[Web4lib] AJAX on library websites?

[Binkley, Peter]

 I don't see this as a serious objection to anything other than the
placement of the submit button. When a user wants an exact match for the
"Journal of cutaneous medicine and surgery", I don't think they'll
complain that the dropdown slows them down. I got to this form by
clicking a link labelled "Browse the electronic journals"; I think I'm
being given a very efficient browse experience. 

Peter

Peter Binkley
Digital Initiatives Technology Librarian
Information Technology Services
4-30 Cameron Library
University of Alberta Libraries
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6G 2J8
Phone: (780) 492-3743
Fax: (780) 492-9243
e-mail: peter.binkley at ualberta.ca



> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Richard Wiggins
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 02:16 AM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] AJAX on library websites?
> 
> The difference is glaring, if you follow carefully the 
> behavior I described.
> 
> Go to tha GIT journals search.  Select the drop-down for 
> Exact Match.  Type "nature" into the search box.  A long list 
> of articles magically appears in a drop box.  On my screen 
> (IE 6 on a Thinkpad running at 1024 x 768 with normal fonts 
> in a window about 800 x 600) the drop-down list of journals 
> appears magically -- and it obscures the Submit button.
> 
> If I want an exact match for the journal Nature, I do not 
> want to see the other titles appear by magic as I enter my 
> exact search term.  The drop-down list that magically appears 
> BLOCKS the Submit button that I might click on, if I saw it.  
> The interface forces me to go to the drop-down list and click 
> on Nature -- an extra step. There is only one journal whose 
> name is exactly Nature. (I personally knew enough to hit 
> Enter and see what happened, which was  that at that point 
> the journals search did the exact match.)
> 
> Perhaps it might be useful to compare the behavior to a human 
> interaction.
> Let's say I walk up to the reference desk and say "Could you 
> help me find the journal Nature?"  No human would reply with 
> a list of a dozen or more titles that include that word.
> 
> Any time you add interactivity to a Web form, you risk 
> confusion.  My credit union tries to parse dollar amounts as 
> I type them in.  I want to type, say, 750.00 and the 
> JavaScript snippet emulates an ATM as you enter dollar 
> amounts, moving the digits around the decimal point.  It 
> actually slows me down.
> 
> /rich
> 
> On 12/17/05, Ross Singer <ross.singer at library.gatech.edu> wrote:
> >
> > 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.htmland 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 Submitand 
> > > 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.
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>