Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Users’ Views about the Usability of Digital Libraries

Abstract

This paper attempted to develop and validate an instrument that measures users’ views about the usability of digital libraries. Users’ views toward the usability of digital libraries may serve as the major conduit to user acceptance and satisfaction, thus promoting positive learning experiences. The instrument, digital library usability, consisted of 12 items that described usability properties of digital libraries. The content validity of the instrument was determined by a panel of experts. The instrument was administered to 293 subjects. The construct validity was determined by conducting a set of statistical procedures, including a principal component analysis. The results revealed a single component solution that assessed one particular trait. All items of the instrument achieved high loading values indicating that each item contributed to the assessment of the single component that accounted for a high variation among the items. The internal consistency (Cron-bach alpha) was .96. These results suggest that the digital library usability instrument is a valid and reliable instrument that can measure users’ views about the usability of digital libraries. This instrument can be the basis for future research regarding users’ views toward the usability of digital libraries.