[WEB4LIB] Re: [USABILITY4LIB] Wanted: OPAC Testing Results

[Karen Coyle]

K.G. Schneider wrote:

>Is it possible this is influenced by position as well as the suggestion that
>this is the preferred search? I notice that in your opac the first (and
>selected) search is title browse, while title keyword is three choices later
>(at first glance, before scrolling, the "last" choice in the list). 
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Absolutely. If you look at the stats for any OPAC, the highest used 
search will be the default one. That's what makes UI design so critical. 
It's not just that you have to include all of the possible search types 
in a menu -- how the searches are presented to users is probably more 
important than what the searches actually do.

This reminds me of some stats that came out of a digital library that 
had a number of e-documents up online. They had thousands of downloads, 
and surprisingly the item that had been downloaded the most as Aesop's 
Fables. Yep, top of the list.

kc

>Karen G. Schneider
>kgs at bluehighways.com
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-- 
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Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
ph.: 510-540-7596
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
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