Community‐driven user evaluation of the Inuvialuit cultural heritage digital library

Abstract

ABSTRACTPreservation of and access to aboriginal and indigenous cultural heritage is emerging as a key area of information science research and development. In this study, we report on a community‐driven user interface evaluation within a cultural heritage digital library that was developed for the Inuit communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in Canada's north. The study adopted a culturally‐aware, multi‐method and multidisciplinary user evaluation framework to examine the usability and usefulness of the Digital Library North user interface. The three‐phase user evaluation study consisted of such methods and approaches as environmental scanning, surveys, interviews, information audits, information tables, open houses as well as various community workshops. The iterative nature of the digital library interface development and usability evaluation provided rich and varied feedback and suggestions for the improvement of the user interface and its searching, browsing and navigation functionalities. The three thematized categories that emerged from the diverse data collected over the course of the three phases include user engagement, search and browse, and interface features. The study found that the development of cultural heritage digital libraries and their user interfaces for northern communities requires diverse, multidisciplinary and longitudinal methodologies that ensure their success, and more importantly, their sustainability and acceptance.