chris edwards user experience & instruction librarian [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching TransitionChris EdwardsUser Experience & Instruction [email protected]
Don’t Panic!
(Adams 2004)
Change is…Scary
FrustratingJob Security
How it Happened (A brief history of what changed at the University of Texas at Dallas)
Issues for Users◦ Librarians◦ Students◦ Faculty
Suggestions/ Strategies for Instruction Librarians
Outline
Primo became available for testing for librarians, Spring of 2012
Parallel launch of Primo, with data from Voyager (both OPACs available), Spring of 2013
WebVoyage link taken down, Primo is the only available catalog, August 2013.
Discover switched to pull data from Alma, August 2013. (About a week later)
How it Happened
Test server available for librarians, April 2012
Focus group test with Student Advisory Group, November 2012
A library committee will meet to finalize changes and settings throughout Fall 2013.
Testing and Evaluating
Want a high degree of specificity; Concerned with clarity of results; Strongly influenced by “tradition” or “the
way we’ve always done it”
Issues for Librarians
Primo FRBR-izes records to show more variety of results…
Finding a Specific Title is Hard…
Generally want quantity, with high relevance; Varying degrees of comfort with technology; High turnover means less influenced by “what
we had before” or “branding”; Often operate by trial and error; “Library terminology” is a significant obstacle
for many students; Primary concern is understanding what
they have found.
(Majors 2012)
Issues for Students
Go here to check the catalog…
Go here to check the databases…
Go here to check the catalog and databases.
BEFORE:
NOW
Material labels
Customizing takes time, but can help alleviate confusion.
Example: “Audio Visual” was changed to “Media”
Want both specific and broad results; Resistant to retraining; Tech savvy varies widely; Trend is to go directly to preferred electronic
resources (Specific e-books or databases); Primary concern is getting to the resources
they are already accustomed to using.
(Guthrie & Housewright 2011)
Issues for Faculty
Faculty hoped to find a favorite database by searching in Primo:
Short titles often require advanced search because exact match isn’t returned first in results:
One of the harder/longer customizing projects was our A-Z journals list:
Suggestions:
Anything you can teach, users can misunderstand.
Separate user needs from librarian needs◦ New interfaces are truly designed with users (not
librarians) in mind. Teach what they need most first
◦ As instructors, place first priority on what users will really want to do.
Example: Do users frequently need to browse or search a call number list?
Take the Users’ Perspective
As soon as a public version of a new OPAC is posted, start defaulting there for reference assistance.◦ Learn the work-arounds before you need them.◦ Easier than trying to anticipate questions.
Look for opportunities to integrate the new into instruction sessions.◦ Particularly well suited for Rhetoric (Freshman
English) or entry level courses
Be an Early Adopter
New interfaces mean new ways and new opportunities.
Forget the Old Way*
* Unless the old way turns out to really be better.
Example: Finding a journal article with an incomplete citation.
“Read the article by Prasher in Gene, vol 111, 1992 page 229-233.”
Primo has a feature that gets you to a specific article faster than following the trail. (even an incomplete citation)
Example: Finding a Journal Article
Old way: New way:
1. Search for journal title2. Open full text link3. Select from multiple
database links4. Browse to correct year5. Browse to correct volume
number6. Select correct article by
author name and page number.
This method still works, but takes longer.
“We are transitioning…” “Bear with us…”
There are bound to be hiccups or bugs. Acknowledge them; don’t try to pretend there’s no problem and don’t villainize the new system.
Be Honest
Don’t make new systems into a scapegoat; Understand how the system is supposed to
work before launching complaints; Ask questions;
Have a plan. Work together with colleagues.
◦ Share work-arounds and how-tos;◦ Establish a protocol for reporting real issues;◦ Prioritize complaints.
Do not blame your new system for not being the old system.
Adams, D. (2004). The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (25th anniversary facsimile ed.). New York, NY: Harmony Books.
Fyn, A. F., & Vera Lux and, R. J. (2013). Reflections on teaching and tweaking a discovery layer. Reference Services Review, 41(1), 113-124. doi:10.1108/00907321311300929
Guthrie, K., & Housewright, R. (2011). Repackaging the library: What do faculty think? Journal of Library Administration, 51(1), 77-104. doi:10.1080/01930826.2011.531643
Majors, R. (2012). Comparative user experiences of next-generation catalogue interfaces. Library Trends, 61(1), 186-207. doi:10.1353/lib.2012.0029
Ruleman, A. B. (2012). Comparison of student and faculty technology use. Library Hi Tech News, 29(3), 16-19. doi:10.1108/07419051211241877
References
