Benchmarking / examples of good practice

At the last Web Group meeting Ben and Michelle fed back about work they (along with Amanda and Stuart) did looking at other websites (the report is in the Web Group 'Research' folder).

They reviewed 15 sites (a mxture of commercial websites, and both UK and overseas academic and public libraries), looking at their structure, navigation, usability etc to see if we could find examples of good practice and innovation.

These are the sites covered:

British Library

University of Edinburgh Information Services

Imperial College London Library

University of Manchester John Rylands Library

UCL Library Services

MIT

New York Public Library

North Carolina State University

Queensland University of Technology

State Library of Victoria

Amazon

BBC Online

eBay

Wikipedia

You Tube

More stuff to read!

In the Writing for the Web session in April, Richard Ashby recommended a Gerry McGovern book: Content critical. We have copies of this available in the Library

And, I've just started reading Letting go of the Words : writing Web content that works by Ginny Redish, which so far is really interesting...

Useful reading

Summarised from our earlier emails. Anything else to add...?

Jacob Nielsen's blog on web usability
Steve Krug's website on usability

Designing web usability. Jacob Nielsen, 2000.
Prioritizing Web usability. Jacob Nielsen, 2006.
Don't make me think! : a common sense approach to web usability. Steve Krug, 2005.
Rocket surgery made easy: the do-it-yourself guide to finding and fixing guide usability problems. Steve Krug, 2009.

Feedback from Customer Services Briefings

At recent briefings for CS staff James and I explained the plans for the new web site, and asked staff to brainstorm the top 10 things Undergraduates would like to see on the web site + top 10 things researchers would like to see (when time allowed). I'm not going to make any comments on the responses but just list them here. I don't think there was anything revelatory that came out of these sessions but this may give us a feel of the kind of things staff are asked for on a regular basis.

Undergraduates

Borrowing rights
Floor plans/interactive map.
Virtual tours
Online payments
Document Supply (easier to find)
How to collect reserved items/self-service
Search box - Google type
Contact details - library and FTLs
Opening hours (+ cluster opening hours)
Catalogue help
Study space
Charges (fines/printing/sales)
Reading lists
How to use the library (catalogue and self service)
Facilities - Group study, toilets, eating areas etc.
E-resources
Online tutorials (eg. Advanced searches, using/accessing e-resources)
Jargon buster
Renewals
Training sessions
"Favourites" link
Link to portal
Link to Skills@Library
Library record
Simple "how to" instructions for basic library activities
Stores requesting (simplified)
Better menu - more searchable
Where is the library - why different libraries and how to get to them
Referencing
A-Z index (like top of Frontline)
Literature searching
More user friendly appearance - colourful and easy to navigate
Plain English - less jargon
Simpler link to reading history
Visitor information
Link to ISS
Feedback forum/live help/ask a librarian

Researchers

Opening times
Document supply
Online renewals
Contacts for FTLs
Fine payment
Borrowing rights
Floor plan
Vacation borrowing
SCONUL Access
E-journal access
Subject specific information
Links to external resources
Online booking of private study rooms
Links to professional bodies/academic institutes
Training sessions
Link to Portal
Link to Skills@Library
My library record
Tag slouds
Info. on advanced IT skills
Special Collections
Theses

I think perhaps the most revealing thing about the sessions was just how much of the information in the Undergraduate list is already on the site - but how many members of staff seemed unaware of this. So I think one of our main issues is going to be improved navigation.

Jakob Nielson's latest post

Check out the latest item on JN's site http://www.useit.com/alertbox/students.html - all about how 'college students' use the web. Some realy useful stuff

Questions to ask users

1. How often do you use the Library website?

2. What do you use the Library website for?
[Which areas of the Library website do you use regularly?]

3. Can you [always] find what you need?

4. Is there anything you have difficulty finding?

5. Is there anything you would like more information about?

6. What don’t you like about the Library website?

[Are there items on the Library homepage that you do not understand?]
[Are there any items missing from the Library homepage?]

7. Perhaps multiple questions?: [Have you used the (A-Z/Search/Catalogue) to find something you were looking for?]
[If Yes, were you successful in finding what you were looking for?]

8a. How do you get to the Library website (bookmark, from University website, from Portal, other?)
8b. Do you always start at the Library homepage or do you go straight to specific pages?

9. How do you find the pages you want - navigating menu, using site index, using search box, using external search engine, other?