Alamw2013

Gale Cengage LearningResearch Update

Stephen Abram, MLS

ALA midwinter meeting, Seattle, Jan. 28, 2013

BASICS

• Understand the clear difference between database search and federated discovery

• Know Your algorithm – commercial algorithms versus proprietary algorithms

• Know SEO, SMO, tuned search

• Usability versus User Experience

• Title Counts versus Workflow orientation

• Transactions versus Transformations

• Outcomes and impact measurements versus Statistics

• Local versus Global metadata (OCLC WorldShare, DPLA, Cloud, etc.)

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Deer in headlamps slide here.

• Access to the library collections and services from any device, at any time from anywhere. (mobile)

• Massive aggregates of information that have been selected for inclusion because of their quality by

either: a) librarians, or b) filtered by communities of users through ranking systems and ultimately

reviewed and signed-off by librarians for final inclusion in those aggregates. (cloud computing)

• Discovery workbenches or platforms that allow the users to discover existing knowledge and build

new knowledge in highly personalized manners. (discovery products with new extensions)

• Easy access and integration of the full range of library services into other products they use

frequently, such as course or learning management systems, social networking, discussion forums,

etc. (rich API's, extensive support of Apps and standards to support other extensions) [Linked Data]

• Contextual support, i.e. the ability for librarianship to help members understand the environment in

which a particular piece of work was generated (for instance, Mark Twain's writings, or scientific

research-is this a peer reviewed publication? (new products needed)

• Unbiased information. (start conveying the distinction, a huge differentiator)

• Pro-active services. Get out in front. Someone up for tenure? Go to their office. Find out what they

need and get it to them. (analytic tools, coupled with massive aggregates of data)

Carl Grant’s Differentiators

Sustainability versus digital evolution

• Our people are our brand – not information, databases, technology or books. Staff deliver

the service. A service devoid of staff promotion is a recipe for failure or outsourcing.

• Question improvement

• Predictive service through excellent contextual relationships

• Copyright knowledge and compliance

• Service, professional service not good and efficient step&fetchit servitude

• Information fluency professional development – not mere training, literacy, …

• Special and unique collections curated in context and pruned as needed

• Curriculum, discovery, teaching and research alignment

• Visibility where the users are, not a destination strategy

• eLearning development teams, MOOCs, eTextbooks, eReserves, eServices, etc.

• Developing rubrics, measurements and proofs of impact

Stephen Abram’s Key Differentiators

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Project Objective

To understand and meet the expectations of public library users for services, content, and virtual interaction.

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Personas are hypothetical representations of a natural grouping of users that drive decision-making for development projects.

They are not real people, but they represent real people.

They are defined by goals.

They focus on what is valuable to the user and subsequently on how he or she behaves.

Personas Defined

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Goals: Help team build the base infrastructure for .NET products. Construct the base set of services that ship with the product and compose the core of a distributed framework for hosting distributed services. Add queuing semantics and associated locking, classification and routing of messages, subscriptions, efficient filtering, fan-out, etc., to the server. Integrate new distributed communication semantics to the existing SQL Server programming model. Demonstrate ability to communicate and work well with other teams.

Usage Scenario: Henry has been around long enough to build a solid network of resources to call when he has specific questions about products or programs. He often learns about new technologies or processes through casual conversation with his friends and coworkers in the hallway. He uses Yahoo! for general information gathering because he likes the simplicity of the site design and the breadth of information available.

The Portal is not his start page—he usually just types in the URL directly. He rarely reads the content on the first page because he doesn't want to know what's going on with general companywide PR information. He's somewhat cynical about "companywide" internal releases and dislikes company politics. However, on a personal level, he does want to know about the schedules that the applications are on so he can plan. He's frustrated that there's no place you can go to find product information all in one spot.

Info-Seeking Behavior: When Henry needs specific information, he generally e-mails or phones a friend. He is a member of about 15 different DLs that used to be manageable, but now he finds it increasingly difficult to keep up.

He typically uses the Portal to search for internal information across the companywide intranet or to find other internal sites. He comes to the portal about four-five times a week by typing in the URL and stays for less than 15 minutes at a time. He rarely, if ever, goes to there to find general information about the company or the industry as a whole. He uses internal databases to find internal information on products or code. If he's frustrated by something, he'll go there and find solutions rather than go outside to support or to a dot-com. "You used to have to drill down pretty deep to find personalized information, but now it's easier." He tends to bookmark pages in the portal because he hates having to go 5 levels down. He'll use that bookmark until it breaks, then he has to research it again. He would like to have favorites on the portal. . . .

