Usability questions..what is your opinion?

[Lyn MacCorkle]

Our library web site has received several 
Point 5% awards and a good Excite review,
but I would deeply appreciate constructive
criticism from some of my professional 
colleagues on the organization, ease of
navigation, and the language used to 
describe options.  And general aesthetics.

You will notice that I have used the 
term Internet as a major category off
the homepage...Its what another library
might call the 'virtual information 
center" or "electronic...".  I regard
the entire site as a virtual info 
center. I would like some comments.

We will be doing a site usability study
with students and faculty sometime 
this summer.  I have not seen anything
substantive on usability and library
web sites.  I am interested if the 
language we use is confortable to 
our non-librarian visitors.  My 
feeling is that users are more 
confident information searchers if
they have a sense of place...how
is that done in the "virtual library,"
without using graphical icons and 
metaphors.

http://www.library.miami.edu

The size of our initial page and 
the look will change sometime 
in mid summer to comply with 
University guidelines...but it 
will not be radical.

Lyn MacCorkle
Otto G. Richter Library
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida     lmaccor at umiami.ir.miami.edu