Customer Service Nomination for Team GALILEO for 2008
Background
GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library is an award-winning initiative of the
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, serving the citizens of Georgia.
GALILEO provides access to multiple information resources, including secured access to
licensed products. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing
thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 5000 journal titles are provided in
full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government
publications. In addition, GALILEO provides access through the Digital Library of
Georgia to the digitized special collections (manuscripts, photographs, books, maps, etc.)
of Georgia’s libraries and archives. Through collaboration and resource sharing,
GALILEO seeks to provide equal access to information for all Georgia citizens. While
individual libraries benefit from the cooperative sharing of resources - lower costs and
increased access to a wider range of materials - the goal is to improve library services for
all Georgia citizens.
In addition to the resources, Team GALILEO provides a central support staff that
manages the electronic resources and handles support issues (IPs, passwords, content
questions, search questions, etc.) from patrons and library staff. They provide training
and materials as well.
Customers:
GALILEO serves all citizens of the state of Georgia through the communities of the more
than 2000 libraries from the University System of Georgia, K-12 schools, public libraries,
the adult technical colleges, and a group of private academic colleges and universities.
GALILEO has many customer groups: students, faculty and teachers, citizens, and the
librarians who share in the provision of service as GALILEO is complementary to the
services provided by the individual libraries and media centers.
Team GALILEO clearly meets user expectations in terms of the services they provide
and how they deploy those services.
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Professional and competent individuals
Friendly and responsive
Offer users a single point of contact – can talk to a person – you aren’t
bounced around or put on hold forever.
Follow-up on problems – they own the issue even if it is something beyond
GALILEO’s control.
Provide timely communication regarding GALILEO – updates, changes,
problems,
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Seek solutions that help the individual library save the library time and
resources and improve access to Georgia’s library patrons.
Over the last years the Team GALILEO has been working on an upgrade to address
changing user expectations, respond to user feedback (librarians and library patrons) as a
part of its continuous improvement efforts.
http://www.usg.edu/galileo/about/planning/projects/upgrade/
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Making it easier to search by deploying a federated search tool to more
closely resemble Google – introduced January 2006
Adding linking services to integrate the resources and leverage the value of
the existing resources. – introduced September 2006
Customizing the interface to reflect the needs of different users – beta version
was introduced in September 2007 and officially rolled out in March 2008.
Conducted usability testing and currently conducting post roll-out user focus
groups and usability test.
Introduced tools to help integrate GALILEO resources with resources
purchased by the library making it easier for patrons and library staff
The Annual GALILEO Survey conducted in November demonstrates that some of these
ANNUAL GALILEO SURVEY RESULTS
2004
I found it easy to use GALILEO
81.4%
Using GALILEO databases saved me time
I think GALILEO is a valuable service
2006
2007
85 %
89.4%
89.8%
87.4%
91.2%
91.7%
91%
94.9%
96.7%
97.1%
97.3%
89%
92.4%
92.8%
96.4%
GALILEO met my information needs
86.2%
88.6%
92.2%
93.8%
I would recommend GALILEO to a friend
91.5%
94.4 %
94.4%
95.2 %
I think GALILEO response time is acceptable
2005
changes have made a difference.
Customer Satisfaction: Results from November Online Surveys who agree or
strongly agree with question
GALILEO Support Services Staff
Faster
* Resolved over 2400 tickets in total, with help from the helpdesk for another 1400 even
with a vacancy part of the year
* Reduced combined overall resolution time from 3.3 days to new low of 2.02 days
Listening to the customer and communicating
In addition to providing direct user support and leadership for the upgrade, the group
provided opportunities for communicating with customers through exhibits and/or
presentations at 7 conferences reaching more than 4734 conference attendees and more
than 630 session attendees: Georgia Library Association (COMO); Technology
Leadership Conference (DOE); Georgia Council of Social Studies; Georgia Educational
Technology Consortium, (University System Computing Conference); Georgia Charter
Schools Association; and the Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE)
Faculty Consortium. Published 4 issues of the GALILEO PLANET.
