Users’ views about the usability of digital libraries

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined users’ views about the usability of digital libraries—current and perceived importance. Age, gender, prior experience with the Internet, college status, and digital library proficiency are the independent variables. Users’ current views about the usability of digital libraries and users’ perceived importance of digital library usability are treated as dependent variables. The Digital Library Usability Survey, a Likert‐type instrument developed by Koohang, was used. The study's participants were 107 undergraduate students enrolled in an interdisciplinary and cross‐functional degree programme at a large state university in the Midwest, USA. The collected data were analysed through statistical procedures. The overall results yielded significant differences for the variables of users’ prior experience with the Internet and users’ proficiency level with the digital library. The univariate results indicated a significant difference on the users’ perceived importance of digital library usability. However, digital library proficiency produced a significant difference on users’ current views about the digital library's usability. These results are discussed. Recommendations are made for practice and future research.