[Web4lib] AJAX on library websites?

[Richard Wiggins]

I think it's a matter of preference.  I've used auto-fill ins since playing
with the console of a Control Data 6500 in the 1970s and I am used to them.
Some people like the real-time spell check offered by MS-Word; I love it.
Others hate it, preferring a batch spell-check after a period of editing.

Auto-fill ins can get in the way -- IE likes to cache both detailed URLs as
well as the home page for a site, and I find it slows me down when I just
want the friggin' home page for the Washington Post.

My point is that such features are not unalloyed goodness.  I will ask the
head of the disabilities center at Michigan State, who uses a screen reader
for the blind, to see how a few of these cool AJAX apps work for him.

/rich


On 12/19/05, Binkley, Peter <Peter.Binkley at ualberta.ca> wrote:
>
> 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.
> > >
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