missouri digital heritage: actions and plans haiying qian missouri state library...
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Missouri Digital Heritage: Actions and Plans
Haiying Qian
Missouri State Library
MLA Annual Conference, October 6, 2011
Usability Study Report Recommendations
Structure and organization Terminology and Labeling
of content Basic search features and
functionality Federated searching
4 Committees Tasked
Navigation Committee Categorization Committee Format Committee Search Functionality Committee Report to
MDH Management Team
Navigation CommitteeMake hover drop-down menus for tabs Make the link for “All Collections” more visible and
appear both on top and bottom of pageAdd “back to top” buttons on long pagesGet rid of “Moderate Relevance” search results
when browsing the collections. Put contact information on the “About” page,
including email, phone and mailing addressMake Breadcrumb clickable
Navigation Committee Create a drop down menu under “about”, have information
about “MDH” and “Missouri”
Improve image viewers so users can see the whole record
Add browse by media type option
Format Committee Shrink banner Shrink title/institution fonts on splash pagesPlace View and Search buttons above the images on splash
pages For the Clusters area on the Advanced Search results page,
change the square bullets to round to avoid confusion over whether or not they are checkboxes.
Change “Clusters” to “Results by Collection.”“About” tab should have drop-down for “About MDH,”
“FAQs,” etc. Add RSS button for notification when new collections are
added
Categorization CommitteeRemove High Relevancy and Moderate Relevancy
go to a straight alphabetical listRemove Archives presentations from the topics list
presentations linked off the “Education” tabFinding Aids should only be listed under Guides and
Finding AidsSeparate media types out of the topics listNew definition: collections/exhibits/education pages
Rename Topics & New Definitions Add New Topic: Missouri History
Delete and Merge: Agriculture merge with Business as Business, Industry and AgricultureCounty & Municipal Recordsmerge with Government and Political Records
Move to Media Type:Archives and manuscripts collection guides; Books, Pamphlets, and monographs; Maps,; Newspapers, Photographs and Images
Change title and Description:Business, Commerce, Industry and Manufacturing Business, Industry and Agriculture
Family and Faith Genealogy Medicine, Science, Technology, and Nature Science and Nature
Military Records and Resources Military and ConflictsSports and Recreation Recreation and Tourism
No Changes:Art, Architecture, Literature, Music and Theatre; Cultures and Communities; Exploration and Settlement; Transportation; Women
Search Functionality Committee Separate “People Search” and “Keyword Search”
Create New Search Page with options of “People Search”, “Keyword Search” or “Detailed Search”
People searches People searches will be performed on name centered SQL databases and selected
CONTENTdm collections. Users should be able to search first name and last name first, and then further limit their search results by County and/or Year
Keyword Search We recommend using a search design like CONTENTdm to search across fields. The SQL databases linked with keyword search are: Civil War Provost Marshal; Coroner’s Inquest; Supreme Court Historical Database; Missouri Judicial Index; Soldiers (for conflict) etc. The CONTENTdm collections linked with Keyword Search are: all collections but Hall’s Index; SHS index to newspapers, etc…
Detailed SearchList of all databases link to native detailed search
Newspapers as one groupCreate a Newspaper Page to search all newspapers as one collection
MDH Management Team
Review all proposed changes approve/disapprove/suggestion changes
75 recommendations were approvedNext step: Implementation
An Implementation Tracking Spreadsheet was created to track status
Implementation Tracking Spreadsheet
MDH Website RedesignIn house web redesign
– many done or will be done soonNew List of Categories Approved, will implement next
Review Collection Title convention: official title vs. best known title Remove Moderate Relevancy On topic pages
Finding aids only list under Guides and Finding Aids New browse by “Media Type” option New “help” files in prominent places with more FAQ included
Vendor work – Federated Search related design/issues Short term: Fix Boolean Search, Rename Clusters , etc..
long term goal: Redesign Federated Search
Main Page--Search Box Location Old Main Page – Search box upright
New Main Page– Google like search box
Smaller Banner for subpages Old Collections Page
New Smaller Banner
Renamed Tabs/Drop Down Menu
Civil War Sesquicentennial Promotion: New Civil War Portal
Five Regional Collaboration ProjectsOzark Region – Springfield Greene County PL
St. Louis Region- Missouri History Museum
Kansas City region – Kansas City Public LibraryCentral Region – State Historical Society of MissouriSoutheast Region -- Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Navigation Friendly Buttons
Changes Next Year and Beyond CONTENTdm: Update software to version 6.1, improved user interface
design; Retrofit data for better facet browsing option, federated search link to CONTENTdm Servers Around Missouri : multi-site server ?
Federated Search: Separate People/Keyword Search, Make most use of native search (Detailed Search)