They also provided training on use of databases and in the technology used in the
GALILEO Upgrade. GALILEO also employed Horizon Wimba for some of the training
as well as for collaborative work in the upgrade projects. This made it easier for
customers to receive the training. There were 1563 attendees (% increase over FY07) of
which 315 were from USG Libraries and 474 were from public libraries.
The GALILEO Technical Team (Developers, System Administrators, and Web
devloper)
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Built a new GALILEO system which loads pages faster and provides more
opportunities for customization and integration with other tools including courseware
and faculty web pages and improved search capabilities.
Designed 4 new interfaces for the users. In keeping with listening to the customer,
they are revisiting a fifth new interface for kids, because the prototype designed did
not get positive feedback.
Comments on GALILEO Support
GALILEO staff are always more responsive and good at troubleshooting than typical
vendors, in my experience.
Director of Library Services
Agnes Scott College
Thank you for your prompt, courteous and thorough response. I want to respond to your
questions and I have some questions for you. But before I begin that, I just want to say
that you, Lauren, Karen, Dave, and of course, Merryll, are all saints for the wonderful job
you and others do every day with GALILEO and your support to the GALILEO user
community. It is greatly appreciated. I love the new interface and its intuitive usability.
Kudos to everyone!
Director
Central Georgia Technical College
Even if you regularly use these databases, I highly recommend the
training. I participated in a SIRS Researcher online training in the fall
and then redelivered to faculty members. Recent updates are really
assisting our students in conducting research, and teachers appreciate
being able to direct their students in locating information by lexile
levels. The Pro/Con format for current issues is also particularly
helpful.
Media Specialist, NBCT
Berrien High School
You are good :)
Did you know that I am GALILEO #1 fan?
Media specialist (in response to IP problem)
Barrow County Schools
Yep. It's all good. Thanks SO MUCH for the follow up though! That
demonstrates a high level of commitment to students by the staff there!
Have a great day!
School Counselor
Gaines Elementary School
. . .Because you copied me on
your response to Kim's email, I was able to pass on the info about the
problem to the professor. She in turn has invited me into her class to
work with the students on GALILEO and CINAHL. The problem turned into a
wonderful opportunity!
Thanks again,
Information Services Librarian
Trustee Library of Brenau University
I just want to thank you for providing us with the above database. We
entered a contest with Proquest using SIRS Researcher and we made 1st Place.
http://www.proquestk12.com/access/custom/sirspodcon_finals/sirspodcon_finalists.shtml
THANK YOU!
Barrow County Schools
Everything works great and you just made an old man happy. Sometimes the
brain just dont work as it should, nor as fast. Thank you for the
wonderful service you provide.
user regarding finding census information
E-mail to GeorgiaMedia list:
It took only a quick email to Galileo and they had the
problem (with the IP address in their records) corrected
immediately. Grat service!
librarian
Colquitt County High School
Comments from pilot Customer Service Survey (all comments)
I am always pleased with the promptness of their help and also follow-up to be sure the
problem/issue is corrected.
I enjoy working with GALILEO Support Services. They are knowledgeable,
professional and friendly, all at the same time! Thanks.
Always helpful and friendly. I do appreciate it.
I was just very pleased to find your website, and very thankful for your speedy response.
They gave me some very useful information and the return was fast.
Great!
Courtney McGough, who answered my request for information, was very helpful
We have worked closely with both Courtney and Katie. Both are very knowledgeable,
and provide prompt, excellent service. They are thorough, even "above and beyond" in
their responses. They are also extremely pleasant to work with.
I have always been very satisfied with the assistance I have received from the Galileo
support staff. They go above and beyond the call of duty and are easy to work with and
keep me informed of the status of my technical issues. I have primarily worked with
Katie Gohn and she is FANTASTIC!! I really appreciate her work and promptness and
willingness to answer my question and offer suggestions for ways to work around
different issues. Thanks Katie!!
very quick and very professional
very friendly and helpful!
