great power & great(er) responsibility: tactics to ensnare users in your library web(site)

8/13/2019 Great Power & Great(er) Responsibility: Tactics to Ensnare Users in Your Library Web(site)

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Great Power,Great(er)ResponsibilityTactics to Ensnare Users in

Your Library Web(site)

Angie Thorpe Digital User Experience Librarian Indiana University Kokomo [email protected]


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Magic Words

Go web.

Fly.

Up, up, and away web!

Shazam!

Go! Go! Go web go!

Tally ho!

(didnt work?)


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A tale of two studies

Public libraries

Any size

Only Indiana

430 total libraries

Branches andcentral libraries

Academic libraries

Medium-sized(3,000 9,999 FTE)

Geographically-diverse

313 total libraries

Only main libraries(no special)


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52%41%

5%

2%0%

0%Own Website

Branch library using main library site

No observed Web presence

Only presence: Facebook

Only presence: Google+

Consortial/affiliate Web presence

Total : 430 Indiana public libraries

Reviewed for content: 223

Public library web presence


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Screen size & link results

Public Academic

Number of

screens in length

1.9

{Range: 1 15)

1.3

{Range: 1 5.3}

Number of initiallyvisible links(library-only)

39.7

{Range: 3 196}

45.1

{Range: 5 147}

Number of initiallyinvisible links(library-only)

29.1

{Range: 1 115}

35.6

{Range: 5 139}


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Primary layout of homepage

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0%

Sections

Other

Mixed columns & sections

Columns

4 equally-divided sections

Public Academic


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Navigation Bar Type Frequency

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

Top

horizontal bar

Bottom

horizontal bar

Sidebar

Public Academic


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Frequency of multiplenavigation bars

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

Top horizontal

& sidebars

Top & bottom

horizontal bars

Bottom

horizontal &

sidebars

All 3 navigation

bars

Public Academic


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Navigation feature frequency

Publiclibraries

Academiclibraries

Accessibility link 0.4% 3.2%

Foreign languagelink 4.5% 2.6%

Quick Links 13.0% 19.8%

Site Index 0.9% 10.5%

Site Map 21.1% 10.9%

Text-only link 0.4% 6.1%


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Multimedia elementfrequency

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Virtual tourVideo tutorials

Scrolling text

Rotating images

PodcastsImages

Animations

Public Academic


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Search element frequency

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Yahoo!

WorldCat

Other library OPAC

Other external search engine

OPAC

Library site

Google Scholar

Google

E-journals

Databases (across multiple)

Bing

Public Academic


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Discovery service frequency

Indiana Publiclibraries

Presence: 3.6%

Services used:* Encore: 62.5%

WorldC at: 25.0%

AquaBrowser: 12.5%

Branding:* Established brand name: 37.5%

No branding: 50.0%

Own brand name: 12.5%

Medium-sizedacademic libraries

Presence: 39.6%

Services used:* EBSCO Discovery Service: 33.9% Summon: 25.0% WorldC at: 16.1% Primo: 14.5% Encore: 8.1% VuFind: 2.4%

Branding:* Own brand name: 44.4% Established brand name: 29.8% No branding: 25.8%

* Percentage c alculated based on those libraries with a discovery service.


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Hours

Interlibrary loan

Portals by subject/subject guides

About section/link

Library instruction/guides/tutorials

Mobile link

Reference

resources

Staff

directory

Contact alibrarian

Contact us

News/events/whats new/newsletterCourse

reserves

Portals byaudience

Library account

Policies

E-books/Overdrive/

Kindle/Nook

Help/FAQ

Governmentdocuments

Privacypolicy

Mission statement

Directions

Librarydepartments

Digital collections/Web exhibits

Gifts/donations/friends

Forms

Terms of use

Hot picksStaff picks

Local history/

genealogy

Programming

Jobs/Employment

Local authority body

Suggest a title

Challenge/complaint

Annual reports


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Public libraries:Basic level of Web presence*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Services description

Physical address

Phone numberOnline contact method

Mailing address

Link to OPAC

Library name

INSPIRE link

Hours

Date of last update

Board members

* Adapted from Persichini, et. al (2008) and Powers (2011)


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Public libraries:Web presence beyond basic*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Option for feedback onWebsite

No spelling/grammar errors

Mixture of text & images

Image/ icon used to

represent library

* Adapted from Powers (2011)


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Unique content elements:Public libraries

