Public Interfaces
Committee
2004 Annual Report
In accordance with
its charge (http://www.library.yale.edu/fdc/piccharge.html),
the Public Interface Committee's (PIC) major activities in 2004 were concentrated
on enhancements to the library's "Front Door" Web site and the Orbis
OPAC interface.
Front Door accomplishments
and initiatives
PIC identified
a need for more detailed Web log data than the library had available, and so
evaluated the WebTrends log analysis software. Web and Workstation Services requested
and purchased WebTrends in the semi-annual equipment request. PIC charged a WebTrends
Task Force to investigate the use of WebTrends and design reports on the use
of the library's Web site. Chaired by Katie Bauer, this group set up a standardized
report about the library's Web site (http://www.library.yale.edu/libepub/stats/webtrends.html).
PIC now consults WebTrends to help inform decisions about Front Door changes.
WebTrends data
confirmed our sense of which pages were the most heavily-used on the site: the
home page and pages in the "Research Tools" category (particularly
Databases & Article Searching and Online Journals & Newspapers). Accordingly,
we concentrated on improvements to those pages. The Online Journals & Newspapers
search (www.library.yale.edu/journals)
was significantly enhanced with the inclusion of LC subject headings from Orbis
records, retrievable with the "keyword anywhere" search option on the
online journals page. In addition, a search for online journals and newspapers
now retrieves a list of databases, thus providing readers additional research
tools to consider in a single interface.
PIC worked with
the SFX Support Task Force on the interface to Citation Linker, and when it was
implemented, linked to it from several places on the Front Door. The Databases
& Article Searching page (www.library.yale.edu/databases)
was also enhanced with a link to a dynamically-generated page of trial databases
(http://resources.library.yale.edu/online/dbowtrial.asp).
While the overall
design of the home page (www.library.yale.edu)
did not change, several changes were made within. In consultation with the chair
of the Accessibility Resources Network, two subtle changes were made to improve
usability to low-vision and blind readers. First, an additional link to the text-only
version of the page was added within the "alt" tag for the very first
image on the page, so that a person using a text reader would encounter the text-only
link as soon as possible. Second, to improve readability for low-vision users,
the link text in the center section of the page was darkened.
As always, PIC
received several requests for additional links on the home page. We are mindful
that the page will become less usable if it is too cluttered with links, so
we are conservative about what we add (and sometimes we remove a less-used link
when we add something new). This year we added a link to the Special Collections
site after consulting with the chair of the Collection Development Council's
Special Collections Subcommittee on a revision of that site. In the Quick Links
section, we added a link to RefWorks, the citation management software for which
the library has purchased a year-long campus-wide license. We are currently
working on a method for getting more detailed home page link statistics from
WebTrends; with the data in hand, we'll consider link placement and whether
to eliminate duplicate links, to make better use of the home page space.
Soon to be added
to the home page are links to a "welcome" page translated into ten
languages. Following a suggestion from one of the large-group strategic planning
meetings, PIC drafted the page text; translations were done by area curators
and by student workers. PIC is finalizing the placement and design of the language
links.
As library content
is made available in the portal and other interfaces, PIC continues to consider
how those developments might affect the presentation of library content within
our traditional Front Door and Orbis interfaces. For example, the ITLS staff
who work on feeding library content to the university portal created a "library
news" channel from the Front Door news database. We were then able to offer
the news as an RSS feed from our own home page. We ensured that the Front Door
news was kept up-to-date and pertinent, with notices of new online resources,
services, events and exhibits. The PIC chair has been responsible for the content
of the Front Door news since the departure of the Development and Communications
Associate in spring 2004. When that position is filled, the incumbent will take
over responsibility for Front Door news.
The search engine
for the library Web site (http://www.library.yale.edu/htmldocs/search.html)
was switched to Google from ht:dig, a search engine that no longer had a support
community. By moving to Google, we are using supported technology that is free,
is already familiar and widely used, provides better search results than did
ht:dig, and does not run on the library's server (therefore not consuming our
system resources).
In accordance with
PIC's general goal to "promote the concept of unified, harmonious designs
for all the library's public interfaces," the committee consulted on the
design or redesign of several library Web sites, perhaps most notably the ILLiad
pages (http://ill.library.yale.edu/illiad/),
which were put into Front Door templates and reviewed for adherence to standard
usability principles.
PIC has recently
been discussing the possibility of a "facelift" redesign of the Front
Door - that is, a fairly minor redesign that would not alter the site's structure,
but would provide an updated look with new images, gracefully incorporate the
ten new language links, and offer a more prominent place for highlighting selected
resources and services. Several factors will influence our decisions on a redesign,
including the implementation of MetaLib, WebTrends data, and user feedback from
a planned usability study and user survey to be run in early 2005.
