How usable are operational digital libraries: a usability evaluation of system interactions

This paper reports a usability evaluation of three operational digital libraries (DLs): the ACM DL, the IEEE Computer Society DL, and the IEEE Xplore DL. An experiment was conducted in a usability lab and 35 participants completed the assigned tasks. The results demonstrate that all three DLs have more or less usability problems by various measures. Searching in Xplore by inexperienced users was problematic, and browsing in IEEE CS was extremely difficult for all users. Interaction design features that caused these usability problems were identified and discussed. The study implies there is still large room for operational DLs to improve in order to provide more satisfactory services. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.2 User Interfaces --User-centered design General Terms Design; Human Factors; Experimentation Keywords Digital libraries; interaction design; usability testing

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: EICS
• Authors: Xiangmin Zhang, Jingjing Liu, Yuelin Li, Ying Zhang
• Keywords: Applied Computing, EICS 2009, IEEE Xplore DL, Usability, Usability Problems