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Suggest a title

Local history/genealogy

Local authority body/laws

Library programming

Challenge submission

Annual reports

Frequency


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Unique elements: Academics

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

University template

Course reserves

Link to university

homepage

Frequency


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Most used content items

News/events/newsletter 87.4%

E-books 74.4%

About section/link 65.9%

Policies 64.1%

Contact us (unspecified) 58.3%

Gifts/donations/friends 51.6%

Local history/genealogy 50.7%

Programming 48.0%

Library account(s) 43.9%

Portals by audience 39.9%

Link to university homepage 97.4%

Hours 94.6%

Interlibrary loan 82.7%

About section/link 82.1%

Portals by subject/subject guides 82.1%

Library guides/tutorials 75.1%

Course reserves 69.6%

News/events/newsletter 68.1%

Contact/ask a librarian 67.7%

Contact us (unspecified) 64.5%

Indiana PublicLibraries

Medium-sizedAcademic Libraries


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Least used content items

Challenge/complaint submission 0.4%

Annual reports 2.2%

Hot picks (database list) 2.2%

Government documents 2.7%

Portals by subject/subject guides 3.6%

Terms of use 3.6%

Mobile Website link 4.0%

Digital collections/Web exhibits 5.4%

Forms 6.3%

Privacy policy 6.3%

Staff picks/recommendations 2.6%

Terms of use 13.1%

Hot picks (database list) 14.4.%

Gifts/donations 17.9%

Forms 22.3%

Library departments 24.2%

Digital collections/Web exhibits 24.3%

Directions to library 24.6%

Privacy policy 24.9%

Mission statement 26.2%




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Most used social media elements

71.3%

Interactive directions 37.2%

35.0%

Interactive programmingschedule

31.4%

Blogs 23.3%

15.7%

(link) 12.1%

RSS feed 11.7%

7.2%

Mobile app 4.9%

62.9%

Chat with librarian 46.0%

39.6%

Blogs 33.2%

RSS feed 21.8%

Texting 19.5%

(link) 14.4%

Share widget 10.2%

8.3%

Survey 8.0%




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Least used social media elements

Instant message 0%

0%

0.4%

Discussion forums 0.4%

Polls 0.4%

Interactive library floor plan 0.9%

QR codes 0.9%

User comments displayed 0.9%

Wikipedia 0.9%

Wikis 0.9%

Discussion forums 0%

Wikipedia 0%

StumbleUpon 0.3%

0.3%

0.6%

0.6%

Polls 0.6%

1.0%

User comments displayed 1.0%

Wikis 1.3%




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Core elements: Public Images

Library name

News/events/newsletter Library phone number

Hours

Physical address

Mailing address

OPAC search link E-books/Overdrive/

e-readers

Facebook

Top horizontal barnavigation

Online contact method

About section/link

Policies

Contact us (unspec ified)

Layout: Columns

Gifts/donations/friends Local history/genealogy

INSPIRE/Indiana StateLibrary link


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Core elements: Academics Link to University

Hours

Images Interlibrary Loan link

About section/link

Portals by subject/subject guides

OPAC search link Library guides/tutorials

Course reserves

News/events/newsletter

Contact a librarian

Contact us (unspecified)

Facebook

Staff directory Other reference

resources

Help/FAQ

OPAC search box

Sidebar navigation E-books/e-readers

Use of University template

Policies


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Lessons from publics

Text + image = engage variety of users

Easy access to catalog (search box or

link)

News items & event announcementskeep users coming back

Easy access to e-book collections


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Lessons from academics

Hours deserve homepage real estate

So do services (e.g. Interlibrary loan & how

to contact a librarian)

Help users help themselves

Tutorials

Guides (including subject guides)


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Areas of opportunity

Remember the basics

Improve accessibility

Promote key resources (including free!) onhomepage

Provide opportunities for users to contactyou and provide feedback

Think about audio


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Its all about attitudeAvoid this

No matter what you do for them,

eventually, they will hate you.

Aim for this!

Kids [or everyone]need a hero.

Courageous, self-sacrificing people. Settingexamples for all of us. Everybody loves ahero.


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Conclusion: Be a hero.


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ReferencesJ ones, S. L., & Thorpe, A. (2014). Library home page design at medium-sized

institutions. Jo urna l o f Web Libra rian ship. forthcoming publication

Persichini, G., Samuelson, M., & Bowman Zeiter, L. (2008). e-Branch in a box: How

Idaho libraries created an easy and sustainable web presence. PNLAQua rte rly, 72(2), 6, 18-19.

Powers, B. S. (2011). Oh, what a tangled web we weave! An evaluation ofPennsylvania's public library websites for a basic level of web presence andbeyond. Current Stu d ies in Lib raria nship , 31(1), 21-35.

Tolppanen, B. P., Miller, J ., & Wooden, M. A. (2005). Library world wide web sites at

medium-sized universities: A re-examination. Inte rnet Re fe re nc e Se rvic esQ ua rte rly, 10(2), 7-18.

Vaughan, J . (2012). Investigations into library web-scale discovery services.Info rm a tion Tec hno log y & Libraries, 31(1), 32-82.


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Thank you!Angie Thorpe

Digital User Experience Librarian

Indiana University Kokomo

[email protected]

great power & great(er) responsibility: tactics to ensnare users in your library web(site)

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