Reviews

We will publish any author rebuttal (up to 2500 words) 

Web Site Design with the Patron in Mind : A Step-by-Step Guide for Libraries

Susanna Davidsen & Everyl Yankee.  Chicago, American Library Association, 2004

114 p  ISBN 0-8389-0869-1  $40

Price vs. Performance: book'em danno - a must buy

Review posted March 5,2004

Purchase information: http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/index.html

Usability Testing for Library Websites – A Hands-On Guide

Elaine Norlin and CM! Winters.  Chicago, American Library Association, 2001

69 p  ISBN 0-8389-3511-7  $32

Review posted November 20, 2001

Purchase information: http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/index.html

Web Based Instruction: A Guide for Libraries

Susan Sharpless Smith

Chicago, ALA 2001 ISBN 0-8389-0805-5

Price vs. Performance: a worthy tome

Review posted June 22, 2001

Purchase information: http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/index.html

Teaching the Internet in Libraries

Rachel Singer Gordon

Chicago, ALA 2001 ISBN 0-8389-0799-7  $38

Price versus performance rating: a bargain at half the price

Books Bytes and Bridges: Libraries and Computer Centers in Academic Institutions
Edited by Larry Hardesty (Chicago, ALA 2000)
Price versus performance rating:

 

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Susanna Davidsen & Everyl Yankee.  Chicago, American Library Association, 2004.  114 p  ISBN 0-8389-0869-1  $40

The Planning Process Meets Jakob Nielsen

If you are involved in library web development and you don’t read this title, you cheat your users and yourself for the clearest, most concise guide to making a library website a clean well lighted place.

In other places I praise the work of Norland and Winters for Usability Testing for Library Websites – A Hands-On Guide.  This title not only compliments, but underpins the cry oft raised by yours truly that most library websites aren’t worth the storage space they use or the bandwidth they eat.  Davidsen and Yankee stop short of such harsh judgment, but they do lay out a workable process for a library to redesign their website to meet user needs. This is a warm and fuzzy planning title.  It provides no detail on how to accomplish nuts and bolts of doing what the plan might prescribe 

The problem with library websites is no different than the principle problem with most libraries – they were built and maintained by librarians, which as a group, prefer jargon and cataloging the second joint author to meeting user needs.  One need look no further than subject headings to prove my point.

The focus of WSD is the patron, and Davidsen and Yankee provide a basic course of action to remediate the virtual version of the ivory tower.  Davidsen’s background of both librarianship and the Internet Public Library lets her walk the walk and talk the talk.  I still miss the old graphic (one of the neatest metaphor based graphics ever used on the web) of the reference room and labeled shelf but despite this nostalgia IPL is a clean well lighted place.  Yankee is the useblity guru, who brings the mantra of user needs to the table. 

The title focuses on redesign, since few have the resources or opportunity to start from scratch.  It nicely conveys the concept of usability, greek to many in the library community, and perhaps gives the simplest definition I have ever found:

“If patrons come to your library and are able to use your services, then your library has usability.” (p.8)

Short and sweet, the idea is to design the library website for the user, and only the user. 

The process of redesign then becomes the meat of the work.  The “Overview” chapter provides a clear description of the process and information you need to undertake the project.  It becomes a process of collecting and re-assembling both existing pieces and new.  “The Vision Thing” which is a short course in goals and mission, with a sweet set of examples, clearly illustrating their point with a warning “Just be careful as a librarian and designer that you don’t use your conceptual model of a library as a staff member.” (P.30)

The next step in their progression is defining and creating patron profiles.  This section is extremely lucid for a topic that is often muddied in other tomes.  They move to understanding what patrons do, the meat and potatoes of usability.  The task workflow section is awesome, although they lose a few style points as far as methodology is concerned. 

Perhaps the most salient point I found in the title came in this chapter:

“We don’t want you to get locked into the kind of navigation that often exists on web sites where you literally have to go back to the home page and sequentially start over every time your role chance and you need to do disparate tasks.  Because we don’t define a site by roles and make the roles the primary means of navigation, you won’t have to worry very much about the order in which things are done.”  (P.59)

Shazam, Shazam, said the great Gomer Pyle. 

Needless to say this home run is followed up by a grand slam discussion of library object – thinks and services provided by the hallowed institution.  The process suggested for narrowing processing this gold mine is also clear, concise, and doable.

The authors conclude with two chapters deciphering the issue of “Design or Redesign” and “The Process of Redesigning.”  Few will have the option of starting from scratch, although the good lord knows many library web sites could use a good thermonuclear blast. 

