This article features the University of Liverpool's arts and humanities library, which applies a new search tool to improve the user experience. In nearly every way imaginable, the Sydney Jones Library and the Harold Cohen Library--the university's two libraries that serve science, engineering, and medical students--support the lives of their…

This article presents a case study in user-centered design that explores the needs and preferences of undergraduate users. An analysis of LibQual+ and other user surveys, interviews with public service staff, and a formal American with Disabilities Act accessibility review served as the basis for planning a redesign of the Brown University…

Discussion of personalized information environments (PIEs) focuses on library personalized interfaces. Describes academic library PIEs and commercial sites, such as Amazon.com that use personalization; explores the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg's personalized interface; and discusses opportunities and challenges PIEs offer public…

Library patrons familiar with Web searching conventions often find library searching to be less familiar and even intimidating. This article describes and evaluates a series of usability research studies employing two different and popular methodologies: user-centered redesign and usability testing. Card sorting and affinity mapping were used to…

Discusses the need for an intuitive library information gateway to meet users' information needs and describes the process involved in redesigning a library Web site based on experiences at Roger Williams University. Explains usability testing methods that were used to discover how users were interacting with the Web site interface. (Author/LRW)

This survey examined the home pages of 36 Australian university library World Wide Web sites. Reports were run on these pages, using a service that checks the HTML for validity and reports errors, a service that checks usability by the visually disabled, and a program that checks the HTML, corrects and reports errors, and improves efficiency style…

Discusses client-server architecture in dumb terminals, personal computers, local area networks, and graphical user interfaces. Focuses on functions offered by client personal computers: individualized environments; flexibility in running operating systems; advanced operating system features; multiuser environments; and centralized data…

Relates the results of pilot studies of Internet use in academic libraries to the education of users in a digital library environment. Interviews users and information professionals and reveals a need to develop user education programs that emphasize types of digital collections, interfaces, hardware and software requirements, and…

This study used focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires to collect input for developing the Mann Library Gateway at Cornell University. This Web-based information system provides access to catalogs, indexes, directories, numeric datasets, full-text documents, and spatial files. Concluded that scholars would benefit from…

Internet-oriented courses and teaching materials tend to focus on technology. A typical approach covers the basic services (terminal emulation, file transfer, gopher, etc.) and how to use the programs which support them. The development of integrated browsers which adapt to the different protocols of the Internet without the need for user…

Evaluation of data from assessments of full bibliographic displays in academic library OPACs (online public access catalogs) and World Wide Web catalogs against a checklist of desirable features found that OPAC displays scored 58% and Web displays scored 60%. Discusses weaknesses, focusing on those found in the majority of the displays…