Excellent service. Thank you.
It is always a pleasure working with GALILEO Support Services. Thanks.
Katie Gohn was very helpful and prompt.
Other comments regarding user expectations and satisfaction
Technical colleges in Georgia need a different kind of customer service from GALILEO.
GALILEO is naturally focused on the majority of its customers, traditional college
students and public library patrons. But technical colleges have asked GALILEO for
additional support in new subject areas, like dental research, automotive databases, career
information, and so many other technical programs. Their responsiveness to our unique
needs has been exceptional. I am impressed with the GALILEO staff’s ability to listen to
our needs and respond with helpful resources for us.
I have appreciated the technical help we have received with remote logins and problems
that inevitably turn up with such a widely used system. The staff handles problems with
competence and professionalism. When a problem could not be solved quickly, they let
us know that it was being worked on. This kind of communication is critical. Most users
are content to wait for a solution as long as they know that someone is trying to solve the
problem, not ignoring it.
GALILEO offers the smaller technical college libraries a valuable asset. They offer
resources that we couldn’t possible pay for with our smaller budgets and the technical
help to use it.
My expectations for GALILEO are high. I expect electronic resources that will really
help my students and faculty, technical help when problems arise, and training for me and
my library staff on new technology and how to improve use of resources. GALILEO has
continued to meet these expectations and do it with a friendly professionalism.
--technical college library director
Galileo is an amazing resource produced by some of the most brilliant and dedicated
people I have been privileged to meet. It is something the state of Georgia should be
proud of and promote with vigor. As I school librarian I can’t imagine how we could
teach without the data bases that it supplies.
The problems my patrons have experienced with customer service have truly been a
function of their lack of knowledge. The most common thing I hear is:
“I didn’t know you could do that!”
“I didn’t think to ask…
“I didn’t want to disturb you…
The physical system of passwords and connection has not given us any problems in the 5
years. I only wish my interaction with other Georgia Departments had been a trouble free.
--media specialist in small rural community
Over the last 10 years Georgia libraries and library patrons have come to rely on
GALILEO as their main information provider. The following is a list of ways that
GALILEO is meeting the information expectations of libraries and library users
throughout Georgia. Specific examples are cited for our state university.
In the way of quality service –
For libraries, GALILEO
 Provides over 100 electronic databases, some of which are full-text and provide
access to thousands of journal articles. These full-text journals supplement the
individual libraries’ journal holdings.
 Offers cost-share savings toward the purchase of other databases. CSU saved
thousands of dollars by purchasing many of its non-GALILEO databases through
GALILEO group discounts.
 Provides technology guidance and support in the operation of Voyager, the USG
libraries’ integrated system.
For library users, GALILEO
 Provides authoritative information (“GALILEO, not GOOGLE!”)
 Conveniently and quickly provides full-text journal articles. In FY05, CSU
students pulled up over 155,000 full-text articles from GALILEO databases.
 Offers convenient remote access via a password – 24/7
As for the professionalism and competency of the GALILEO staff—
For libraries, the GALILEO staff
 Provide leadership and guidance in the maintenance and upgrading of GALILEO
(the current upgrade project—Webfeat, SFX, EZProxy, etc.—is a great example)
 Share the ownership of GALILEO through the support of the GALILEO Steering
Committee, which is comprised of librarians representing all sectors of Georgia’s
library community
For library patrons, GALILEO staff
 Provide excellent help screens
 Offer users a way to ask questions or offer comments via email
In the way of communication –
For libraries, GALILEO staff
 Maintain a listserv
 Post the minutes of the GALILEO Steering Committee on the GALILEO web
site; the minutes provide librarians with details of the current status of GALILEO
projects and informs them of future plans
 Publish the GALILEO Planet
 Keep the GALILEO web page up-to-date; the “Announcements” link on this page
contains all the changes librarians should be on the look-out for
 Hold an annual meeting for all GALILEO users, usually in August
For library patrons, GALILEO staff
 Publish the “GALILEO Planet”
 Furnish PR items for general publication
As for user satisfaction –
For libraries, GALILEO
 Is tops!—particularly in the university sector, which is where GALILEO had its
beginnings
 Is a valued collaborative venture; libraries appreciate having ownership in the
GALILEO initiative through the GALILEO Steering Committee
For library users, GALILEO
 Is a valuable tool. In a library-administered user survey at our state university,
spring 2005, 75% of the respondents reported they were satisfied with GALILEO
resources. Also in spring 2005, 81% of the respondents in a campus-wide
Student Academic Support Services Survey rated their satisfaction with
GALILEO as excellent/good.
