Currently I'm doing an internship for UPSTATE Health Sciences Library, helping my supervisor, Ms. Emily Hart, the Web and Digital Resources Librarian with web usability tests, mobile resource guide, library mobile site and outreach program using social networking technology.
I have participated in three web usability tests. The participants include a freshman of UPSTATE, a graduate student from College of Nursing and a staff working in office of Diversity. Reaching people from different backgrounds makes me realize the importance of understanding patron need and variety.
As a library of a medical university, UPSTATE Health Sciences Library actually have very different groups of patrons, students, professors, nurses, doctors, even patients. Every group may have their own information needs and their own way to interpret. For example, as a library science student, "find an article" and "find a database" are tightly correlated, however, for nurses on the floor, they may have difficulty to learn that the link "find a database" is under "find an article" in top menu. While most of us would think of "circulation" as circulation of books and other library materials, medical students might relate the term to circulation of blood in human body. Needless to mention the variety of information literacy of patients, which is also a targeted group that the library is trying to serve.
In the usability tests, the participants are required to find resources or information via library website. Sometime they are unable to find a certain resource. After Emily introduced the resource to them, they thought the resource would be very helpful for their work or study and showed their interests in using it. The question is, why they are unaware of such useful resource? We cannot expect our patrons to browse the whole website to find things they may be interested in, the only way to populate is to make them VISIBLE, through good interface design and communications include social networking, word of mouth, and other marketing strategies.
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