Imbedding MetaLib In Database Web Pages: Usability Issues

Abstract

Athena Hoeppner, University of Central Florida.

The UCF Libraries embedded a form for MetaLib Quick Searches onto their main Databases web page. To test the usability of the pages, students were asked to find an article on a given topic, first using their innate method, and then starting from the Databases page with the embedded Quick Search form. The sessions were recorded to capture the comments and screens, and mouse movements of students as they completed the tasks. Analysis of the sessions showed a strong tendency for students to use the Quick Search form, but also revealed that students may have problems using the results in Metalib. The study suggests that design changes should be made to the Database web pages and to the Metalib interface to provide smoother transition from the Database pages to Metalib and to improve overall usability.