up2date

Visualizing data

This is a very interesting 'periodic table' of data-visualization techniques. I had no idea there were so many!

If you mouse-over an 'element,' it will show you an example of its use.

customization & interface

An article that appeared in a recent Enterprise Search Sourcebook 2009 (thanks to Klog for pointing me to it):

Optimizing the Interface: Is Customization the Key to User Buy-in and Long-term Success?

10 essentials for library web sites

From an article by Brian Mathews in Library Journal. I'll just list the 10 -- the article elaborates on each of them & gives examples of best practices.

1 Promotion
2 Segmentation
3 Visual Cues
4 Inspiring Photos
5 Search Boxes
6 Mobile-Friendly Pages
7 Feedback
8 Redundancy
9 Analytics
10 An Easy Way To Ask for Help

library web site of the future?

Steven Bell describes his vision of the "Library Web Site of the Future" in today's Inside HigherEd. It will sound familiar to anyone who's read the other posts of his about which I've posted, but I find it interesting that this appears in a more main-stream academic publication (if that's not an oxymoron). His conclusion:

Put simply, the library portal as we know it today is unsustainable. It, along with a host of other indicators such as declines in reference questions and shifts from print to e-resources, signals that for academic libraries a “let’s just keep doing business as usual” mentality is a sure path to obsolescence. If academic librarians fail to grasp the urgency of needed changes to their portals it is quite possible we will read in a future article something along the lines of “Academic librarians thought they were in the information gateway business, but they were really in the learning and scholarly productivity business. They just didn’t recognize it.”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

We're #20

MIT has released the latest (discussed on today's Chronicle's WiredCampus) from its Cybermetrics Lab: Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. UofC is placed at #20, if you're curious (#1? MIT).

"The Webometrics rankings score each university on four criteria, including the number of links to the institution’s Web site from other sites. These “inlinks” are ostensibly a good way of evaluating a site’s general impact on the Web community."

new home pages for ESL @ MIT

This redesign is interesting on several levels, to me. As stated on the blog post announcing the new pages, the aim is "to simplify access to information about the libraries.  Our goal was to emphasize our combined virtual services and resources while still providing information about our unique physical locations."

Also, you will notice on the page the focus on the Engineering & Science Libraries (they act as one administrative unit), which makes it hard to find information or a link to the main MIT Libraries web page (which retains its previous design), or information about the other three "main" libraries. It seems to be a reflection of a concept of profiling users that has been talked about for a while, although this is the first instance where I've seen it put into practice (others?).

Design Talk: Understanding the Roles of Usability Practitioners, Web Designers, and Web Developers in User-Centered Web Design (ACRL)

From the email:

The latest ACRL publication, Design Talk: Understanding the Roles of Usability Practitioners, Web Designers, and Web Developers in User-Centered Web Design, is now available. Written by Brenda Reeb, coordinator of the Web usability program at the University of Rochester Libraries, Design Talk focuses on the interactions between the various roles in Web site development, differentiating the scope of responsibilities and activities of usability practitioners, designers, and developers. The book sheds light on the benefits of understanding the differences between these roles and how they work together to create user-friendly Web sites. Reeb’s work presents an alternative to Web design by committee and is suitable for those with a vested interest in Web content, including reference librarians, usability practitioners and Web design professionals. Library administrators who want to create clearer lines of authority among staff who participate in the Web design process will also find the book useful.

Understanding Academic Information Seeking Habits through Analysis of Web Server Log Files

From the JAL:

Understanding Academic Information Seeking Habits through Analysis of Web Server Log Files: The Case of the Teachers College Library Website

Stephen Asunka, Hui Soo Chaea, and Gary Natrielloa

Abstract:

Transaction logs of user activity on an academic library website were analyzed to determine general usage patterns on the website. This paper reports on insights gained from the analysis, and identifies and discusses issues relating to content access, interface design and general functionality of the website.

Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship (new issue)

The latest issue of Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship is out.  One article that caught my eye, since I'm always thinking about subject guides & how to improve mine (suggestions welcome) is:

Making Research Guides More Useful and More Well Used, by Michal Strutin, Santa Clara University.

Abstract:

In summer 2008, a small group of Santa Clara University librarians were charged with exploring ways of making online library research guides more user friendly and interactive. In order to know how to enhance our guides, we first asked the question, "What makes a research guide useful?" What follows is a detailed process of discovery. The process started with literature on guides, which suggests that research guides, particularly general subject guides, are not well used. Examining statistics for science guides supports the contention that course-specific guides are the most well used. Interviews with students told what they look for in guides. Finally, research on platforms revealed choices for nimble creation of research guides.

Webinars on design/branding (esp. web)

From BlogJunction (WebJunction):

In his first webinar, Visual Design: Theory & Best Practices for Library Websites, guest presenter Michael Leach of Harvard’s Cabot Library and Simmons College presented basic concepts of visual design for library websites. In his second webinar, Branding Libraries and their Services, he covered aspects of branding, particularly in the online environment, for libraries.

Online Hunting and Gathering

Ah, how we've (not) evolved?

Online Hunting and Gathering: An Evolutionary Perspective on Sex Differences in Website Preferences and Navigation
Stenstrom, E.; Stenstrom, P.; Saad, G.; Cheikhrouhou, S.
Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on
Volume: 5, Issue: 2 June  2008
Page(s): 155-168
Summary: Despite numerous sex differences found in spatial navigation, perception, and verbal abilities, the manner in which these differences manifest themselves ...