I like the current site’s “Find Resources by Title” section where you can reach fast an alphabetical listing of resources.
    A few more things I would like to see:
    1) LibX add-on
    2) Citation export option (EndNote in addition to RefWorks) for all resources (not only articles but also books, etc.)
    3) Interlibrary loan button that fills out the interlibrary form automatically.

    Comment by current grad student — June 16, 2008 #

  6. I would appreciate as well if someone could look into the persistent lag manifesting itself when one attempts to use the online catalog to retrieve multi-item lists of records in searches initiated from off-campus locations; sometimes, the catalog will simply hang indefinitely at the point of the search where a list of records should appear. I am running the searches from a vanilla PC (XP SP2), and as far as I can tell, the problem lies with the searches’ retrievals when they have been executed within IE7, as Firefox seems to complete them without issue. I imagine I’m not the sole user experiencing this snag; maybe somebody could take it under consideration? Thanks.

    Comment by Michael L. Norris — August 14, 2008 #

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