Data Collection, Questions & Analysis

Task 1: Find the Communication Subject guide

Research question: Can students find the LibGuides?

This was the third most difficult task of the usability study with only 3 participants able to complete the task. Of those three who found the Communication Subject website, all participants found the website quickly and in under three clicks. This task to be all or nothing, either the student had experience finding and using the subject guides or they did not. The three participants who were able to complete the task were all graduate students. Graduate students typically have more experience with the LibGuides as they have been introduced to the guides as undergraduates and have an increasing need to utilize the LibGuides for their graduate research.

Undergraduates, in particular freshmen, had a difficult time finding the website from the library homepage because they have never used the LibGuides or have not been introduced to the guides in their first research course. For UNLV students, their first research course is typically English 102, which is scheduled for the student's second or third semester at university. During the course of English 102 the student is brought to the library for their first library instruction session. During this instruction session a librarian shows the students how to use the library homepage for research and introduces the students to the LibGuides. The student is then required to complete a research assignment for their English 102 course.

Task 2: Find the contact information for the librarian who created the guide

Research Question: Can students find the author of this guide to contact them if they have questions or need help?

For eight participants this task was very simple and they were able to find the information without much searching around. One graduate student needed to complete some clicking and searching to find the contact information while one undergraduate student could not find the contact information at all.

This information is located on the far right of the guide and the two students who had difficulty locating the information were focused more on the information on the navigation and the general campus contact information located in the footer of the website.

Task 3: Find the link to the National Communication Association

Research question: Can students find sources outside the library?

This task was difficult for most participants, in part because many students thought this was the name of a database and because the link is under the navigation two clicks deep in the organizational hierarchy. Graduate students were pretty split in their ability to complete this task; two participants found the resource easily, while the other three graduate students could not find the resource at all.

Undergraduate students had less success and one participant found the resource after much searching and clicking while the other four did not complete the task. Part of the challenge is some students don't understand what a database is or where the library website ends and an outside website begins. Many of the undergraduates assumed this resource would be a research database rather than a link to an outside website.

Task 4: Find a recommended database on the guide that you could use to search for journal articles

Research question: Can students find the database the librarian hand picked for that particular subject?

All participants were successful in finding the recommended databases for the subject communication. The six participants who easily found the recommended databases on the LibGuide, while the other four participants went the roundabout way and went directly to the list of databases and selected the subject communication from the dropdown list on the database page.

Both undergraduates and graduates had varying levels of ease with this task. There was no obvious difference between the two user groups.

Task 5: Find a book related to communication studies on the guide

Research question: Can students find the books the librarian hand picked for that particular subject?

This task was very similar to task 4 in that students either took the short cut suggested on the guide or they went to the library catalog in the way they were used to searching for physical books.

As with the article task, both undergraduates and graduates had varying levels of ease with this task. There was no obvious difference between the two user groups.

Task 6: Find help for creating bibliographies on the guide

Research question: Can students find help and resources for creating bibliographies and citing sources?

All ten participants were able to complete this task. Eight of those completed the task easily, while two struggled a bit a first. The term used on the guide is "cite" while the term used in the testing script is "bibliography" which threw a couple of the undergraduate participants off slightly. All five graduate students easily found the resource. This may be because of their advanced level of experience creating bibliographies and citing sources for their research.

Task 7: Find where you can get assistance getting an article on the guide

Research question: Can students find the FAQs?

This task showed staff that students are willing to ask for help when it comes to technical problems. The intent of this question was to see if students could use the FAQ (another software from Springshare) designed for use with LibGuides. All ten of the participants went straight for the "Ask a Librarian" option to directly contact a staff person at the service desk.

When further probed with scenarios such as "what would you do if the library was closed?", the participants were able to find the FAQ section which led them directly to the top question. The top question asked by students is how to access articles off campus and trouble shooting information for login issues.

Task 8: Find a way to request an article from another library

Research question: Do students know about the ILL service?

InterLibrary Loan (ILL) is a mythical creature than many students know about, but have no idea how to access or request items. This task was completed by two graduate students who had previous experience using the service, but had trouble locating the resource directly from the guide.

All five undergraduate students could not locate the resource. Part of the problem is inexperience with the service and the service being labeled as the software name rather than the service name.

Task 9: Find a link to U.S. census information

Research question: Can students find recommended sources outside the library website?

This task provided mixed results. Only four participants were able to easily find the resource while five were able to find it after some clicking and hunting through various pages. One undergraduate student was unable to find the information, while the four participants who found the information easily were all graduate students.

There was some hesitation from the undergraduate students with this task. There are not as familiar searching for this type of information and some weren't exactly sure what is was they were looking for until they found the resource.

Task 10: Find the COM 101 course guide

Research question: Do the students know about the course guides and the resources available?

This task was a slam dunk for all participants. The link to this information is located directly under the left hand navigation and features a clear and simple design that is easy to spot. For many students their first experience using a LibGuide is with their Communications 101 or English 102 class as both require research to be completed within the library in order to finish assignments for either class.