|
SFX-Verde Group Home >
Minutes
7/11/2005
SFX/Verde Meeting
Present: Ellen Duranceau, Tracy Gabridge, Millicent Gaskell
(minutes), Nicole Hennig, Kim Maxwell, and Beth Siers
1. Portal Brainstorm
Looked at several different models including the IRAT mockup,
Xerxes, and Open Video. Some of the comments about a single portal
from the discuss of these tools were:
When using facets, list the most popular + More& to get to complete
list.
Single search box option works well with undergrads but not at more
advanced level
Need to include instructions to users to indicate whats being cross- searched
Could use Xserver for Aleph, SFX, MetaLib
Language is very important
Think of use tasks: know item vs. discovery.
Balance of clicks people will click if theyre going where they want
but dont want too many.
Faceted browse needed
We asked ourselves to define what we meant when talking about a
single portal
One starting point for users
Users do not need to be told about Barton, Vera, SFX, Metalib, et.
Tools to look the same coherent look
Solves problem of too many choices
Higher level tool that talks to Aleph, Metalib, SFX, Verde,
webpages, etc.
We discussed the possible transition away from branded names like
Barton and Vera and suggested we factor this possibility into user
testing.
2. Persona-Based Interfaces
Ellen shared her impressions of an ALA presentation by Steve Abrams
on persona-based interfaces. The group was intrigued by the concept
and felt it could be very valuable in the user interface design.
Nicole volunteered to contact some people who have done persona
based research for more information. Ellen agreed to follow up with
Steve Abrams about the Canadian example he cited.
3. Interim Report
Conclusions of Group to Date:
We can use the ExLibris tools
We are not sure HOW we can best use them
We want to think outside the box to create the best access
environment we can with these tools, but we need additional user
data to know how to do so
Fall Activities:
Verde testing - our options assume implementation of Verde, but we
need to do systematic testing to ensure that this is the right path
Learn about the Xserver option for Metalib (and possibly SFX or
Aleph). Check to see if Libraries could support an Xserver
approach. We need to include an estimate of the time needed to
develop our own Xserver approach to Metalib.
User testing - what kind of information do we need? How could we do
personae-based interface design quick and dirty(i.e. cheaply)? What
kind of traditional usability testing?
September 1 report options to present:
More sweeping, forward-looking redesign of eresource access
Personae-based interface design based on user analysis
Xserver implementation of metalib functionality
Single portal approach, offering single front end to ExLibris
tools: metalib, sfx, aleph
More conservative redesign of eresource access to adjust to life
without current Vera
Focus on implementing tools out of the box
Implement metalib for DDT
Conduct traditional usability to determine ejournal access method (s):
Barton, SFX (A-Z ), Metalib
May want to describe a third option
incremental movement, starting with conservative redesign with
staged plan for forward-looking redesign
|