Abstract
In the spring of 2013, the University Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago was in the unique position of having access to two discovery systems, Summon and WorldCat Local, at the same time. When tasked with choosing between the two systems, librarians undertook a usability study of Summon and WorldCat Local. The goal of this study was two-fold: to test the ease-of-use of each discovery system with an eye toward identifying one tool to retain for the longer term, and to learn about the search behaviors of different types of user groups. Eighteen subjects, consisting of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty, participated in the study. Participants performed usability tasks using each tool and answered pre-task and post-task questions. While there was no clear preference among study participants for either discovery layer, individual groups did express preferences. Faculty, for example, preferred Summon to WorldCat Local at a rate of five to one. The study findings are explored in detail through an examination of the three major data sets produced by the usability test instrument: results derived from tasks performed by participants as part of the study; themes and trends identified by the investigators within the recorded participant tests; and discovery tool preferences as determined from pre-task and post-task questionnaires administered to study participants. This study has implications for librarians engaged in information literacy instruction, those considering implementing discovery tools, as well as for librarians currently using Summon or WorldCat Local at their libraries.
Highlights
In the continual quest to provide a simple search interface for the information available in multiple formats through academic library Web sites, many libraries have implemented the latest generation of search products, known as “discovery tools.” These products allow users to search across multiple databases at the same time and help the searcher “discover” collections and resources that are not described by the indexes of large commercial library databases and are hidden from view
The current study looks at a wide range of patron populations and skill levels, from first-year students to faculty
For WorldCat Local, the overall availability score was 93 percent – meaning that users could determine the availability of the item they were looking for in 93 percent of the cases when searching with WorldCat Local; the mean book availability score was 91 percent – meaning that when searching for books users were able to determine the availability of the book 91 percent of the time, and for online article availability, the mean WorldCat Local score was 100 percent
Summary
In the continual quest to provide a simple search interface for the information available in multiple formats through academic library Web sites, many libraries have implemented the latest generation of search products, known as “discovery tools.” These products allow users to search across multiple databases at the same time and help the searcher “discover” collections and resources that are not described by the indexes of large commercial library databases and are hidden from view. In the continual quest to provide a simple search interface for the information available in multiple formats through academic library Web sites, many libraries have implemented the latest generation of search products, known as “discovery tools.” These products allow users to search across multiple databases at the same time and help the searcher “discover” collections and resources that are not described by the indexes of large commercial library databases and are hidden from view. Like most discovery tools, presents the library user with a single search box interface that promises to make all of a library’s content accessible by assimilating the bibliographic data from the library catalog, other local collections, information harvested directly from large journal publishers as well as selected abstracting and indexing metadata from commercial databases, into its large central index This creates a search tool that provides books, articles, archives, and digital collections in one set of search results
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