Consuls usability issues: Why All Catalogs Fail the Library's Web Presence

CONSULS Usability Issues

& Why all Catalogs Fail in the Context of the Library’s Web Presence

Get information on the Weantinocks at the State Library

Huh? Where Am I? What’s CONSULS? Where’s my info? What’s “course reserves”?

What users expect

(or book-specifically) this…

Try #2:Get information on the Weantinocks at the State Library

Reformulate(translation… it’s not the catalog, it’s my lousy searching)

Get information on the WeantinockOK, let me be less specific – how about native americans Connecticut (or

would it be indians?)

Question – how come “Native Americans Connecticut” search results are different than the ones below for “Indians

Connecticut”? (e.g., the former includes a book on the Quinnipiacs, the latter does not)

OK, I get it – “indians” (native american) v. “Indians” (from Indian) – but why didn’t it behave more like Google?

Looking at the details for a specific book (the bib record):

What is this? Where to begin?

I want to know more before I hit the stacks … & where in the stacks is it again? What visual

cues will tell me that I’ve found the right book on the

shelf? Why can’t I just get the

content or at least preview the book?

Why not? It’s impossible… can’t be

done… Yeah, websites look better, but library systems are more complex than websites…

So this is what I got…

But this is what I wanted…

OK, we can make do – let’s request it…

Request?

OK, make a list of items to get from stacks (though the SMS from Bib Record is definitely a great enhancement!)… hmmm…. “Save

Record”…. Ok, where is it? …. “View All Saved Records”

How do I email it? How come I can’t just email it from the bib record screen itself, as we see on regular news articles online? OK, I guess it’s “View and Export Your

Saved Records”???? This form is frustrating, too…Do I need to check off the record?

What I was expecting….

What I got…

And why do I have to hit a “Start Over” option to search again?

Why it’s a pretty face (VuFind)

Though its algorithm still isn’t as smart as Google’s – at least it “suggests topics” that get me there when I search on “indians”

At least we’re getting closer to content

And there’s a simple “Email this” option (along with others) at the Top of the Bib Record – creates a “modal box”

So much more…

• Tagging• Which to some degree = tweaking the search

engine (in real time) to respond to the users’ language

But from my perspective, the biggest thing is…

• Your library is YOUR library – even online• The experience of using your library online is

the experience of using YOUR library • = the digital branch• But this is only true when you have a product

that integrates (at least at a surface level, but ideally much deeper) the website and the catalog and other digital assets/collections