Course:LIBR579A/2009WT2/Group1
Final Project Team
- Cristina Drego
- Ellen Teng
- Roseanne Hinmueller
- Maureen Bezanson
Problem & Vision
Problem Statement
Users can be reluctant to request material (either from ASRS or recall) because:
- They don't know how to place a request
- They don’t understand how the ASRS works
- They do not know what ASRS is or where it is
- They are unsure if they even require this material
- They are unfamiliar with recall and ASRS terminology
Current Workflow
| Current Workflow Diagram of the Recall Process | |
| Note: Full screenshots can be found in
LIBR579A-Drego - Assignment 1 powerpoint |
Project Vision Statement
|
Readily connecting registered UBC Library users with their desired library materials. This project will expedite, simplify and increase access to requested materials: saving UBC Library users time! |
Requirements
A larger issue with the request functionality is a marketing problem as library customers are either not aware of this service or do not wish to inconvenience staff by requesting items. The marketing of this system will not be addressed in these requirement. Rather, we will focus on changes to make requesting items for recall and from the ASRS easier, with fewer steps.
Business Requirements
- User must be a registered library patron
- User must have no more that $50.00 in outstanding fines
- Item selected for recall must already be checked-out by someone else
User Experience Requirements
- The user shall request UBC Library materials in a simple, well-defined procedure
- The user shall readily locate the "Request Item" option on the record view display page
System Requirements
- System must be able to interact with the Patron contact system and the ASRS
Functional Requirements
- User’s library barcode must contain 14 digits
New Workflow
| Workflow Diagram for Proposed Recall Process | |
| Note: Full mockups can be found in
LIBR579A-Drego - Assignment 1 powerpoint |
Testing
- Testing will occur over a period of 2 days, testing 2 Library staff members, 2 undergraduates, 2 graduates, 2 faculty members and 2 community borrowers.
- Testing will occur in the office assigned to the project located in the Library Processing Centre on UBC Campus.
- Two team members will be conducting the study: 1 interviewer (Information Architect) and 1 recorder.
- The testing space will consist of one desk top computer on which the subject will be tested and a desk at which the recorder will manage the recording system.
Once testing have been completed, the resulting notes and recording will be used by the information architect to update or change system in communication with the Designer, Technical Architect and / or Developer.
Usability Testing Script
Good Morning / Afternoon.
My name is <Name> and I will be facilitating this usability testing session. I want to thank you so much for making time in your schedule to meet with us. Your feedback and input is very important to us, especially since you are much more familiar with the library’s original online catalogue than myself, and we appreciate any help that you can give us. My colleague <name> will be recording our session today to ensure that we capture every opportunity to improve the library’s online catalogue.
Today, I will be showing you a prototype that will be used to evaluate the library’s online catalogue. Once completed, this online catalogue will be used by students and faculty to search for, locate and request materials owned by the UBC library. Throughout our time together, I will ask you some questions about the prototype and ask you to perform a series of tasks.
Do you have any questions thus far? [Allow for questions]
I am looking for your honest opinion about the online catalogue prototype; there are no ‘wrong answers’. At no time will you be tested; rather, we will be testing the functionality of the online catalogue. Please let me know if something I say is confusing or if you find the catalogue prototype difficult or easy to use. Both your negative and positive comments are valuable to this study and will only help us make the catalogue better for future users.
Do you have any questions? [Allow for questions]
Great! Before we get started, I’d like to ask you some questions about yourself.
- What type of library user describes you best?
- Undergraduate
- Graduate
- Faculty
- Staff
- Community member
- What are the main tasks that you perform using the current library online catalogue?
- From which location do you most often access the library catalogue?
- How many times per week do you use the online catalogue?
- Have you ever requested material from the library catalogue? If so, how often?
- Have you used online catalogues of other libraries?
Thank you, now let's get into the prototype I want to show you.
I would request that you think out loud while answering the questions. Although this may feel awkward at first, this is a great way for us to gather information. Feel free to ask any and as many questions that you may have and make comments freely. I may not be able to answer your questions so as not to affect the results of the test, but I will write them down and answer them at the conclusion of our time together. Please let me know if at any point you would normally give up answering a particular question, but try to use the prototype as you would normally use the library’s online catalogue. This prototype is intended to be functional, and therefore you will be able to navigate using the mouse. Don’t be concerned about breaking or hurting the catalogue. Any problems we may have today with the system will be very helpful in ensuring that all the bugs are worked out before release to our library users.
Do you have any questions at this point?
[Allow for questions]
That's great, let's take a look at the online catalogue:
- I’d like to view this page and describe for me what you find interesting, strange or striking about it at first glance.
- [Show them the Catalogue page]
- What do you think is the purpose of this page?
- [Try to get further information by asking: Why?]
