Dr. Swapan DeoghuriaScientist-II, Computer Centre

Indian Association for the Cultivation of ScienceKolkata - 700032, INDIA

Email ccsd@iacs.res.in . URL: www.iacs.res.in/icim.ppt

Digital Library of India

A Study of Independent Access

What is DLI?http://www.dli.ernet.in

Digital Library of India (DLI) portal is a major Government funded DL project in India

It is a part of Universal Digital Library Project

Almost 50,000 books are freely available

It is a multinational project (India,China, USA)

Partner centres in India are selected amongst academic, religious, cultural, government and research agencies

Objective

To study effectiveness of DLI

To study user interface of DLI portal

To study suitability of independent access

To study interface design of DLI

Usability

Usability has been defined as “[a system’s]

capability in human functional terms to be used

easily and effectively by the specified range of

users, given specified training and support, to fulfill

a specified range of tasks, within the specified

range of environmental scenarios”

Usability for Digital Libraries

Too much digital information is available onlineDigital resources are being mounted online at an enormous rateThere is no uniform and consistent way to find useful information existing over NetUsability is important forCapacity planningSystems designUser supportStrategic planning

Usage and Usability of DLs

Accessibility – ease with which people can locate and access digital resources

Compatibility – ease with which people can store, edit, print digital resources

Integrability – how smoothly the DL system fits into a person’s work practices

Reliability – Systems should provide easy recovery from common problems

Affordability – Systems should be affordable

Expertise – Minimum or no expertise is expected to use DLs» Generally use independently

Key components of usability study

Contents need to know user’s need and purpose

Functionality provide enough information to guide users, not

enough to confuse themSimplify the query formDisplay non-redundant information only

Interface give users the ability to quickly review results to

determine whether the search is on track

MethodologyHardware used Intel P-III and P-IV computers 14, 17, 19 inches colour monitors

Operating System used MS Windows (95, 98, 2000, XP)

Browser used Netscape (4.7, 7.1) and Internet Explorer (5.0, 6.0)

AlsoSGI Octane with 21 inches monitor and Netscape 4.7

Connectivity 512 Kbps Leased Line

Google – to search DLI

Yahoo – to search DLI

DLI Home Page

DLI Home Page

DLI Home Page

Titles of books beginning with ‘A’

Book not found

Titles beginning with ‘B’

Bengali Literature not found

Titles with ‘X’

Search result with xray as title

Xray content not found

Author’s last name beginning with ‘A’

Author names are jumbled always

Last name begin with ‘T’

Last name ‘T’ next page wrong

Last name ‘T’ does not match

Collection between 1850 - 1900

First item not found

Collection between 1901 - 1910

Collection between 1911-1920

Subject index of DLI

Subject - Astrophysics

Astrophysics – 1st item found

Autobiography - duplicate

List of chemistry books

Chemistry book not found

No content under subject - Dance

Duplicate records: subject - health

First record with 121 pages

Second record with 513 pages

First page of second record

2nd page of second record

History – Title - Musund

History – Title - Musnud

Duplicate records: sub - poetry

First record found

Second record not found

Author - Rabindranath

Author - Tagore

Author - Rabindranathtagore

Author - Tagorerabindranath

Title – Crescent Moon

Crescent Moon – 207 pages

Crescent Moon ?

Crescent – not found

Author - Ravindranathtagore

Author - Einstein

Author - Alberteinstein

Author - Shakespeare

Author - Williamshakespeare

Language: Bengali - wrong

Science – list is not ordered

Literature – 2nd page

Forbidden – permission denied

Subject - literature

A tale of two cities

Berkeley – Digital Library

Berkeley DL - Contents

Greenstone

Greenstone - subjects

Greenstone - list

The New York Public Library

SunSITE Digital Library

Universal Digital Library

LimitationsDLI portal is browser dependent. Users are not informed about the software/hardware requirement and limitations of DLI

Too many items in the home page to choose. Some information are available more than once

Search/query form is complex

Search results are not ordered

Search results does not match with query parameters

The databases of digital contents are not easy to use independently

All items in a page are not appearing for small monitors

The information appearing on screen are not easy to read

All digital resources are not categorized according to subject and language

Duplicate and wrong data exist

There are items where hyperlinks are expected but not available

There are hyperlinks for items but contents are not accessible

Short notes for digital resources are not available

Representation of all Indian languages and states are missing

To download/print a complete book is difficult

Conclusions

DLI has done a commendable job within a short period of time

User interface should be more user friendly

Data should be more organised

Thorough usability study should be done for effective use of DLI in future

Thank you!