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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Beyond Description: Converting Web Site Usage Statistics Into Concrete Site Improvement Ideas, Julie Arendt, Cassie Wagner
Beyond Description: Converting Web Site Usage Statistics Into Concrete Site Improvement Ideas, Julie Arendt, Cassie Wagner
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
Web site usage statistics are a widely used tool for Web site development, but libraries are still learning how to use them successfully. This case study summarizes how Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale implemented Google Analytics on its Web site and used the reports to inform a site redesign. As the main campus library at a research university with about 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the library included resources from multiple library departments on a single site. In planning the redesign, Morris Library's Virtual Library Group combined usage reports with information from other sources, such as usability tests …
Designing Search: Effective Search Interfaces For Academic Library Websites, Susan Teague Rector, Jimmy Ghaphery
Designing Search: Effective Search Interfaces For Academic Library Websites, Susan Teague Rector, Jimmy Ghaphery
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
Academic libraries customize, support and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in designing online search interfaces and the ever-growing amount of resources available online, VCU Libraries sought to explore how to build effective search interfaces that, at the same time, support a wide variety of computer users and provide comprehensive access to assorted collections of electronic resources. Over a 9 …
Too Quick? Log Analysis Of Quick Links From An Academic Library Website, Jimmy Ghaphery
Too Quick? Log Analysis Of Quick Links From An Academic Library Website, Jimmy Ghaphery
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
Since the summer of 2001, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries has offered a “Quick Links” menu in the top right-hand side of many of its pages. Transaction log files have been run in order to analyze the use of the Quick Links, and several changes have been made based on those logs. This article will discuss those findings and offer contextual ideas for the use of Quick Links in comparison to the rest of the library website.
My Library At Virginia Commonwealth University: Third Year Evaluation, Jimmy Ghaphery
My Library At Virginia Commonwealth University: Third Year Evaluation, Jimmy Ghaphery
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
My Library is a personalization tool that allows the library user to consolidate frequently used library resources and services. Since 1998, My Library has been available as a web page to users of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. An evaluation of My Library use at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was completed and published in 2000. This article reports on a follow up study that took place between March 2000 and December 2001. The article also discusses the value of My Library as a teaching tool at VCU.
Vcu's My Library: Librarians Love It. . . . Users? Well, Maybe, Jimmy Ghaphery, Dan Ream
Vcu's My Library: Librarians Love It. . . . Users? Well, Maybe, Jimmy Ghaphery, Dan Ream
VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications
Virginia Commonwealth University's My Library project (circa 1998-1999) has chosen "ease of use" as its primary design criteria. The development of this tool using Perl scripting is described, and reports derived from usage logs are analyzed here. My Library tends to appeal a great deal to a small number of users as a personal tool. Librarians have found it popular as a class teaching tool, with pages designed for specific classes in library instruction receiving the heaviest use.