USAGE OF THE LIBRARIES
WEBSITE ON SMART PHONES
- Arpit Bansal
- Richard Cau
- Deepa Prabhu
OUTLINE
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METHODS WE USED
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WHO WE INTERVIEWED
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PRELIMINARY RESULTS
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MOCK-UPS AND SUGGESTIONS
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FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
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TIME TABLE
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QUESTIONS
METHODS WE USED
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INTERVIEWS TO OBTAIN USER FEEDBACK
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EXPERT ADVICE FOR INTERFACE EVALUATION
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Generic questions about smart phone usage
Attempts to find a book
Ease of use and mobile site interface usability
Consulted with faculty member with real-world smart
phone philosophy design experience
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INTERFACE

Looked at other library mobile sites from UCR, MIT, NCSU,
and Rice University
WHO WE INTERVIEWED
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UNDERGRADUATES (2 candidates)
Computer Science
 Chemistry
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GRADUATES (6 candidates)
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ICS
Education
Art and Design
International Students
FACULTY (2 candidates)
History
 ICS
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PRELIMINARY RESULTS - 1
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‘SEARCH’ OPTION FOUND AMBIGUOUS
Difficult to differentiate between find books, databases, and
search
 List of search results are difficult to sift through
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PAGES LINK TO FULL SITES (not mobile-friendly)
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Course Guides, Find Books, and some Databases
Main page was not automatically formatted for mobile screen
dimension on some smart phones (phone browser error?)
‘HOW DO I’ OPTION (DISLIKE )
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Videos not preferred
PRELIMINARY RESULTS - 2
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JARGON USED
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‘FIND BOOKS’ OPTION LOADS WORLDCAT
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Mobile site exists as well as an app
SOME OPTIONS SEEM UNNECESSARY

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Not all users know them (i.e. UC E-links)
We will go over them later in the presentation
EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS FINE 
MOCK-UP: GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
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NEW ADDITIONS
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Will go over later
REPLACED
Ask a Librarian
How Do I
 Find Books […]
 Search
 Tell Us What You Think
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‘RETURN TO MAIN SITE’
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Needed on each sub-page
Should not rely on browser’s
‘BACK’ button
SUGGESIONS: FIND BOOKS
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REMOVE ‘FIND BOOKS’ ICON
User Melvyl or AntPac Search Bar on Top
 Search bar suggested by interviewees
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ODD ERROR WITH ‘FIND BOOKS’?
Smart phone loads
Full WorldCat Site
PC Browser loads
Mobile WorldCat Beta
SUGGESTIONS: HOURS AND
LOCATIONS
UCI only lists
TODAYS's Hours
Would be better if it listed
Weekly Hours (from UCR)
SUGGESTIONS: CONTACT US

CREATE ‘CONTACT US’ PAGE
Can incorporate the ‘Ask Librarians’ page
 Rather than sub-options, just lists out information
 Include information for Library Front Desk as well as
Librarian
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INFORMATION NECESSARY
Phones numbers (text and call)
 E-mail
 Option to chat
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SUGGESTIONS: NEWS AND EVENTS
Have a ‘News and Events’ feed which highlights new book
arrivals, events, and library related news for interested users
(idea and image from Rice University)
SUGGESTIONS: DATABASES
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GENERAL TRENDS OBSERVED
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ICS majors do not use it as often
Majors in the sciences and humanities use them more
INCORPORATION OF MOBILE
VERSIONS
Some databases have mobile sites
 Build better interface for
those that do not?
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SUGGESTIONS: CONNECT FROM
OFF-CAMPUS
INTERVIEWEES LIKE IT!
Many use their own
3G/4G Network, this
allows them to use
on-campus resources
from off-campus
SUGGESTIONS: COURSE GUIDE
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NOT MANY INTERVIEWEES USED THIS
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SITE IS NOT MOBILE FRIENDLY
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Not on their smart phones anyways
Loads a page suited for a PC browser
PROPOSED SUGGESTIONS FROM INTERVIEWEES
Link to EEE
 This way, course information will be dynamic
 Can retrieve relevant course information without sifting
through site
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SUGGESTIONS: FLOOR PLANS AND
SERVICES
Supply a general Directory
floors of a library
Floor maps may be useful
(idea and images from UCR)
SUGGESTIONS: FAQ
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HAVE COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Have text questions and solutions
INTERVIEWEES PREFER TEXT OVER
VIDEOS
Want to find answers to questions as
soon as possible
 Do not want to watch whole video to
find one point of interest
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SUGGESTIONS: GO TO FULL
WEBSITE
Hard to notice
Does not look ‘clickable’
Button is more noticeable
(idea and image from NCSU)
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
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BOOK CART
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Keep track of books of interest (i.e. using cookies)
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APP VERSIONS OF MOBILE SITE
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CHECK COMPUTER AVALIABILITY
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CUSTOMIZATION FOR USER PREFERENCES
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See what computers in the libraries are free for use
Have only options that users want on their mobile page
SPEECH TO TEXT/COMMAND FUNCTIONALITY
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Voice command interface
REMAINING TIME TABLE
Week
Activity
Personnel
9
11/22: Pre-final Presentation
All
11/23 - 11/24: Determine if additional surveys are
needed
11/25 – 11/26: Thanksgiving Break
10
Final
Final analysis on pilot test interviews
Arpit
Final analysis on ICS student interviews
Deepa
Final analysis on Faculty and remaining student
inteviews
Richard
Final report
Section breakups TBD
All
QUESTIONS?