[Web4lib] AJAX on library websites?

[Ross Singer]

On Dec 17, 2005, at 11:49 AM, Richard Wiggins wrote:
> The Ga Tech journals search is also interesting.  Again, I wonder if  
> there are usability implications.  For instance, let's say I want to  
> look up the full text of a recent article in the journal Nature. (As a  
> totally random example.)   So I go to  
> http://www.library.gatech.edu/search_locate/ 
> electronic_journals.html and I select Exact Match from the drop-down.   
> I type the word "Nature"   On screen I see a drop-down list of a bunch  
> of journals with "nature" in their titles.  That drop-down obscures  
> the Submit button. I want the exact match of "Nature" but I see in the  
> drop-down  titles such as "FRACTALS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL ON  
> THE COMPLEX GEOMETRY OF NATURE"... How is this an exact match?   What  
> percent of people searching for "Nature" want that title? 
>  
> With a traditional, non-interactive search, I'd just click Submit and  
> get my exact match.

As you do when you just type "nature" in the interactive search and hit  
"Enter" or "Tab" or "Escape" or mouse click.

What's the difference?

The point (attempted) here was to add (hopefully, useful) functionality  
without removing any functionality in the use case you present above.

Yes, usability will ultimately tell us if it's as helpful as intended,  
but feedback has been positive.  I think /any/ attempts to help the  
user find items in our collection should be considered positive and can  
be tweaked and improved after implementation.

-Ross.