Henry41 Years Old, Software Design EngineerU.S.12 Years at the company. Single,MS Comput.Sci

Personas

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Our Approach

Narrative capture and identification of characters, issues and problems, behaviors and actions.

Narrative pattern review of content, service and product needs

Identification of priority requirements for specific market identities i.e. personas

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Narrative Capture

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Why Narrative Capture?

Knowledge can only be volunteered it cannot be conscripted

I only know what I know when I need to know it

I always know more than I can say and I will always say more than I can write down

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Anecdote Circles

Starter Statements Describe a day that involved coming to the

library.

Describe a day that you wanted to come to the library but couldn’t.

Give us an example of when you learned something from others at the library.

Give us an example of when you tried to learn something from others at the library but didn’t.

Give us an example from the past when you have used a computer to find information and were surprised about what you found.

Give us an example from the past when you decided you wouldn’t be able to find the information through the computer – why?

The five (5) workshops held in

April-May 2005

Bergen County Public Library

Buffalo Erie Public Library

Cleveland Public Library

Hamilton Public Library

S.A.I.L.S. Middleboro, MA

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Summary Groupings

Archetypes Themes Values

Good CitizenshipPatronsLibrary StaffMoneyLibrary Services and Facilities

InteractionTechnologyEfficiencyMoney

CommunityLearningQualityEfficiencyMoney/Risk

Ideal StateIssues

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Archetypes: Characters

Archetype Summary

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Archetype Names

Nu

mb

er o

f A

rch

etyp

es Good Citizenship

Patrons

Library Staff

Money

Library Servicesand Facilities

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Good Citizenship ArchetypesWell-Rounded Citizen(13 attributes) Collaborate

Community brings people together

CozyDiverse activities

Encourage creativityGood use of our money

Human contactIntellectual

opportunitiesKids feel safe

NurturingOpportunities – social

SecurityWilling to chat when

time permits

Bergen County

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Good Citizenship ArchetypesStrong Community Leader(6 attributes)

Community builderConnected

Connecting with community

Gives people missionNetworking

Pulls community together

SAILS

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Patron Archetypes

Frustrated Patron(12 attributes)

AnnoyingBooks out of print

DisruptionIndifference

Lack of wirelessNo tape playerOnline services

unavailableOut of date

Physical painRipped/missing

pieces, out of date magazine

Wasted resourcesWasted space

Cleveland

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Patron Archetypes

Inquisitive Power User(12 attributes)

After hours usageBroader search results

Computer useIntroduction to new

thingsLots of preferences

No online access outside of libraryNot a free service

Open to publicOutside sourcesSearch method

Universal accessWays to get information

Cleveland

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Patron Archetypes

Disengaged Seeker(9 attributes)

Can’t get book you want (timely)

Don’t listen to reviews/bad reviews (NPR

Reviews)Embarrassing

Fear of puppetsForgot card/license

Head achesInjuries

Some people consider a waste of money/space

(crafts)Too long

Cleveland

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Library Staff Archetypes

Ultimate Tour Guide(7 attributes)

Advance reserve on new materials

Abundance of itemsOne-stop shopping

Video/DVD lost in drop box

Access to materials never afford

Up to date, current materials

Diversity of materials

Buffalo-Erie

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Library Services Archetypes

Out-of-Date IT(6 attributes)

Access to PC’sMessage is too long

(automated computer system)

Not enough computersSlow re-boot

Strong databaseTechnical-media

options

Hamilton Public

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Library Services Archetypes

“Something for Everyone” Resources(4 attributes)

Can’t remove reference material

Extensive collectionLibrary for books, not

movie rentalsLibrary for education films, not Hollywood

movies

Hamilton Public

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Themes: Issues and Problems

Themes

0

5

10

15

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Theme Names

Nu

mb

er o

f T

hem

es Interaction

Technology

Efficiency

Money

Other

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Values: Behaviors and Actions

Values

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Value Grouping

Nu

mb

er o

f V

alu

es Community

Learning

Quality

Efficiency

Money/Risk

Other

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Pattern Review

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Mass Narrative Representation

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Example Focus Areas

Content

SMI Attributes

Vast Information

Dedicated Local Library Directories

In-depth Knowledge Available

Archetypes

Something for

Everyone Resources

Qualities

Library Material Types

Service

Themes

Equal Access to Services

Ease of Use and Efficiency

Meeting Customer Needs

Archetypes

Frustrated Patron

Values

Quality Librarian Services

Functionality

SMI AttributesCuts Down SearchingToo Many Features

ArchetypesSatisfied Customer

ValuesInformation Access

Self-Learning

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Personas

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Primary Anchor

Secondary Anchor

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7 PL PersonasDiscovery Dan

Dan represents the adult non-researcher population.