- Great, let’s try a task: Your teacher mentioned in class that the book ''An archive for the lost ones'' by Joey Morgan would be a very good resource to look at before the next class. Please find this book in the UBC Library Catalogue.
- [If necessary, remind to talk out loud]
- Excellent. Assuming you would like to check this item out, please tell me where this item is located and explain to me how you would go about accessing this book.
- Thank you. Let’s try another task. You’re doing research for a paper and one of the major titles in your area of research is ''Photographs: archival care and management'' by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler. Please find this title in the UBC Library Catalogue.
- Now, you would like to check this item out to use for your assignment, but it appears that it has been checked out to another person. Please show me how you would go about ensuring that you check out the book next.
Thank you so much for your help today. We greatly appreciate you taking time to sit down with us; it was so important to see how this new design of the library catalogue works (or doesn’t work) for a <type of library user> such as yourself. We’ll be using the information we gained here to help us fine-tune the design. Here is a token of our appreciation for your participation in this study.
Thank you again.
Training
Learning Goal
Regardless of the method of training, the following Learning Goal applies:
- Library patrons will recognize how to request material from the UBC library catalogue.
Staff Training
All staff who work at the information desk will be trained as well as the circulation supervisors. Staff will be expected to provide one-on-one support for students and faculty requiring assistance with this feature therefore this is a train-the-trainer session.
Learning Objectives:
The staff will be able to:
- recognize the steps to request a book for recall.
- recognize the steps to request a book from the ASRS system.
- communicate these steps effectively to assist student's with inquiries.
- appreciate the time savings and ease of use with the new method of requesting materials.
Lesson Plan:
| Sequence of Content | Activity | Assessment | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to existing functionality including workflow | Lecture and demonstration | Show of hands: How many people have placed requests for patrons before? Brief discussion about what problems the staff see with this existing functionality. | 4 min |
| Overview of change to requesting material for recall and requesting from ASRS | Demonstration | Oral quiz: when does the Request Item button appear? | 2 min |
| Break into pairs and hand out 10 example titles for them to look up in the catalogue (some will not be available for recall, some will be at the different campus, some will be in ASRS). | Practice | Self-assessment | 5 min |
| Review change and tie back to the problems the staff brought up in the first part of this training. | Lecture and discussion | Self-assessment: staff will be asked to reflect on how they would teach this feature to library patrons. | 3 min |
| Question & suggestion period: Time allotted for questions and for them to provide suggestions about how we could make additional changes to the request feature in the catalogue. | Discussion | n/a | 4 min |
| Take-home exercise: Staff who monitor email and Ask-Away reference will be asked to summarize the steps to place a recall and ASRS request so that they have this text available when the quesiton is asked of them. The results of this exercise should be posted to the Ask-Away wiki. | Take home exercise | n/a | 2 min |
Implementation:
- The Trainer, <Name>, will execute the staff training as a 20 minute lesson (delivered face-to-face) at a regularly scheduled staff meeting. The staff meeting chosen will be the meeting immediately prior to the rollout of this content.
- Each training session will require a computer for every 2 people attending for the hands-on activity. A projector and computer will also be required for the trainer. Access to the library catalogue and the demo version with the changes to the library catalogue are required from all computers.
Evaluation:
- At the end of the training session, staff will be given the opportunity to ask questions about this feature and make suggestions about other ways this could be improved or other improvements needed in the catalogue. All suggestions will be taken under consideration for future requirements.
- For the next month, staff will be asked to record how many times they are asked about this feature. The change will be considered a success if they number of times students ask about this feature decreased from the pre-change numbers.
- One week after the rollout of this content staff will be asked, via email, for the response they are seeing from students about this feature change. All suggestions will be taken under consideration for future requirements.
- One month after the rollout of this content staff will be asked again, via email, for the response they are seeing from students about this feature change. All suggestions will be taken under consideration for future requirements.
Written Training Materials
In addition to staff training, it is essential to have the new feature documented in the FAQ area of the UBC Library Catalogue to help users who prefer to search for themselves. This documentation will also serve as a reminder for staff.
The following pages must be updated to reflect the new workflow:
Learning Objectives:
The reader will be able to:
- recognize the steps to request a book for recall.
- recognize the steps to request a book from the ASRS system.
Lesson Plan:
| Sequence of Content | Activity | Assessment | Expected Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| User will read instructions from the FAQ webpages to determine how to request an ASRS item | Self paced reading | Self-assessment | 5 minutes |
| User will read instructions from the FAQ webpage to determine how to recall an item | Self paced reading | Self-assessment | 5 minutes |
Implementation:
- The webpages will be updated by the Trainer, <Name>, so they can be used for Usability Testing and for Staff Training but they will not be rolled out live until the feature is rolled out in the catalogue.
Evaluation:
- No evaluation of this training method is available. Evaluation of the FAQ pages is a problem that could be addressed in requirements of a future project.