Again, a small point, but I object to their example of “Ask A Reference Question” using a web site form to generate an email in their proposed process.  I realize the resources required for Cleveland’s Know it Now are tremendous.  I also wonder why LSTA funds couldn’t be used to make such a wonder more widely available.  Tsk Tsk this diatribe is for another time and place.

Granted this tome doesn’t go in depth in either the planning process or the gospel of Nielsen.  I don’t believe it is supposed to.  Rather, it distills the principle elements of these disparate arenas into a very valuable and precious resource if you care about how folks use your website.  Lord knows, more librarians should.

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Usability Testing for Library Websites – A Hands-On Guide

Eleaina Norlin and CM! Winters.  Chicago, American Library Association, 2001

69 p  ISBN 0-8389-3511-7  $32

“In actuality a website is a service”

 At $0.50 per page, I would normally pan a title and reject it outright as a true bang for buck loser.  This isn’t this case with this awesome tome, which should become a bible for library web developers and administrators. Aside from reliance on a focus group strategy at the end this title has content, process and enough common sense to eliminate the oblique nature of most library websites from here to eternity, or WWWIV, whichever comes first.

Norlin and Winters are straightforward in their approach.  None of the gloss of a thesis or the whine of a consultant has seeped into these pages.  The recommendations are solid, and the process they provide should serve as a model to clean up the mess many library sites are.

The text opens building a case for usability testing.  There model sets out the following goals:

Usefulness establishes whether the Website does what the user needs it to do

Effectiveness refers to the ease of use to achieve the desired task

Learnability relates to how easy it is to learn an application to move from being a novice to a skilled user

User Satisfaction relates to the user’s attitude about the Website – specifically how enjoyable it is to use it

Their purpose is to fit the design of the site to the intended users.  The authors further contend this process is beneficial to all aspects of web development, can help explore other design ideas, validate and refine design, and help understand the user acceptance of the web design.

The five values of usability, adapted from  Wheat and Greenberg, are perfect arguments for investing the time and energy in the process.  Excuse me for presenting them en-toto (but that’s the beauty of the web where there are no column inches and the scanner decides to behave for a change)

1. Understand the difference between usability testing and a research study. The two methods differ in that usability testing identifies problem areas, whereas research verifies the existence of a theory.

2. Incorporate real users. Web site testing involves users who are representative of the targeted audience. By engaging real users, developers can understand the specific needs of users.

3. Employ real tasks. Web site testing involves tasks that are representative of how the Web site is or should be used. The incorporation of real tasks may provide a wealth of information on the areas that are in need of change or improvement.

4. Observe and record meticulously. The purpose of the test is to observe the participants 'ability to perform the said tasks; therefore, record comments or questions about the Web site as well as users' behaviors. This observation and recording distinguishes usability testing from focus groups, Surveys, or beta testing.

5. Inattention to data implications is risky. The qualitative and quantitative data collected from the participants (as well as the observer's notes) are analyzed and categorized, thus pinpointing the problem areas of the Web site. This process of categorizing and identifying enables you to prioritize problems as well as identify solutions.

The tome moves on to a set of Web design guidelines, and is the most simple but elegant statement on web design I have yet seen distilled.

          KEEP THE END USER IN MIND

            ACHIEVE SUPERIORITY THROUGH SIMPLICITY

            IMPROVE PERFORMANCE THROUGH DESIGN

            REFINE AND ITERATE

In these seven pages there is more common sense than in the millions of Microsoft Press pages.  Of all the web design books ever publish none are so succinct and so distilled.  I am tempted to throw them in the scanner for the world to see (actually the text itself would make an awesome web site) but allow your humble editor to lift from my Encarta dictionary knowledge, sense, insight, perception, astuteness, intelligence, acumen, prudence, sagacity[1] and share just a little of their advice.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SITE?

WHO ARE THE USERS?

WHAT ARE THE USERS CAPABILITIES?

WHAT IS THE INTENDED USE OF THE WEBSITE COMPARED WITH THE USER’S WANTS?

WHERE WILL THE SITE BE HOSTED AND WHAT ARE THE CAPABILITIES OF THE HOST?

Norlin and Winters sagacity continues with the suggestion that everyone involved in the design process should have some sense of the targeted population remembering that some users have limited system capabilities for access.  They also stress the need to be mindful of users with physical limitation.

“ACHIEVE SUPERIORITY THROUGH SIMPLICITY” is their twist on your editor’s motto – “Keep it Simple Stupid.” They argue a site needs to be organized in a way that is familiar with the end user,  (not the geek) developing a consistent look and feel, the use of language for it “not only communicates with content but also provides a tone.” 