Haley High School Haley represents the high school student population.

Jennifer Jennifer represents the parents of teenagers.

Mommy Marcie Marcie represents the parents of young children.

Rick Researcher Rick represents adult researchers who own a personal computer.

Senior Sally Sally represents senior citizens.

Tasha Learner Tasha represents adult researchers who do not own a personal computer.

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A typical day at the library: Stops by the library either on their way to or from work or over their lunch break. May spend time on the weekend if they have a home project. Have requested the books or DVD’s online so is either dropping them off or picking the materials up. Enjoys lectures, classes or other non-traditional activities. Appreciates connecting with the library staff during visits

Information-seeking behavior: Usually checks online to see what has newly arrived at the library. If they have time during their stop over at the library itself, they will browse what is new in the nonfiction and music; maybe the fiction shelf as well. Uses the library to avoid the cost of buying materials. May purchase books after reviewing them in the library. Signs out DVD’s and movies for entertainment. Appreciates the book club(s), even if not an active participant. Also seeks community information (pamphlets, etc.) Reads on-line reviews of books

Ultimate goal: To pick up the books, music or videos they are interested in. Or to simply discover books or other material that piques their interest to expand their minds

Frustrations: Changing library hours. Unpredictable Internet search results. Pop-ups, spam. Librarians who aren’t very good at referring them to specific sources or best sources on a given topic – could be people as often as written information. Wishes libraries would coordinate culling of collections and try to keep at least one copy of a book in one of the libraries. Needs more consumer-friendly categorization of material. Parking (downtown users) Hours need to match commute schedule. Wait-lists for books so long that they are compelled to purchase the book from Amazon.

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NEEDS FEATURES Gaps/Opportunities

Product Considerations for Haley Discovery Dan

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A typical day at the library: They are not daily users of public libraries. When they do come they focus on magazines, newspapers or quickly check their email or browse the Internet. If they don’t have a good school library they will come to the public library after conducting a web search. They may use the library computer to print out a paper, especially if the shared computer at home is inaccessible.

Information-seeking behavior: Most information activity begins with a web search. They will type in their search within “ ” and start there to determine what they need. They might go to their school library or if they have a history of using public libraries, go to the public library to get help from a reference librarian. They will likely IM their friends to see what they are doing to find answers to the assignment. Public library Internet use is up among teens from 36% in 2000 to 54% in 2005. When they go online 74% do it from home, 17% from school and 9% other (community centers, churches, friend’s house and libraries). Note: Teens are just as likely as adults to get news and information about current events online. More than half report political news- seeking. (Pew – Teens and Technology)

Ultimate goal: They want to complete a school project

Frustrations: The books are too advanced for a high school student. There are no public library materials available on a web search. The library is at the bottom of the list for research for some high schoolers.

MindTap - pocUsability TestingJanuary, 2013

10 usertesting.com studies

Summary

5 MODERATED STUDIES

5 UN-MODERATED STUDIES

COLLEGE STUDENTS – UNDERGRAD AND GRAD

• “Wikipedia on steroids.”

• “Could do a research paper with this!”

• “This is mind-blowing.” (Research Help)

• Lots of valuable information in a controlled environment.

• Right-clicking on item is valuable but users wouldn’t know it is

an option. How do we make it more evident?

• “Wall of text and “blocks of text can be intimidating.”

• Font size is too small on some pages. Consider adding the

ability to increase or decrease font size.

• A few users did not like being “bombarded” with too much

information when focusing on reading a textbook article.

• Numerous comments regarding how helpful videos are . • Confusion as to whether a user has to complete all aspects of the tutorial (video, examples, quizzes) or can complete specific sections only.

• Most well-received page of the study. (portal page). • After selecting ‘want to see more?’ on the previous page, users expectations were often exceeded.

•Often cited as ‘what I like most about this site.’•“Combines a lot of things into one page.”• “The fact that it is broken down by content type is better than Wikipedia.”

Ng pawUsability TestingNovember 2012

26 usertesting.com studies

Summary

40-65 YEARS OLD (10)

COLLEGE STUDENTS (13)

RANDOM (3)

• Lots of excitement over the product, home page and features.

• Would use and recommend to others.

