The Usability of On-line Archival Resources: The Polaris Project Finding Aid

Abstract

This case study examines how the Florida State University Libraries' Claude Pepper Library planned the first phase of the Pepper OnLine Archival Retrieval and Information System (POLARIS) Project—the development of an on-line finding aid and search engine—to provide electronic access to its unique resources. It also demonstrates how the project staff studied the research usability of the Pepper Collection finding aid in the on-line environment. The identification of potential users, creation of a focus group based on a sampling of these users, and the compilation and analysis of focus group responses were important factors in planning the first phase, evaluating usability of the finding aid, and influencing the changes that the POLARIS Project team made.