The chapter closes with a point oft missed, but easy to accomplish.  They propose instituting a feedback function to the site, so users themselves can point out problems, express concerns, or identify missing elements. 

The authors are academics, and the chapter on “Getting Buy In” is an office politics primer for that environment.  Having no experience in that milieu I would be hard pressed to comment I suppose the guys in gowns need to be convinced something as important as assessment be conducted, another reason why I guess I will never work in that ballpark.

“Preassement and Planning” is the next step in the journey and they suggest most wisely that this step is to develop a keen understanding of the site users and their goals when interacting with the site

The chapter on “Pre-assessment and Planning” can be distilled to three important ideas – surveys, focus groups, and developing the “usability assessment team.”   A brief discussion of online versus paper does not, in my opinion, weigh in heavily enough in favor of the online version, but the sample provided is through enough to be adapted with little or no modification.  “Focus Groups” (highly overrated in your humble editors opinion) are discussed next although I do like the model questions.  The chapter closes with the meat and potatoes, an outline for a usability testing team. 

The authors move on to preparing and evaluating the usability test. They offer models for academic, public, and school library environments.  These mix the elements of content with functionality into brief but effective tools.  They stress several salient points, primarily that the web site is being tested not the person using the instrument.  Guidelines for structuring the test, hints for recruiting participants, including sample advertisements are provided.  A short course in focus groups is provided.  Instructions for moderators, recorders, physical considerations, and making accommodations for persons with disabilities are included.  The section on analyzing results proposes several prototypes based on the variant models. 

The final chapter is an example of their principles.  They review the process, and then demonstrate the changes the fictional library website needed in response to the testing.  What I love best is that they rip the site apart, tooth and nail, to demonstrate how “library” it is and how un-friendly it is to the user.

This title is so strong that every library with a website needs to buy it and implement the process of testing their site to meet user needs.

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Teaching the Internet in Libraries

Rachel Singer Gordon

Chicago, ALA 2001 ISBN 0-8389-0799-7  $38

You’re supposed to hang with your alumna buddies and those who reverently remember Sister Loretta and how she kept a firm hand on the rudder of Rosary will understand. The name has changed but the song is still the same.  Where is Neil Young when you need him?

The work is mis-titled, and really needs to have the word “Public” inserted before the word “Libraries” although one could argue that the principles are generic. Not.  Once you get beyond that little philosophical barrier, the work is fairly solid.

The word philosophical is important for Gordon lays out a framework.  Those seeking a point-by-point, how-to-do-it manual will find sketchy at best.  It’s like the contractor putting up the shell of the building and you finishing off the interior.

The negatives out of the way, there are strengths to the title.  It handles diversity better than any work I have yet to see, stressing the need to develop training for Spanish-speaking, parents and teachers, and seniors.  For each of these groups she stresses trainer selection, class design, advertising and resources of value.

Gordon provides fairly exhaustive coverage on the principle issue, identifying and training trainers.  A fairly Briggs-Meyers approach that is sound and informative, especially for the administrator that struggles with the mouse themselves, is included.  The section on Evaluation is also thorough, offering several strategies that are effective.

“Beyond the Basics” provides some strategies for experiences beyond the browser: email, job-hunting, genealogy, search strategies, information literacy, and evaluating online information. 

The addenda are valuable as well.  The “recommended resources” section includes the standard titles, albeit a little short on web-based resources.  The sample handouts are fairly generic, although slanted toward Netscape. (When are folks gonna realize that only 22% of the world uses this antediluvian tool?) Easily modified for the browser of the masses however.

Twenty years ago Ramon Zamora pioneered the concept that the public library was the natural place for the public to have access to computers.  In the last decade we have worked hard to incorporate the net into our service strategy.  We now have to address the concept that surfing is more than opening the covers and kicking back. 

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Web Based Instruction: A Guide for Libraries

Susan Sharpless Smith

Chicago, ALA 2001 ISBN 0-8389-0805-5

Price vs. Performance: a worthy tome

Review posted June 22, 2001

Purchase information: http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/index.html

For those who care about their users, training them is a high priority.  For the pointers (It’s over there) you can quit reading now.  It would be difficult for me to believe that any library did not have some stake in user satisfaction would also have a stake in teaching those users about the new toys and old stuff assembled under your roof(s).

Smith’s point is simple: the web is the perfect tool to use for instruction and many librarians may not have a clue how to apply it.  Spend a few hours with this title and the need for web-based instruction will become as clear as Melvil’s ten divisions.