• Lots of name recognition and familiarity (Nat Geo).

• Some re-ordering of content types necessary.

• Much confusion tied to ‘Departments.’

• ‘Graphing Tool’ is not understood.

• Collapse/expand and moving of content types is not clear.

• Recommendations for image viewer.

The (Really)good….

CLEAN AND SIMPLE INTERFACE

MANY PAST OR PRESENT SUBSCRIBERS

INFORMATIVE

• It presents a really cool repository of history over the last 125 years that are unavailable anywhere else on the web. I

•I would use this site for research on school projects because it is easy to use, navigate, has a plethora of information and is

reputable/credible with great history. Really a prime go to spot for info.

• Much easier than having to find the actual printed volumes and wait for them to arrive at our library. The website archive is

very simple and easy.

• It provides information on many of the aspects of this planet such as environments, animals, and culture.

• National Geographic has such an iconic logo.

• Expect that you're gonna be informed.

• That’s a large bank of data there.

• Slider draws my attention.

• Simple and straight forward.

• Covers look interesting.

• Polished and easy to use.

•I grew up on National Geographic and believe there is no other publication that comes close to it.

•Never had a subscription, but would always read issues at library

• I've read the magazine for a long time and would like to return to some of the articles I remember.

• I have had several subscriptions to National Geographic Magazine during my lifetime. I am a regular reader of both

magazines, and I will often search for back issues in thrift stores.

• We've had a subscription to national geographic forever. I remember flipping through them when I was growing up and

always being really impressed by the photography particularly of nature.

• It is a great site. I would not change anything.

• I think the site functions perfectly as is.

•

LITTLE USE OF THE MAGIC WAND

Survey says….

Feature articles # 1 overall but….

Visuals are key (images often included in top three and mentioned in comments)

User comments:I’m coming here to get articles.

NG is known for their magazines.

NG is known for their photography.

I would rearrange the categories/subjects to put the most impactful ones at the top, particularly featured images. That is what people think of when they think of National Geographic.

I would probably start my search browsing for images.

Test #1

User Test: Rank top three content types

Survey says….

Users did see arrows to turn page but the majority of users would expect to turn pages on the right hand of the page.

User comments:

It seems more natural to a reading flow to click on the right rather than go to the top of the page (to select arrow).

Would expect to turn page closer to where the page number is.

I would like/expect to turn the page any time I’m close to left or right-hand side of screen.

Click right and advance.

User Test: Image viewer navigation (Where would you turn page?/Expect to turn page?)

USABILITY SAYS….Add arrows to the left and right and have them appear as user hovers over a certain section of the screen.

NCCOPhoto ArchiveUX_TestingDecember 2012

5 Moderated WebEx Studies

Summary5 ACADEMIC SCHOLARS IN 18TH & 19TH CENTURY

LIT

JUSTIN, YALE PHD, 18TH C

SLANEY, PURDUE PHD, 18TH C

• Looks “modern & clean” ; “love pictures of the archives”

• All testers liked the descriptive hover-over tabs

• All testers liked predictive search

• 2/5 users expressed much interest in graphing tool

• Users understand the distinction between a photographic content type and a book or manuscript that merely contains photographs.

• Although all users can make this distinction, they prefer to have some type of notification on search results page that “floats” the illustration info from the document page, up to results page

• Users had difficulty finding illustration information on a document page, since scrolling down is often required

• On document page, show illustrations before related content

TONYA, MARYMOUNT PROF., 18TH & 19TH CENTURY

TOM, PROF. OF LIT., U OF

BIRMINGHAM , UK, 18TH & 19TH C

SARAH, MARYMOUNT PROF., 19TH & 20TH

C. BRITISH LIT.

Users Searching NCCO say….

Users searched maps as a proxy for

searching photos

Solutions:•Users indicated that they understand that not all maps or photos will display under content types at left, but since we have the metadata, and display it on the document page, why not surface it to the search results page here (Arrow #1)

User Test: Search for Maps + China

“Drilling down” into the document to determine if it contains illustrations is cumbersome for our users. “if the data exists there, can you surface it here?”

User Test: Search for Maps + China U01



searching photos

Solutions:•When more than two rows or relevant pages are returned, collapse the rest of the page numbers in an accordion or drop-down fashion, in order to display critical information to the user (Arrow #1)

User Test: Can you find illustrations on the document page?

