[WEB4LIB] Patron Technophobia [was: Re:Important article]

[Nettie Lagace]

At least as far as my own user base is concerned ... 

I'm a reference librarian who also spends a fair amount of time working on
our Web pages and weaving in new products we've licensed. I don't believe
that problems with interfaces are due to users' laziness or unwillingness
to play -- it's more often the case that there is only a limited amount of
time available to them to find the information they want.  And per the
usual problems with reference interactions, patrons often don't know what
they don't know, putting an additional load on interface designers to plan
for the lowest common denominator, which wears out quickly as users "become
friends with" the databases they use most often.  And, sometimes, the
amount of time the user will use the product doesn't justify a full-blown
instruction set -- e.g., if they'll only needs a few bits of information
from a source they'll use once in their time here, there's no point in
sitting with it for an afternoon.

I agree wholeheartedly that we should offer different levels of
interaction, and definitely, that PCs and interfaces should be made as
flexible as possible so as not to break or hang (we could even start with
comprehensible error messages!)

It's clear to me that the Web products that I'm using in my work are often
"traditional products" newly-ported over to Web interfaces ... these
interfaces often leave much to be desired, in my opinion, and I often
prefer Web site approaches to those of data publishers.  The legacies of
print and CD-ROM are very much with us.  

I'm excited to see projects like MyLibrary from NCSU and VCU. I think
vendors are moving along these lines too ... perhaps as members of
"Generation Y" become part of our customer group, we'll see even more
changes in the area of users interfacing with technology. It's exciting;
there's a lot of work to do.

Nettie

Nettie Lagace
Business Information Librarian
Baker Library, Harvard Business School
http://www.library.hbs.edu/
--------------------------------------
alagace at hbs.edu * 617-495-5917


At 10:12 AM 4/1/99 -0800, Jim Harold wrote:
>Hi ....
>
>Although I haven't worked on a reference desk in many years, I guess my
take on all of this is most folks have lost the ability to play which I
believe influences how they approach anything that is either new or
seemingly over complex.
>
>The problem we have had here in the agency is that everyone (there are
several hundred regular online users at USAID) wants database interfaces
(which have several different types of data, including standard
bibliographic records) that matches their level of expertise and they
always want that as the default.
>
>In light of this, we have five different levels of interfaces, none of
them perfect for everyone ('title search', 'basic search', 'advanced
search', and 'experimental search', plus command line--not all are
available for each type of data).  We also have the problem here that
searching is done from the user's desktop, so we can't rely on anyone
taking someone's hand and placing it literatlly on the keyboard.  So
whatever we do has to be very straightforward.
>
>If I had total control over how we present databases, I would (1) always
have at least two different levels or presentations with regard to an
interface, and (2) somehow, either though the interfaces or through
personal contact, encourage folks to play or experiment (this also means
having to make the interfaces and the PC themselves fairly easy to not
break or hang).
>
>Thanks.
>
>
>
>Jim Harold
>USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse
>(operated by LTS Corporation)
>1611 N Kent St Ste 200
>Arlington VA 22209-2111 USA
>jharold at dec.cdie.org 
>+1 703-351-4006 x109
>+1 703-351-4039 fax
>http://www.dec.org
>
>
>>>> "Robert J. Tiess" <rjtiess at warwick.net> 04/01/99 10:19AM >>>
>
>Dorothy Fleishman wrote:
>> What we are finding in terms of patron usage of the library
>> is that many of the people coming to the libray are too
>> technophobic to make use of what is available to them. They
>> either stand like statues and wait permissible for the
>> librarian to type a title into the computer for them, or
>> wander the stacks in total confusion rather than ask for help.
>
>This is a vast problem, and I wonder what steps other libraries,
>as a whole, or librarians on their own are taking to reduce or
>eliminate the technophobia some patrons experience.  My collegues
>and I have been engaged with daily PAC training and monthly
>Internet instruction.  I believe a substantial part of the
>problem also involves not so much patron "computer illiteracy"
>as a mild laziness or simple lack of motivation to learn a new
>system or interface.  It's often challenging for patrons but 
>necessary, and I sympathize with them, understanding the sharp
>learning curves they face, especially when they first move from
>card catalogs to PACs.  Patron technophobia is certainly nothing
>new, but I am interested in what other unique steps, if any,
>libraries are taking to address it, especially with respect to
>Internet access.
>
>
>Robert
>rjtiess at warwick.net
>