Preference vs. Authority: A Comparison of Student Searching in a Subject-Specific Indexing and Abstracting Database and a Customized Discovery Layer

Discovery layers provide a simplified interface for searching library resources. Libraries with limited finances make decisions about retaining indexing and abstracting databases when similar information is available in discovery layers. These decisions should be informed by student success at finding quality information as well as satisfaction with search interfaces. Students executed searches in two discovery layer configurations and an indexing and abstracting database. While students reported a preference for discovery layers, the articles selected from the indexing and abstracting database were more authoritative. These results illuminate the relative strengths of these tools, informing decisions about resource allocation and discovery configuration

In Their Words: Student Reflections on Information-Seeking Behaviors

Academic librarians try to facilitate student information seeking by providing classroom instruction, creating tutorials and guides, and selecting and modifying search tools to best meet student needs and preferences. These efforts are often informed by interactions with students, and can be even better informed through analysis of student descriptions of their searching practices. In this case study, 50 upper-division students from the Social and Behavioral Sciences major completed searching tasks in a few library search tools and were then interviewed about their search behaviors, both in the experimental setting and in general. Their responses illuminate some of their tendencies, including considerations when choosing sources, strategies employed when searches fail, and adoption of their instructors\u27 priorities

Comparing Apples and Bananas? A/B Testing for Discovery System Optimization

Discovery systems have changed the ways in which students are able to search academic library resources by providing a simplified, customizable user interface. Librarians often make discovery system customization decisions based on instincts about what will work best for students or on small usability studies. A/B testing, commonly used by commercial enterprise but infrequently by libraries, employs two simultaneous, live versions of a web interface to gauge the effects of changing variables. This method has the advantage of reaching a large number of users performing authentic search tasks. The authors combined A/B testing with scenario-based usability testing to explore variables such as facet labels, facet order, and placement of search options. The results provide insight into the extent to which interface changes prompt users to employ available search options, allowing libraries to make decisions about discovery system customization driven by user data

Almost in the Wild: Student Search Behaviors When Librarians Aren\u27t Looking

Academic libraries offer a variety of tools for students to find information, including discovery systems and traditional library databases. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on student information-seeking behaviors by comparing how upper-level students majoring in Social and Behavioral Sciences use these two categories of search tools. Student search behavior and the use of search features, facets in particular, are quantified for each tool. The authors explore with statistical analyses whether these practices aid or hinder students in their search for high quality information. Qualitative data from student interviews is selectively employed to aid in explaining the results. Key findings include the differential use of search features in the discovery system versus the traditional database, and the relationships between the use of certain facets and the quality of sources chosen by students. Implications for instruction, search interface configuration, and default settings are discussed