 Is only valued by patrons if the library staff sing its praise. Getting buy-in from
librarians in all types of libraries is important for the continued success of
GALILEO.
As for responsiveness –
For libraries, GALILEO staff
 Provide quick response to email questions
 Respond to concerns brought up in GALILEO Steering Committee meetings. A
good example of this occurred last year, when the GALILEO staff scheduled a
special meeting in Macon to inform libraries about the specifics of the proposed
GALILEO upgrade. The meeting was called because concerns about the lack of
information on the upgrade had been voiced at a Steering Committee meeting.
For library patrons, GALILEO staff
 Respond promptly to email queries
In the matter of new technology to meet needs –
For libraries, GALILEO staff
 Provide vision for new technology planning to assist libraries in making
information accessible. Example: GALILEO upgrades
 Implement new advanced technologies. The Digital Library of Georgia is a great
example of a super technology initiative. GALILEO staff have also done a lot of
work with WebCT; this has benefited USG institutions
For library patrons, GALILEO staff
 Will be facilitating research through the GALILEO upgrade, which will provide
cross-database searching (among other things) to library users.
--Director, state university library
1.GALILEO staff perform many services that free public library staff to accomplish local
customer service objectives that might not be possible otherwise: They attend national
consortial conferences to monitor the latest technology trends and potential infrastructure
improvements, they establish, maintain, and monitor vendor relationships, negotiate
discounts based on aggregated pricing, handle the legal aspects of contracts, hold vendors
accountable, keep the product up and running, work to improve customer access, etc., all
the while keeping the membership informed. All these things add up to better service to
our customers and money saved in staff time and information purchases.
2. Citizens have convenient, free and equal access to this vast array
of online information that is GALILEO (or the databases as we like to call them)
throughout the state making it possible to easily pursue distance education, check
business facts or complete homework assignments 24 x 7 with the confidence that the
information is not just posted at the whim of anyone in cyberspace, rather brokered
reliable information.
(Granted, some may not have computers at home, but all have
access at the public library.) Having a consortium that covers K-12 all the way to
higher education provides a level of expertise to database selection that would not be
possible if each community or library pursued individually.
3. The subject coverage in GALILEO is phenomenal as is the ease of searching.
Therefore, libraries with limited shelf space for print volumes can still provide customers
with adequate subject coverage through GALILEO.
4. Finally, the excellent customer service rewards of GALILEO are recognized
nationally. This reputation opens doors for us as we enter into other vendor relationships
and work with colleagues throughout the country.
-public library director
GALILEO is totally responsive to customer's needs. When I was a high
school library media specialist and had difficulty with a website or
database, I knew that help from the GALILEO staff was a phone call or email
away. When a student was having a problem or issue with GALILEO, they were
treated with the same courtesy and promptness that a faculty member was
given.
Now, as an employee of the Department of Education I still find that same
commitment and professionalism with the GALILEO staff. They work
tirelessly to provide the best information possible for our students and
continually look for upgrades and more and better databases for the
learning community. I also know that the GALILEO staff is committed to
saving money without compromising the integrity and vast resources of
GALILEO.
 administrator
Thank you. And I want to add that Lauren’s role as project manager has been invaluable
in this effort, as it was for the SFX implementation.