When relevant pages returned, number so many as displayed here, user does not see or know to scroll down, to find illustration information that is listed below

User Test: Finding illustrations U05

User Test: Finding illustrations U04



searching photos

Solutions:•Collapse long lists of page numbers (Arrow #1)

• Push ‘Related Volumes’ down the page, since users care more about finding contents and illustrations on this page (Arrow #2)

•Highlight Illustrations and float them to search results page (Arrow #3)

User Test: What would you change ?

Users can accept that not all maps or photos merit inclusion in the map or photo content type bucket, but still want to see these ‘lesser’ illustrations made more visible on the document pages, and floated to results page too.

Supporting Libraries Advocacy

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The Value of Libraries Soundbite

The Value of Public Librarieshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-public-libraries/

The Value of School Librarieshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-school-libraries/

The Value of Academic and College Librarieshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-academic-and-college-libraries/

http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/11/01/the-value-of-academic-libraries-redux-acrl/

The Value of Special Librarieshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-special-libraries/

Library Advocacy: Save the Library Campaignshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/01/save-the-library-campaigns/

Storytelling…

The Value of Libraries Soundbite

The Value of Academic and College Librarieshttp://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-academic-and-college-libraries/

ACRL The Value of Academic Libraries

http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/11/01/the-value-of-academic-libraries-redux-acrl/

VALUE OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES TOOLKIT

http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/value/valueofacademiclibrariestoolkit

• Working Together: Evolving Value for Academic Libraries

http://libraryvalue.wordpress.com/report/

Positioning the Library in The Right Minds

Reading not Books

Librarians not Libraries

Questions not Answers

Knowledge not Information

Community and Learning not Warehouses

Measurements not Statistics

Members or Students or Faculty not Users

Full Intellectual Access not Physical Access

Professional Consultative Service not Servant or mere efficient and effective service

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Where are the real pain points?

So what is the answer?

Grocery Stores

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

What is a meal in library end-user community or research, education and learning terms?

Let’s thinkThink: Are you thinking food, courses, days, weekly plan, or nutrition overall?

The new bibliography and

collection development

KNOWLEDGE PORTALS

KNOWLEDGE,LEARNING,

INFORMATION &RESEARCHCOMMONS

What are the real issues?

Craft versus Industrial Strength - Scalability

Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy

Hand knitted prototypes versus Production

e.g. Information Literacy initiatives

Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search

eLearning units

Strategic Analytics

Value measures

Behaviours

What We Never Really Knew Before 27% of our users are under 18. 59% are female. 29% are college students. 5% are professors and 6% are teachers. On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the very

first time! Only 29% found the databases via the library website. 59% found what they were looking for on their first search. 72% trusted our content more than Google. But, 81% still use Google.

We often believe a lot that

isn’t true.

2010 Eduventures Research on Investments 58% of instructors believe that technology in courses positively impacts student engagement.

71% of instructors that rated student engagement levels as “high” as a result of using technology in courses.

71% of students who are employed full-time and 77% of students who are employed part-time prefer more technology-based

tools in the classroom.

79% of instructors and 86 percent of students have seen the average level of engagement improve over the last year as they

have increased their use of digital educational tools.

87% of students believe online libraries and databases have had the most significant impact on their overall learning.

62% identify blogs, wikis, and other online authoring tools while 59% identify YouTube and recorded lectures.

E-books and e-textbooks impact overall learning among 50% of students surveyed, while 42% of students identify online

portals.

44% of instructors believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.

32% of instructors identify e-textbooks and 30% identify interactive homework solutions as having the potential to improve

engagement and learning outcomes. (e-readers was 11%)

49% of students believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.

Students are more optimistic about the potential for technology.

What we know is POWERFUL! Facts + Stories

Via Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog

“Curb Your Librarian Frustration in 8 Easy Steps”

New York State 2012 Summary of School Library Research

Ken Haycock OLA Summary of School Library Impact Studies

Advance: McKinley HS Study by Project Tomorrow

Project Tomorrow reports to Congress

Alison Head and Information Fluency research

Foresee Data and Overall Usage Data

Pew Internet & American Life reports

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation studies

IMLS, NCES, ARL, ACRL, ALA, LJ, etc.

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Be More Open to the Users’ Path

Until the lion learns to write her own story, the story will always be from the perspective

of the hunter not the hunted.

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAVP strategic partnerships and markets

Cengage Learning (Gale)Cel: 416-669-4855

[email protected]’s Lighthouse Blog

http://stephenslighthouse.comFacebook, Pinterest: Stephen Abram

LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen AbramTwitter: @sabram

SlideShare: StephenAbram1

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