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Focus Group with Librarians (2/27/97)We asked a group of librarians from science and engineering libraries on our campus to look at a very early version of the DeLIver interface. They got together to give us suggestions about future directions and things to keep in mind during the development of the system.I. Ann's Intro II. What are the biggest problems patrons/librarians/staff have in using journals and articles? - journals with one word or those with two common words, such as Science or Science News. - "Science" typed into INSPEC/CompIndex gives you everything with "Science" in the title. - Younger students/undergraduate students don't know the difference between a catalog and index. Also, they don't really differentiate between a book and a journal. - Undergraduate students tend to pick just one - look for call numbers from compindex, articles from IO+ - use long, natural language as "query" terms - they don't break up the concepts when they do subject searches - engineers know what Boolean is, but they don't know how to apply it to library systems -Either get 0 or 3000 items - either get all or nothing - sometimes when they see 0 hits, they assume that there really is nothing, but "they're getting smarter" and start asking [reference librarians] for help - Don't differentiate between technical and "news" articles. - Students hate it because there's not only one place to look - also, why are they not all electronic versions - they hate paper - even if the article is from the early '70s, the students want e-versions, not print - even if they are told that there is no e-versions, they look for it anyway
- too many tools that are different - students tend to look at the first one they find - assume everything is the same; don't realize there are many different resources
- this doesn't occur only with undergraduates; grads and faculty do this, too - in the physics library, the students are usually grads, and are usually good - the two problems they have are (1) journal abbreviations and (2) where on campus things are located - faculty assigns students to look at an index and students don't use others; they'll use PsychLit but not PsychInfo - limited time coverage; don't have all articles - only certain years - notational inconsistency (e.g., 'and' vs. '&' vs. '+') - Grainger interface - some people get confused because it looks different - have to show the patrons where the on-line catalog is; have to hold their hand - Don't understand that the library may not have the journals that are indexed in Wilson/INSPEC/CompIndex - Different names for same systems are confusing (e.g., PsychLit and PsychInfo) - Difficult to train people to remember what each tool does because they vary in how they work
- hard to remember how to use them and which systems to use when - still forget which system (esp. ones less frequently used) does what - then system changes and then they have to learn new things ("surprising updates"); even librarians get confused! III. Positions of Digital Library to the Rest of the World - Everyone's going to want full text on everything!
- content is more appropriate for grads - tend to go to "full text" just because it says "full text" - even if it doesn't have to do with their research
- Basic weakness of DLI- narrowness of titles
Vocabulary issues:
- phsyics librarian likes controlled vocabulary - e.g, "heavy metals" - will bring up "mercury"
- Problem: can't have too much stuff on the screen
- see older faculty members - don't want electronic copies of the Table of Contents - want to physically see people browsing; have established routines they don't want to break - one prof who won't LET students sign on to T.O.C. services - what if T.O.C. services sent out T.O.S. that look like T.O.C.s - add abstract to titles...this would be a problem with journals with lots of articles - importance of special search features - figures, equations?
- would be great if could link to the data related to the articles - DLI good for author affiliation - librarians receive many calls for this
- get the word out!
- nice to be the source for full text - competition with other publishers's databases (45 of them!) -APS, IPS, IAP, Inst. Physics Journals give free time with subscriptions - have everything through DLI - seamless interface - can't do subject searches easily - DL now as not useful for subject searching because of collection size - need to include free access journals (connected to physics librarian's homepage) - ditto for engineering - they let people who subscribe to journals get free access; DLI should follow - volatility - changes too much
- Incorporate librarians as much as possible - let them get the word out - they have day to day interaction with patrons, and can put stuff in newsletters, have more focus group meetings, and put posters up - Announcement with T.O.C.and other services - already looking for articles - others have subject profiles - blend with on-line resources or with lists of journals -"DLI" isn't informative - name it "Fred" (Em's suggestion)
- make signs - troubleshooting FAQ or sign by the terminals - link with phone # and who to call - want staff training - how it works and what is weird/quirky about it...how it breaks - what are the problems that people will have, and what do they do if it breaks? - who offers support? engineering reference desk? Where should people be directed and who's responsible for what kind of service? Roles and responsibilities need to be defined. - Support for Answers/Questions? - printouts - documentation (e.g., resource now for telneting into online catalog)
- Naturally librarians lose skills due to infrequent use, so training is really, really important. - connectivity problem - how to separate use questions from computer problems - librarians need to know who is responsible what they are responsible for - ex. First search went down - affected campus and didn't know where to call - people are getting more savvy - but needs to keep running - shouldn't go down
- there are going to be THREE interfaces? How will we tell people which one to use? Will they have to use the SGML? - give IODYNE to physicists - leading edge electronic stuff and e-mail - they tinker with this stuff VI. How should librarians/staff be involved? - tell them about changes in interface prior to AS IT HAPPENS!
- let librarians see it at different stages, so they can offer their feedback - keeps them aware of what changes are being made, plus it informs the engineers of the importance of functionality issues - let them play with it - use cold, then train - train then use (do both ways) - forget about it - never got any training, don't know what it can do, what's in it...Random learning - is it permanent? Temporary project? There's a feeling that it's just a stepping stone. - see side by side testing - search several data bases and see how the DL performs - relevancy of hits or just bringing in more 'noise'? - needs to be compared and situated with other systems available in the library - broaden subject base - technical report literature - make it more available
- someone who has worked with clientele - familiar with they way they ask questions vs. computer person - must be familiar with staff training and user instruction - expertise with similar tools - know strengths, know how DLI fits into the toolkit - get end users to try out the system (for functionality) - do more follow through - go see people using it to help people (notice advertisement? Ask if they need help?) VII. How does the DLI and other Web stuff change your work? - exciting and useful, but hard to keep up - don't know about everything up there - need a entral place and way to get on the system - on-line is not necessarily faster - no longer in library's control - here today, gone tomorrow on Web - companies fold, systems come and go - web server is okay - new systems and vendors come and go - best search strategy no longer next week...it's rewritten - Bypassing library totally - people make own bookmarks - most librarians make list bookmarks - can get to it by the dept. - add/change web pages all the time - some are better - no sense reinventing the wheel - at Grainger, get patrons from all over - now can answer questions from multiple disciplines - go to library because pleasant and clean, nice furniture. Nice place to study - other schools, natives of Urbana-Champaign. - instantaneous access to other librarians - ex. Physics - have access to lots of expertise - can talk to multiple people not just call one person - better librarians - harness expertise of peers - answering questions about Web - only in last 2 years - in future won't come to librarians - big issue is the quality of information - filtering problem - relevant and irrelevant - lots of garbage - those that don't really know what they want are in trouble - librarians have access to controlled vocabulary to use for successful search - allows immediate contact with the whole nation of colleagues - there's a smaller community; can get help more easily because there's much more interaction
- What else? - communication! - have external communication person who is INTERNAL - Web - no useless graphics! Especially great big ones
- publishers toss older years...if we cut they subscriptions, do we keep access to what we paid for? - or then the engine that searches eventually becomes incompatible with database - obsolescence - they're willing to come in and see work on interface - Communication is key - people need to hear about things
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