Redoing the Articles & Databases Page

In my reference interviews with students, I began to notice that showing the entire A-Z list when a user first arrived on the page seemed to be somewhat overwhelming to students.  In addition to that, it had been some time since we had updated the list of subjects featured in the "View by Subject" option.  We also were going through a major change in what databases we subscribed to at the CSM Library.  This meant that it was a good time for an overhaul of our Databases page.

    I began by surveying all of the CSM librarians to ask what subjects should be featured in the "By Subject" list.  After compiling the suggestions and manipulating the list to reflect the campus' instructional areas and departmental specialties, I then surveyed the CSM librarians about which databases belonged in which subjects.  Based on those results, I created a suggested hierarchy for which databases should be featured on the page for each subjects.  I also used the opportunity to practice some of my newly-minted skills in usability testing.  I worked with a few students to determine what was the best way to present the databases in a subject - either by featuring an expandable list, or listed on a separate page (students preferred the first option).  We were able to execute the change near the end of Spring semester 2012.  View the new subjects list here.  So far students seem happy with the change.  It is certainly much easier to teach with during reference interactions, and I'm curious to see if it leads to an increase in database usage, since hopefully the relevant databases are easier to find.