We went to a workshop at Athens Regional on Genealogy Resources. Very informative.
Your Falke & McGough were the presenters. They did a great job.
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Just wanted to send you a compliment and thank you. The National Library Week link to
historic photos was great. I think it would be great to continue to spotlight various parts
of GALILEO in that way. There is so much material that many users never see or realize
is available.
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I think yall web address is great for kids to go on to get info.
I want to thank yall for this website and helping me with my project.
Thanks,
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I found your site when looking for information about Georgia. Very nice and informative.
I made a link
from my website, so everyone can enjoy it. When placing this link is a problem, please
let me know and
i will remove it from my site.
You can find my webiste at: http://jkersten.topcities.com
Greetings from Holland
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This is a delightful website. Thank you for making Georgia information so available
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FYI - We found the problem. (See e-mail below)
Your staff was very supportive. Please extend our gratitude to each and everyone!
Enjoy your weekend.
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I will implement these today and test them at home tonight. This is going to be a very
nice solution for our students and I thank you for your follow through in helping us with
this project.
Best regards,
Media Specialist, Chattahoochee High School
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Hi,
It might be that you hear little of how helpful you are b/c of
everyone politely declining to gunk up your inbox with thank-yous; if so, I'll be the inbox
gunker-upper and say thank you...from those folks and from me. (I'm sure there are lots
of them.)
Thank you for your help AND for teaching patiently--I didn't register the important line
of info clearly labeled "availability." Thanks,.
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Southeastern Native American Documents: “What a thrill to see gr-gr-grgrandfather's actual writing after almost 200 years!! I am 77 yrs old, and I have of a
picture of his daughter, Katy Grierson, who is my ancestor. She could not read nor
write. You have made an old lady very happy.”
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Vanishing Georgia: “How wonderful! Thank you so very much for all your hard
work putting this together!”
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DLG Redesign: “This is just a note of praise. I just tried the "Browse by County"
option for the first time and experienced how the search goes into the specific
databases--when I browsed by Lumpkin County, and then selected the Vanishing
Georgia and the aerial photo databases, they had already pulled the Lumpkin results
for me. Awesome!”
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“After your session on Friday at Osborne...I went to my parent's house to share the
website....esp. the Brunswick photos. My mom was thrilled. Just before I was leaving to
come back to Osborne for the afternoon, I quickly showed her how to do a search. Our
family is from Gordon Co., Calhoun specifically. We have always had an interest in the
old jail. Many family stories revolve around it. My great grandad was chief of police
and my grandfather was his deputy. My mother suggested a search for "calhoun jail." We
did. And the photo that came up was Will Shirley and Grady Moore...my granddads.
What a special thrill. Uncanny, huh? Thank you for all that you have done and continue
to do.”
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“Can’t wait to use resources and share with other teachers.”
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“This is an awesome collection of materials.”
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“Great resources. Can’t wait to use with my 3rd graders.”
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“Thanks for everything you’ve done!”
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“Wow! The site looks amazing. It's great to have all of those resources from across
the state pulled together. I look forward to pointing students and other researchers to
the DLG.”
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“One of my friends who gets the advance copy of my column was amazed at what he
found on the DLG and he thought he knew it all before then.”
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Ships for Victory: “We are over the moon !!! It is absolutely wonderful.”
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“Hooray for DLG! - I've already used them twice in reference questions. If you've never
looked at the Sanborn sheets, these are TERRIFIC FUN.”
New Interface comments
Below are some of the comments received, both positive and negative about the new
interface. The main negative comments we heard were from frequent users who
suddenly found themselves having to rethink how to do familiar tasks. This is somewhat
akin to what happens when your grocery store changes things around. These comments
abated quickly and other comments have been addressed in the change review processes
used by the GALILEO Team.
