Focus Group 1 today had lots of feedback and input to share. Here are the major themes I took away as a result:
^it's all about the catalog - look up titles, search for authors, put items on hold, renew or check overdue fines. General comments: love the "freeze" feature! don't increase the # of holds past 50 - because i would have too many on hold!
^other content is good to have but not mentioned primarily as reason to use site
^customize, customize, customize - can the site be customized to my experience instead of being generic? think about what you can do with myyahoo and you're beginning to get the picture. what about letting patrons create their own ALD experience - they would have their library account information available, links to their journal alerts and rss feeds for the programs or classes they are interested in and at which branch. Think about their being able to add rss feeds from other sites (e.g. stock information or other blogs), or putting in websites of their own they can link off to...the possibilities are endless!
^we should feature what we think is a priority. the whole related box was a failure. only one noticed it and said that what was in "related" should instead be inside the large frame!
it was a great group of people who were open and willing to share their experiences. can hardly wait for the next group!
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3 comments:
Interesting feedback... Did the group comment on the term "Catalog"? It seemed to be the basis of some debate among staff in earlier discussions.
I wasn't surprised about the interest in the catalog. What we (libraries) have and that makes us special is the material that we own (be it books, DVDs, CDs or downloadable audio & database access) and what we provide (information, computers, classes, programs, etc.). It is good to see libraries trying to adjust to new trends and technolgies, but we shouldn't lose sight of what makes us unique. We can try to implement trends like social networking into our web design, but we'll never be a myspace or facebook and should't expend too much energy and resources to do something that so many others do well. Libraries should be spending energy and resources to make access to their material & information a priority - by improving access to the catalog, providing online alerts about new material and information, and improving use & access of information on the library website.
Interestingly, that's just what this focus group is asking for! And hopefully, that's what we'll be giving them.
Cynthia, now that it's been confirmed that patrons are all about the catalog, can we change the buttons on the main page? Instead of having it default to "search this site" perhaps "search catalog" would be more efficient for them?
Hi, Cynthia,
I just read your last blog but I don’t have the time at this moment to set up an account so I am sending my comment to you directly.
I don't think that the word(s) library/card catalog are that confusing to patrons. I have patrons, young and old, coming in all the time asking where is the catalog or card catalog. I think is a common term known to all. I think you will have more confusion if you use the phrase "Find a book" because if someone is looking for something other than a book they will in many cases then look for a link to "find movie", "find music." I think that will mis-direct more people that using the term "catalog."
email from Karen Hathaway, posted per her okay
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