The work is very comprehensive from a variety of perspectives.  It’s an excellent short course on instructional design; a sound overview of library instruction; and a basic primer on a variety of web issues concerning the geek stuff that might get in the way of novice or intermediate library webmasters.

In the Introduction, Smith succinctly points out the problem with traditional library instruction: “In addition to teaching students about traditional print library resources, not it is imperative include electronic databases and journals as well as World Wide Web resources.” That’s right folks, your are providing those walking in your doors or using your web site a huge number of resources that have nothing to do with traditional tables of contents.

Later on in the same chapter she also hits another nail right on the head: “It’s important to understand your institution’s mission and decide whether Web-based instruction supports that mission. “

The chapter on “Types and Examples of Web-Base Library Instruction” displays some interesting although academic examples of instruction providing a good overview nonetheless.   The “Design and Development” chapter provides a thorough overview and stresses the need for evaluation.

A fairly comprehensive chapter on “Development Tools” follows, laying out the playing field nicely.  I took a little exception to the statement “you may choose to work with either a conventional camera or digital camera” for the simple fact that I can see no reason to create a web development project with ancient technology.  And as an avid KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID kind of guy noticed the GLARING absence of FRONT PAGE as an editor, but eased off a little bit when I remembered it was an academic writing the book.

I would be remiss if I failed to share a little wired librarian tale.  I submitted a proposal to teach a workshop for a library school (nameless uh-huh) a session based on “How to Manage the Library Website” and the proposal was rejected.  One of the damming factors identified by the professors was that I proposed to use an editor (front page) instead of teaching hard code.  They ripped me up one side and down the other because the students wouldn’t get the “fundamentals” of learning <tr><td></td></td>.  I am glad I know code, and it lets me see the errors in a page, but just as microcomputers are no longer built in a garage, for God’s sake lets worry about the work flow not the philosophy.

Smith moves on and provides some excellent concepts.  “From the beginning, the design process should be focused on your users or audience.”  I wish some of the automation vendors would listen to this, there hasn’t been a library system yet the works as well as ammazon.com.  “Providing information isn’t the same as delivering instruction.  Instructional design is defined as the systematic process of translating general principles of learnt into plans for instructional materials.”  Thank you Jesus.

She has some excellent navigation tips and her visual design considerations are right on target. She relies a little too heavily on “Bobby” http://www.cast.org/bobby/.  It’s a good tool if you take it with a grain of salt.  For example, every page I build is based on tables to control the position of text and graphics regardless of browser.  Run my stuff through Bobby and it gets nailed because using tables as I use them, there are no table headers.  Bobby also doesn’t like the fact I don’t use the alt tag for images, but there is no sense, to me anyway, of taking the time to put a tag in for a 1997 Dodge Caravan Wagon one of my clients is trying to sell. 

Her chapter on “Multimedia” is thorough and accurate.  She clearly points out that such tools have their place.  In a campus network where EVERYONE has bandwidth video is cool if it is appropriate.  For your humble editor, who still gets to the net at 26.6 (I am now only 700 yards from getting a DSL line !!) I can’t use it so I lose it.

Plenty of excellent examples abound in the “Interactivity” chapter.  If there was as single use for the web in library instruction, it be HERE.  Smith discusses some of the obvious – email, discussion lists, and chat – and dips into the world of forms, self-assessment and tests.  She fails to mention the ‘quiz-builder” add-in for front page, but if you ignore the tool, you will ignore the extras.

The final chapter on “Evaluation and Testing” deserve special note not only because these concepts are often left out of web design, because she does such a good job with the material.  Good ‘ole Don Kirkpatrick would be proud.

A final list of resources is well organized and useful, but slanted.  There are only three nods to God Bill (aka Microsoft) mentioning Netmeeting. Active X, Visual Basic Scripting,

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Chapter 9 "Issues" A great Bernie Vavrek piece "In Search of Something Else" (pp 440-442) has a great ending: "Undoubtedly the spread of information technology to small and rural community libraries will revolutionize lifelong learning in every corner of America. In our rush to get online, however, let's keep in mind the offline connections our patrons still expect us to be 'selling' them after all these years."

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Books Bytes and Bridges: Libraries and Computer Centers in Academic Institutions
(Chicago, ALA 2000) 220 pp., illustrated with index. Edited by Larry Hardesty (currently reigning as President of ACRL) IBSN 0-8389-0771-7 $48

Flashback: Rosary College, summer of '82 (perhaps) sitting in the library automation class taught by Hillis Griffin. "Don’t believe it when the data processing types tell you that it can't be done, they just don't want to do it."

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