Positive:
E-Mail to Techlibs list:
Has anyone else dealt with the new GALILEO in a BI session yet? I had
my first experience this morning and IT WORKS. I had them go in to
Education, then Career and Technical Education, which searches the Ebsco
and Proquest technical ed. databases. I had students THINKING about
KEYWORDS!! Then, after doing their searches (which, for the most part,
/worked/), most of them actually /understood/ the articles that they
were reading.
We may be the Rodney Dangerfields of the educational world, (re:
orientation/information literacy thread) but when those light bulbs come
on in their heads, it's all worth it. Have a great weekend.
--Technical college librarian
Your presentation was great. We have already been using the Beta version, and the
students are acclimating to it much more quickly than previously. The online training is
very effective and allows those of us who have trouble getting away from our schools the
opportunity for training.
- media specialist
Henry County Schools
i think galileo is a great website for kids like me.
------- (logged in as guest) on the Kids Page
I have looked at the high school interface and I really like it—especially the fact that they
don’t have to scroll down to find it. But, I like the whole concept/layout better.
When I do freshmen orientations and research orientations for other grades, I always
introduce our students to GALILEO. I remind them that when I was in grad school I
drove to different university libraries in different cities to find information and that they
cannot fully appreciate the amount of information they have at their fingertips. I also let
them know that all colleges and universities use GALILEO (we are a public fine arts
college prep magnet school), so they might as well learn to use it now so they will be
proficient users then. I demonstrate how it can save them time and tell them it will make
their “career” here at CHS much easier. Having paid for SIRS, etc. in the past, we love
GALILEO. I just wish we had access to JSTOR. Maybe eventually….
Media specialist, Muscogee County Schools
i love this websites home page!!! soooo cool!!!!
on the Kids Page
Cobb County School user
Holy Smokes! I have barely touched the surface of all the information available
in Galileo...and it's links. What an awesome reference for my patrons also. Thanks for the
wonderful class! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's session, which will deal with library
interfaces.
(Wimba class) Technical College Librarian
seems much easier to use and get results.
Public librarian, Athens Clarke County (Wimba class)
I am soooo glad I finally got to a class!!! I have the worst luck! I had such a blast! I
could hardly wait for the class to be over so that I could explore! I also couldn't wait to
share it with my daughter. She will be a senior in high school this year. She's about as
geeky as her mother! I was writing down ideas to share with teachers and students as fast
as I could. LOVED it!
Thanks so much!
Media specialist,Coweta School System (Response to Wimba class)
I like the new layout on the GALILEO homepage. I think having the page open up to
browse by subject is much easier than the previous layout.
Public Librarian,
Statesboro Regional Library
Comments on the New Interface
Not positive:
The new way you guys or whoever you are have done your new website is completely
gay.. I can't even find a darn thing!! The articles don't show up so how are we supposed
to read them if we can't see them???? I'm not using this gay site anymore!
user
Jackson County Schools
Yesterday when the students and I logged into Galileo, a different homepage appeared.
Instead of the homepage we always reached at the galileo.usg.edu URL, we are now
automatically sent to the homepage for galileo.usg.edu/high-school/wsa. We are a K-12
institution and our faculty are also frequent users. I was not notified that this change
would be taking place and it is confusing to our students who are in the middle of
research projects and are used to finding databases the "old" way. Also, the information
on how to use Galileo still refers to the home page we were used to. Could you please let
me know what has happened? Thanks so much.
user
Westminster of Augusta
This is insane! I clicked on the Medicine and Health databases to get to Medline, but it
did not offer MEDLINE as one of the choices.
I hate this new GALILEO. Why can't we go back to the old one?
user
Valdosta State University
(This was an oversight; MEDLINE was added back.)
