« Old school online search | Main | National library Week: FREE resources from Thomson-Gale »
April 16, 2007
Simple is as simple does?
Elyssa Stern Cahoy, a librarian at Penn State, put this clip together in an attempt to illustrate some of the frustrations that often accompany seemingly simple, straightforward library searches. In responding to a few criticisms of the presentation on a library-related discussion list, Cahoy stated:
I (a librarian) made this video to show the varied paths that our users can take when searching for materials and the many dead ends they often encounter. This video was part of a presentation I gave at this year's CIC library conference on making our library web interfaces simpler, more intuitive and more educational.I don't feel that the search choices made in the video were 'mistakes'. Good searching is often messy and involves much trial and error. I teach my students that there are no 'mistakes' in online searching---only learning opportunities that help the user construct a better search the next time around.That said, I think it is up to us, as instruction librarians, to help design the next generation of library interfaces. We need to help reduce the multiple screens, clicks and dead ends that many of our users currently face. As Roy Tennant said, "I wish I had known that the solution for needing to teach our users how to search our catalog was to create a system that didn't need to be taught." (Library Journal, 11/15/05)We need to go beyond viewing our library web presence as a front end for our search engines and an organizational tool, and develop it wholly as an intuitive learning application and as a teaching opportunity.
I couldn't agree with her more.
Posted by AnthonyMcMullen at April 16, 2007 12:37 PM