As always, PIC
relied heavily on Bonnie Turner for maintenance of the Front Door. She is responsible
for implementing the majority of changes to the Front Door, from home page links
and navigation toolbars to correcting broken links.
OPAC accomplishments
and initiatives
PIC continually
receives from library staff and readers requests for improvements to the Orbis
OPAC interface. This year, PIC decided that rather than addressing these requests
one by one as they were made, we would consider the requests in batches three
times a year (late spring, late summer, late fall). This allows us to take a
more holistic approach to interface changes and is more efficient to implement.
Major changes
implemented in 2005 include:
- The expansion
of the Simple Search list of search indexes, with the addition of the Special
Collection Subject index and the split of the Call Number index into Call
Number (LC) and Call Number (Other). To reduce reader confusion, given the
proliferation of search options, we reduced the number of search options that
immediately display on the Simple Search screen. The top five indexes most
used by readers (according to OPAC statistics) display; the other indexes
are available by scrolling down the menu.
- Implementation
of Javascript in the keyword search that automatically inserts the Boolean
operator "and" between keywords. Previously, users who attempted
to do a multi-word search without Boolean operators received an error message.
OPAC statistics indicate that such errors are common; this change has eliminated
those errors.
- More direct
and efficient links to reference services and OPAC help screens, through hyperlinks
in error messages and the addition of an Ask! a Librarian button to the top
of the OPAC screen.
- One-click access
to Borrow Direct and Interlibrary Loan services, through the addition of a
button to the top of the OPAC screen.
The entire list
of OPAC changes implemented is available at http://www.library.yale.edu/fdc/opac_changes.html.
Detailed monthly
OPAC statistics were made available beginning in April 2004 (http://www.library.yale.edu/~lso/databaseadmin/opac_stats/).
Statistics include snapshots of sample search strings taken twice a month (once
at 3 p.m., once at 9 p.m. on a random day), a snapshot of search strings that
result in zero hits (again, taken for a brief period of time on a random day),
number of searches that use limits, searches by region, day of the week, hour,
and search type. PIC has begun to review these statistics regularly and discuss
ways to use the data. For example, some PIC members have volunteered to create
a one-page report for reference staff highlighting the most frequent causes of
zero-hits searches, emphasizing the types of mistakes that reference staff might
be able to help users correct. And as noted above, OPAC statistics informed the
decision of which indexes to display in the shortened menu on the Simple Search
screen.
Other activities
PIC and Web, Workstation
and Consulting Services ran a series of six classes in the summer (detailed at:
http://www.library.yale.edu/~lso/workstation/archives/yulib-l/msg08606.html
-- note that the "preview library web sites" class was later cancelled).
Nearly every class was over-subscribed, and participants gave valuable feedback
on what aspects of the classes they found useful or not, as well as suggestions
for additional classes. PIC has discussed offering another round of classes in
2005, and has initiated conversations with the Staff Training & Organizational
Development group and Kate Reynolds on basic HTML and Dreamweaver training needs
among library staff.
Karen Reardon and
Julie Linden approached Manuscripts and Archives about accessioning the part
of the library's Web site for which PIC is responsible; that project is in process
and will be MSSA's first accession of a library Web site.
Membership
The PIC membership
document (http://www.library.yale.edu/fdc/picmembership.html),
written in spring 2004, describes the composition of PIC in general and the roles
of the three ex officio members (Karen Reardon, Kalee Sprague, and Katie Bauer)
in particular.
PIC's Web site
(www.library.yale.edu/fdc) lists
the current membership. Katie Bauer joined PIC as an ex officio member in February
2004, upon her appointment as the ELI Interfaces Implementation Librarian. Manon
Théroux and Timothy Young left PIC at the expiration of their terms on
July 1, at which time Earl Roy and Stephen Naron joined PIC. Dale Askey is continuing
for another two-year term. Debra Falvey joined PIC on July 1 as a one-year intern,
a new position described at
http://www.library.yale.edu/~lso/workstation/archives/yulib-l/msg08491.html.
Looking ahead
PIC's charge states:
"As new library interfaces, products and projects are released, the charge
to this Committee will expand accordingly." In the coming year, the implementation
of MetaLib will provide the opportunity to consider greater integration not
only of the Orbis OPAC and Front Door interfaces on which PIC has spent most
of its energies, but also integration of and interaction among other interfaces,
such as other library catalogs, vendor databases, and link resolvers. PIC will
work closely with the team implementing MetaLib, with the Portal Opportunities
Group, and with other groups exploring innovations in library interfaces and
delivery of library data to external interfaces.
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This file last modified 10/18/06
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