Galileo Scholar: Where is the option to view ALL of the databases at once - not
categorized by type, subject, etc.?
user
Georgia Southern
(User was directed to Databases A-Z tab; in beta, all databases were not listed there, but
in production they were, based on demand)
I attended the GA COMO session on the new interfaces. I left thinking that the Library
view in a public library would show all databases available through that library. And, the
other views would show appropriate subsets of databases in that public library to match
the audience for that view. But, after discussion with colleagues, I have learned that none
of the views will show all GALILEO databases? Is that true? The only way to see all
would be to use A-Z, but then you won't have the benefit of the subject categories? I am
hoping there is a way to see all databases by the subject categories. Thanks much for your
help.
librarian
DeKalb County Public Library System
What has happened to the Galileo platform? All of the features I needed for research and
class are gone and now it's virtually useless.
Faculty member,
Kennesaw State University
Prior to the release of the new "GALILEO Scholar" user interface, it was fairly easy to
get a complete list, in table format, of all the databases and Express Link URLs for
resources that are accessible to Emory.
This may still be possible, but I'm having difficulty finding it in the new UI. If it is still
possible, can you point me in the right direction?
librarian
Emory University
(Pagebuilder tool was made available soon after user’s comment)
When I clicked on K-12 on the old webpage, I used to see the databases broken down by
grade levels (elementary, middle, and high). The elementary section had about 15
databases listed. On the Galileo kids page, there aren't as many resources. Can you
change the Kids (grades K-5) page to include other databases as well? I think it would be
helpful. It's not easy for young students to navigate by searing by database names.
Thanks.
Connie Yearwood
Habersham County Schools
I am a college student at LaGrange College, and an English Major. As such, I am a
frequent user of Galileo as a resource. As such, I feel obligated to inform you that the
new changes made to the website are simply... not beneficial. It is more difficult to use,
even as straightforward as it is. Further than this, with the increase in pages that I have to
search through to arrive at my initial goal makes using Galileo rather a "pain in the rear,"
so to speak. I simply wanted to make this known to you, and to put this comment in
shortest of terms, the older version/format of Galileo was much better. Thanks so much.
Your loyal user,
LaGrange College
I've found that the new Galileo page set up is NOT user friendly. Databases are difficult
to find and take too much time trying to figure it out where to go. Our students are also
complaining about the site not being user friendly and are "giving up" after not being able
to find what they're searching for. Is there something that can be done to change this? The
old site was much more effective and user friendly. Thanks
user
Bibb County Schools
I am finding the new face of GALILEO very hard to navigate. It is almost impossible to
browse--how do students know which databases they want? How do they necessarily
know if their subject comes under "social studies" or "science" or "health"? (Some
topics, such as abortion, can be all three.) Why is the Student Research Center not part of
the first page offerings?
With the old system, the high school databases were listed first, and it was a snap to get
to them. Now getting to them requires more clicks.
Search engines are limited at best, and they tend to bring up more than what is relevant.
Many students aren't adept with search terms, so browsing can be more useful.
user
DeKalb County Schools
I do not like the new format...no keyword search..it seems harder for students to navigate
in..it is for me. Please add a simple keyword search to the interface. Thank you.
librarian
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
(After user was directed to the Search tab, she sent this message: I finally figured out how
to use the search component. However, I feel this new format relies on to much previous
understanding of Galileo?s search process..too many buttons to click?I think the older
format was better for our users. Just my opinion.)
What in the world have you done to GALILEO? THis new format is HORRIBLE!
librarian
Flint River Regional Library System
I was just wondering why you changed galileo. I used it last week and it was a much
easier program. The way it is now is confusing and complicated. Plus you cannot save
articles in a folder as you could before. Could you please change it back? I have heard
MANY complaints from students about this.
Thank you for your time,
user
Kennesaw State University
I hate how you've changed the layout of Galileo. It is harder to find where I want to go.
