Week 10 - Interaction and Evaluation

Arms - Chapter 8

One of the best insights from this reading was from this quote: "The functions offered to the user depend upon . . . structural metadata." Because this reading comes from 1999, I wonder whether structural metadata is still crucial for user functionality in digital libraries.

Muddiest Point:  In 2012, which structural metadata is most crucial for user functionality?

This reading also gave me a good sense of what Java is, its distinction from JavaScript, and how Java functions.

Muddiest Point:  Dr. he, may you please tell us some best practices for selecting servers, middleware, and CMSes? For a medium-sized digital library, what type of server, database language, and middleware should a library purchase? Is there a website or journal which a librarian should follow regarding this type of selection?

Kling & Elliot - Digital Library Design for Usability

 I felt that this article was too vague. Maybe it is because it is a little outdated. I appreciate the author outlining in Section 6.3 a usability engineering life cycle model, but I want to know concrete steps:  how to conduct a user study, how to develop a questionnaire, how one should go about creating a prototype. Too vague, too little.

Saracevic - Evaluation of Digital Libraries, An Overview

This article raised more questions than it gave answers. That is fine, because these were questions which needed to be asked. Just one example would be:

To what extent are user studies also evaluation studies?
To what extent are studies of specific user behavior in digital libraries also evaluation studies?

Also, I believe his list of factors under Section 6, "Criteria,"can act as a checklist for what digital library designers should keep in mind when they begin development.

Hearst - Search User Interfaces

This reading gave solid practical advice on designing search interfaces from a user-based perspective. Its assertions were backed up with stats and studies. Thanks for having us read this article!