ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
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Who Will Use This and Why? User Stories and Use Cases
Get PDFUser stories and use cases help focus any development project on those who stand to benefit, i.e. the project’s stakeholders, and can guard simultaneously against insufficient planning and software bloat. And the concepts, though most often thought of with respect to large-scale projects, apply in all circumstances, from the smallest feature request to an existing system to the redesign of a complex system
Creating and Deploying USB Port Covers at Hudson County Community College
Get PDFIn 2016, Hudson County (NJ) Community College (HCCC) deployed several wireless keyboards and mice with its iMac computers. Shortly after deployment, library staff found that each device’s required USB receiver (a.k.a. dongle) would disappear frequently. As a result, HCCC library staff developed and deployed 3D printed port covers to enclose these dongles. This, for a time, proved very successful in preventing the issue. This article will discuss the development of these port covers, their deployment, and what worked and did not work about the project
Digital Faculty Development
Get PDFThe library has always played an important role in faculty development. But with the rise of online degrees, being able to support faculty in a virtual context becomes increasingly challenging. This column analyzes some areas to consider when exploring the way in which libraries can continue to assist with these efforts
Testing for Transition: Evaluating the Usability of Research Guides Around a Platform Migration
Get PDFThis article describes multiple stages of usability testing that were conducted before and after a large research library’s transition to a new platform for its research guides. A large interdepartmental team sought user feedback on the design, content, and organization of the guide homepage, as well as on individual subject guides. This information was collected using an open-card-sort study, two face-to-face, think-aloud testing protocols, and an online survey. Significant findings include that users need clear directions and titles that incorporate familiar terminology, do not readily understand the purpose of guides, and are easily overwhelmed by excess information, and that many of librarians’ assumptions about the use of library resources may be mistaken. This study will be of value to other library workers seeking insight into user needs and behaviors around online resources
Of the People for the People: Digital Literature Resource Knowledge Recommendation Based on User Cognition
Get PDFWe attempt to improve user satisfaction with the effects of retrieval results and visual appearance by employing users’ own information. User feedback on digital platforms has been proven to be one type of user cognition. Through conducting a digital literature resource organization model based on user cognition, our proposal improves both the content and presentation of retrieval systems. This paper takes Powell's City of Books as an example to describe the construction process of a knowledge network. The model consists of two parts. In the unstructured data part, synopses and reviews were recorded as representatives of user cognition. To build the resource category, linguistic and semantic analyses were used to analyze the concepts and the relationships among them. In the structural data part, the metadata of every book was linked with each other by informetrics relationships. The semantic resource was constructed to assist with building the knowledge network. We conducted a mock-up to compare the new category and knowledge-recommendation system with the current retrieval system. Thirty-nine subjects examined our mock-up and highly valued the differences we made for the improvements in retrieval and appearance. Knowledge recommendation based on user cognition was tested to be positive based on user feedback. There could be more research objects for digital resource knowledge recommendations based on user cognition
Managing In-Library Use Data: Putting a Web Geographic Information Systems Platform through its Paces
Get PDFWeb Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms have matured to a point where they offer attractive capabilities for collecting, analyzing, sharing, and visualizing in-library use data for space-assessment initiatives. As these platforms continue to evolve, it is reasonable to conclude that enhancements to these platforms will not only offer librarians more opportunities to collect in-library use data to inform the use of physical space in their buildings, but also that they will potentially provide opportunities to more easily share database schemas for defining learning spaces and observations associated with those spaces. This article proposes using web GIS, as opposed to traditional desktop GIS, as an approach for collecting, managing, documenting, analyzing, visualizing, and sharing in-library use data and goes on to highlight the process for utilizing the Esri ArcGIS Online platform for a pilot project by an academic library for this purpose.
The Benefits of Enterprise Architecture for Library Technology Management: An Exploratory Case Study
Get PDFThis case study describes how librarians and enterprise architects at an Australian university worked together to document key components of the Library’s “as-is” enterprise architecture (EA). The article covers the rationale for conducting this activity, how work was scoped, the processes used, and the outputs delivered. The author discusses the short-term benefits of undertaking this work, with practical examples of how outputs from this process are being used to better plan future library system replacements, upgrades, and enhancements. Longer-term benefits may also accrue in the future as the results of this architecture work inform the Library’s IT planning and strategic procurement. This article has implications for practice for library technology specialists as it validates views from other practitioners on the benefits for libraries in adopting enterprise architecture methods and for librarians in working alongside enterprise architects within their organizations
The “Black Box”: How Students Use a Single Search Box to Search for Music Materials
Get PDFGiven the inherent challenges music materials present to systems and searchers (formats, title forms and languages, and the presence of additional metadata such as work numbers and keys), it is reasonable that those searching for music develop distinctive search habits compared to patrons in other subject areas. This study uses transaction log analysis of the music and performing arts module of a library’s federated discovery tool to determine how patrons search for music materials. It also makes a top-level comparison of searches done using other broadly defined subject disciplines’ modules in the same discovery tool. It seeks to determine, to the extent possible, whether users in each group have different search behaviors in this search environment. The study also looks more closely at searches in the music module to identify other search characteristics such as type of search conducted, use of advanced search techniques, and any other patterns of search behavior
Information Technology and Libraries at 50: The 1980s in Review
Get PDFA retrospective review of the 1980s issues of the Journal of Library Automation and Information Technology and Libraries. Includes some commentary about the past and how it relates to the present in the area of library technology