EBSCOhostInterface Enhancements

Using Usability Studies

Leveraging ourthesauri and usage

Auto-searched synonyms available to user

Synonyms, Spelling, Autocomplete

And spellchecker enhancements…

Autocomplete, now a user preference

Synonyms, Spelling, Autocomplete

Making EBSCOhost a great experience for ALL users

Going Beyond 508

• EBSCOhost 508/W3C Compliant for handicap accessibility

• University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign Center for Instructional Technology Accessibility

• Hundreds of under-the-hood code changes to improve functional accessibility

• Separate Text Only interface antiquated, retired on 12/31/07

• Side benefit of changes… big reduction in page byte size, even faster page downloads than Text Only

From a user…

“As a JAWS screenreader user, I noticed[the changes]… I can now quickly navigate through the EBSCO site. You have my grateful thanks.”

Christie GilsonDoctoral CandidateUniversity of Illinois at Urbana/ChampaignCenter for Instructional Technology Accessibility

Extra steps to ensure compatibilitywith several assistive technologies

• Navigation and text layout is not dependant upon JavaScript, CSS, or HTML tables

• Keyboard only navigation

• Popular web site readers, text-to-speechsoftware applications

• Speaking to other software vendors who require partnerships such as Kurzweil Educational Systems

ALL users…

Asian languages…

All interface labels within EBSCOhost

Including subject searchand other screens…

HTML Full Text Translation

EBSCOhost MobileToday we have DynaMed PDA and EBSCOhost Text-Only

Coming in 2008 – EBSCOhost Mobile will be a truewireless access Interface for all EBSCOhost databases

Image QuickView

Thumbnails on theResult List,

first 4 or Show all >>

Also in Folder view

Article Detail(a.k.a., “full record”)

Image Detail• Title and Caption• Source with Illustration page number• How to Cite help link

Photos

Photos

Tables

Graphs

Scientific Illustrations

Image QuickView (IQV)

• 3,344 full-text journals will be included

• Only journals with native PDFs will be included (although not all native PDFs will have IQV)

• Currently 821,421 images are available via IQV, but by June 2008, this figure will be 2,056,178

• Initially, no separate limiter on the interface for IQV, but it is coming in 2009

9392,902Business Source Corporate

227427EconLit with Full Text

78544CINAHL Plus with Full Text

405944Education Research Complete

313692Computers & Applied Sciences Complete146318Communication & Mass Media Complete

7582,333Business Source Premier

1,0293,031Business Source Complete1,3604,514Academic Search Premier1,5015,545Academic Search Complete

Total IQV

Titles

Total FT

TitlesDatabase

Image QuickView – Statistics By Database

1491,297MEDLINE with Full Text

308610SocINDEX with Full Text 174394SPORTDiscus with Full Text

353828Science & Technology Collection

1931,753MasterFILE Premier 103424Literary Reference Center 69182LISTA with Full Text 183407

International Security &Counter-Terrorism Reference Center

289732Humanities International Complete321636Environment Complete

Total IQV

Titles

Total FT

TitlesDatabase

Image QuickView – Statistics By Database

Image QuickView – Try It!

Visual Search

Visual Search

• Main Goals of Visual Search 1.0:– Allow users to explore search results and understand their

relationships without forcing users to read every result and make those deductions

– Add an interactive and ‘fun’ element to the EBSCOhostinterface

• Visual Search 1.0 Issues: – Usage very low– Java applet complications– Unacceptable reliance on a since discontinued partnership

Now, two new Visual Search options that build uponoriginal visual search goals, and offer more features

Visual SearchOption 1: “Columns”

Columns!• Highlighted breadcrumb trail• Easy flow• Scroll results within Subject Clusters

Visual SearchOption 2: “Blocks”

Blocks!• Compass navigation• Click Subject Clusters to narrow• Relevancy indicator

Blocks!• Zoom in to see more detail• Drag/drop blocks to “Collect Articles”• You Are Here map

Group, Sort, FilterDisplay Controls

DisplayChoice

Visual Search

• We recommend using Relevancy Ranking Sort as your profile default

• Coming Soon:– All limiters and search options

– More than 250 results

Introducing…

EBSCOhost 2.0A redesigned EBSCOhost

Coming in July 2008

Why do a redesign?

• Customers have requested a“Simple, Google-like interface”

• EBSCOhost’s main interface was last redesigned 5 years ago (August 2002) – a lot more is possible today

• Usability studies with end users have shown excellent opportunities for improvement

Goals of EBSCOhost 2.0

• Create a really simple basic search screen

• Take advantage of modern techniques available on familiar web sites

• Expose great functionality that exists today but is hidden or underutilized

• Make the simple basic search screen fit in well with all of EBSCOhost

• Improve overall EBSCOhost usability

Power in the Result List

Narrow bySubject Cluster

Date Slider

Limiters

Dynamic Folder List

Related Images

Narrow bySource Type

Narrow byDatabase

Related Images• Hover your mouse over theimage thumbnails to preview

• Click to see bibliographic record

Related Resultsfrom NewsBank

Hover your mouse overthe article preview icon

Expand / Collapse side panes

Advanced SearchNew two column limiter display

When selected, Search Historydisplays above the Result List

More functionality availablewhen the user needs it

Click “Choose Databases” fora display of available databases

Mouse over preview iconsfor detailed descriptions

Select All!

Click “More Options” fora display of available limiters

Click “Preferences” forNow more preference options!

Permanently save preferencesto My EBSCOhost

Multi-Database searchingaccess to Authority Files

(Subjects, Publications, etc.)

Current advanced searcherfunctionality unchanged

Today’s persistent links becomethe new URL... and easier to copy.

Bookmarkable!

Articles, Searchesand Publications

now Bookmarkable

Introducing SmartText Searching

Starting with this article...

Paste the entirearticle into the

Search box

A relevant result list!

SmartText Explained

• We analyze each word that’s part of the query for how unique it is

• We apply a weighting to each word

• We issue a search using those weights as relevancy controls

• We are considering future enhancements to let users control those weights themselves

Lastly, EBSCOhost 2.0 offersan improved “Article Detail”

(a.k.a., “Full Record”)and improved citing...

Article Detail• More prominent Full Text links• Easy copy persistent links• Similar article results• Icons for Print, Email, Save and• Cite!

Cite!• Displays all citations formats• Easy copy to clipboard function• Link to Export bib managers

EBSCOhost 2.0Coming

July 2008

Thank You