LibGuides Guerrilla Testing

This guerrilla test built on previous focus group findings which demonstrated that the language currently used to describe our LibGuides (e.g., "research guides") is confusing and misleading regarding the actual content found on LibGuides pages.Usability GroupUsability Task Forcehttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106790/1/libguides_rept_final.pd

Knowing Catalog Users Through Their Digital Footprints

Many libraries have ʺNext Generationʺ OPACs, featuring faceted search, relevancy-ranked results, favorites, etc. How are they being used? Usability tests and reference librarian feedback are necessary but insufficient when many of your users don\u27t enter the library at all. In this session, the presenter will briefly address the challenges of implementing a modern OPAC, look at how we collect analytics, and then try to answer questions about how good our search results are, what features are used and which are ignored, and how librarian activity can skew the results even at an institution as large as the University of Michigan

Getting Library Data to Where It\u27s Needed

Libraries collect, update, analyze, archive, display, share, and discuss internal data as they assess the services and resources that they provide to users. This session will discuss two libraries\u27 approaches to using and sharing internal data. Concordia University St. Paul used Google Apps and Sites, to build an internal site that tracks database usage and costs, student enrollment, and user demographics. They also created a dashboard for managing and assessing student workers. The University of Michigan built Datamart to give library staff an easy way for all staff to query the library system and generate spreadsheets. Datamart generates 50-60 reports each week, seamlessly getting data to where it can do the most good. The presenter will talk about creating the system, issues around transforming data from the ILS, and demonstrate the flexible query-building system and typical reports