All I want to do is click Galileo, then go to the taps at the top and hit the subject, then
press academic search complete and do a search. Whatever you've done now to try to
make it "easier" just complicates everything. You can't see the articles in clear fashion,
everything is separated into different types, you can't even get a clear idea of what you
are looking at. It was a terrible idea, and I hope you consider going back to the old layout,
which was more sensible, easier to navigate, and saved more time.
user
Georgia College and State University
WHY? THE CHANGE ON THE WAY TO GET INTO THE DATABASE A-Z .THIS
WAY IS AWFUL. I HAVE USED THIS SYSTEM AT THE LIBRARY FOR
SEVERAL YEARS, IN FACT I WAS ONE OF THE ONES WHEN THEY FIRST
STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE SYSTEM THAT WE GAVE OUR INPUT ON
THE THINGS THAT WAS NEEDED TO BE IN IT FOR RESEARCH. AND NOW AS
WE HAVE LEARNED HOW TO DO THE RESEARCH, YOU PEOPLE GO AND
CHANGE IT. I AM MOST UNHAPPY. WE ARE SENIOR CITIZENS.
user
Coastal Plain Regional Library System
Just thought I'd let you know this this New and Imporved database SUCKS! It's difficult
to use and has many errors thanks for making life harder!
user
Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System
I really don't like this new beta version of Galileo. It's hard to navigate and if I want to
bring up an article in a new Tab, I can't. It's very inconvenient. The old system was much
better. I'm disappointed.
user
LaGrange College
Browse by subject section, you don't even have a News/Facts section for newspaper
databases, general databases such as Research Library and Academic Search Complete,
directories such as Biography & Genealogoy Master Index, Serials Directory, and book
reviews, Dissertation Abstracts, Worldcat, and others which fell so neatly under that
News/Facts tab you used to have on the old GALILEO. I used to use that as a home page
to demonstrate as a source of many useful databases in my library instruction classes, and
people found it helpful. Now you have nothing like it.
user
Valdosta State University
(Directed user to Browse by Type tab)
This address the Library interface, but the same principle would apply to all interfaces.
When you click on Databases A-Z, Magazines A-Z, or the Search tab, the cursor should
be sitting in the Find Database/Find Magazine/Enter Search Keywords search box ready
to accept an entry. The most likely thing for a user to do is enter text, and having that as
a default would save a click. If the user wants to do soemthing else, he/she would have to
click on the letter of the alphabet or radio button anyway. By having the page open with
focus on the text entry box, you will have saved a step for most users and will not have
penalized any users with an extra step.
This is a small thing, but I use software every day that has no default and requires that
extra click to get the cursor where you want it 99% of the time. The more you use it, the
more annoying it becomes.
user
Cobb County Public Library
PLEASE consider the old format! having all the databases listed in numerical and
alphabetical order was so much nicer to teach students! Please or an email blast with
suggestions and why thet changes were made... as teachers/media specialists I've set up
research projects and our school research home page to hit the Galileo website for
databases that are applicable to our student body... this really throws a wrench in things!
A heads up would have been nice...
user
Fulton County Schools
(Numbers were added to database menus)
On the current Database A-Z list, the databases are enumerated to indicate exactly how
many databases are available at each institution. On the beta version of the Database list,
icons have been added (we like) but the enumeration is not there. Can this be added
back? We use it as a teaching point as well as a quick way to identify the number of
databases owned for accreditation/program review reports.
user
Georgia Southern University
We are very disappointed that new GALILEO did not include local databases in subject
browse.
librararian
Gainesville State College
Recommended Change: Display "In the Spotlight" selections that are from the "Try these
first" list for whichever subject the user is browsing.
librarian
University of West Georgia
In GALILEO Library, would it be possible to include Academic Search Complete in the
list of databases that is presented when you click the Search tab and then click "more
search options"? We are in a public library but many of our GALILEO users need peer
reviewed journals and I think the EBSCO product is more complete than ProQuest. I
realize we can go to that database directly, but it would be much easier for the user if it
were included in a "ready-made" search list. Thanks and thank you for your previous
quick responses!
librarian
Newton County Library System
(Academic Search Complete was added to Search options based on this and other
requests.)