Janet Hill wrote:
> I don't think it's that our search engines are so dreadful that we can't
> find much useful research on these topics. I think that there isn't much
> done. Certainly not enough. (and you notice, I'm not volunteering)
>
Another issue is that when you do perform research on our search tools
and how people use them, typically you are limited to what is there, not
what is possible. You may be able to improve the search functions of
what is built into, say, Voyager, but that doesn't mean even the best
possible way to configure Voyager is the best way to configure a way to
search a library collection. I think this is a reason why some of this
is not published, it ends up being too institution, or possibly product,
specific even when someone does the research.
Edward
> It's hard to get people away from using the anecdotal. For one thing,
> anecdotes are incredibly powerful and can be amazingly persuasive (perhaps
> especially in the wrong hands?). We just have to find a way to convince
> ourselves and others that anecdotes have their place, but can't/oughtn't
> TAKE the place of serious research.
>
> An anecdote: I had a person who worked for me who persisted in making
> decisions contrary to established norms (even though it involved a
> continuing cost, and was a problem for any future system migration), because
> in her/his words "it's what the users want." But it usually turned out that
> it was what the one or two users who talked to her/him wanted, and not
> necessarily what served most users well.
>
>
> Janet Swan Hill, Professor
> Associate Director for Technical Services
> University of Colorado Libraries, CB184
> Boulder, CO 80309
> janet.hill_at_colorado.edu
> *****
> Tradition is the handing-on of Fire, and not the worship of Ashes.
> - Gustav Mahler
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Bill Dueber
> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 9:14 AM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Browse functionality (was Whose elephant is it,
> anyway? (the OLE project))
>
> I've seen a few (unanswered) requests in this thread for relevant research
> on this topic -- is there none? Phrases "I like to..." and "I can imagine a
> user who..." quickly lead to disaster, forming the basis for why usability
> testing is so powerful.
>
> Or is the relevant research too hard to find because our search/browse
> interfaces are so awful? :-)
>
Received on Mon Mar 16 2009 - 12:31:23 EDT