Alamw2013

Gale Cengage Learning
Research Update
Stephen Abram, MLS
ALA midwinter meeting, Seattle, Jan. 28, 2013

BASICS

• Understand the clear difference between database search and federated
discovery
• Know Your algorithm – commercial algorithms versus proprietary algorithms
• Know SEO, SMO, tuned search
• Usability versus User Experience
• Title Counts versus Workflow orientation
• Transactions versus Transformations
• Outcomes and impact measurements versus Statistics
• Local versus Global metadata (OCLC WorldShare, DPLA, Cloud, etc.)

2

Carl Grant’s Differentiators
• Access to the library collections and services from any device, at any time from anywhere.
(mobile)

• Massive aggregates of information that have been selected for inclusion because of their
quality by either: a) librarians, or b) filtered by communities of users through ranking systems
and ultimately reviewed and signed-off by librarians for final inclusion in those aggregates.
(cloud computing)

• Discovery workbenches or platforms that allow the users to discover existing knowledge and
build new knowledge in highly personalized manners. (discovery products with new
extensions)

• Easy access and integration of the full range of library services into other products they use
frequently, such as course or learning management systems, social networking, discussion
forums, etc. (rich API's, extensive support of Apps and standards to support other
extensions) [Linked Data]

• Contextual support, i.e. the ability for librarianship to help members understand the
environment in which a particular piece of work was generated (for instance, Mark Twain's
writings, or scientific research-is this a peer reviewed publication? (new products needed)

• Unbiased information. (start conveying the distinction, a huge differentiator)

• Pro-active services. Get out in front. Someone up for tenure? Go to their office. Find out what
they need and get it to them. (analytic tools, coupled with massive aggregates of data)

Stephen Abram’s Key Differentiators
Sustainability versus digital evolution

• Our people are our brand – not information, databases, technology or books. Staff deliver
the service. A service devoid of staff promotion is a recipe for failure or outsourcing.

• Question improvement

• Predictive service through excellent contextual relationships

• Copyright knowledge and compliance

• Service, professional service not good and efficient step&fetchit servitude

• Information fluency professional development – not mere training, literacy, …

• Special and unique collections curated in context and pruned as needed

• Curriculum, discovery, teaching and research alignment

• Visibility where the users are, not a destination strategy

• eLearning development teams, MOOCs, eTextbooks, eReserves, eServices, etc.

• Developing rubrics, measurements and proofs of impact

Project Objective

To understand and meet the expectations of public library users for services,
content, and virtual interaction.

10

Personas Defined

Personas are hypothetical representations of a natural
grouping of users that drive decision-making for
development projects.

 They are not real people, but they represent real people.
 They are defined by goals.
 They focus on what is valuable to the user and subsequently on how
he or she behaves.

11

Personas

Goals: Help team build the base infrastructure for .NET products. Construct the base set of services that
ship with the product and compose the core of a distributed framework for hosting distributed services. Add
queuing semantics and associated locking, classification and routing of messages, subscriptions, efficient
filtering, fan-out, etc., to the server. Integrate new distributed communication semantics to the existing SQL
Server programming model. Demonstrate ability to communicate and work well with other teams.

Usage Scenario: Henry has been around long enough to build a solid network of resources to call
when he has specific questions about products or programs. He often learns about new technologies or
processes through casual conversation with his friends and coworkers in the hallway. He uses Yahoo! for
general information gathering because he likes the simplicity of the site design and the breadth of information
available.

The Portal is not his start page—he usually just types in the URL directly. He rarely reads the content on the
Henry first page because he doesn't want to know what's going on with general companywide PR information. He's
somewhat cynical about "companywide" internal releases and dislikes company politics. However, on a
41 Years Old, personal level, he does want to know about the schedules that the applications are on so he can plan. He's
Software Design Engineer frustrated that there's no place you can go to find product information all in one spot.

U.S. Info-Seeking Behavior: When Henry needs specific information, he generally e-mails or phones
12 Years at the company. a friend. He is a member of about 15 different DLs that used to be manageable, but now he finds it
increasingly difficult to keep up.
Single,
MS Comput.Sci He typically uses the Portal to search for internal information across the companywide intranet or to find other
internal sites. He comes to the portal about four-five times a week by typing in the URL and stays for less than
15 minutes at a time. He rarely, if ever, goes to there to find general information about the company or the
industry as a whole. He uses internal databases to find internal information on products or code. If he's
frustrated by something, he'll go there and find solutions rather than go outside to support or to a dot-com.
"You used to have to drill down pretty deep to find personalized information, but now it's easier." He tends to
bookmark pages in the portal because he hates having to go 5 levels down. He'll use that bookmark until it
breaks, then he has to research it again. He would like to have favorites on the portal. . . .

12

Our Approach

Narrative capture and identification of characters, issues and problems,
behaviors and actions.
Narrative pattern review of content, service and product needs
Identification of priority requirements for specific market identities i.e. personas

13

Narrative Capture

14

Why Narrative Capture?

Knowledge can only be volunteered it cannot be conscripted
I only know what I know when I need to know it
I always know more than I can say and I will always say more than I can write
down

15

Anecdote Circles

The five (5) workshops held in Starter Statements
April-May 2005 • Describe a day that involved coming to the
library.
• Describe a day that you wanted to come to the
library but couldn’t.
 Bergen County Public Library
• Give us an example of when you learned
 Buffalo Erie Public Library something from others at the library.
• Give us an example of when you tried to learn
 Cleveland Public Library something from others at the library but didn’t.
 Hamilton Public Library • Give us an example from the past when you
have used a computer to find information and
 S.A.I.L.S. Middleboro, MA were surprised about what you found.
• Give us an example from the past when you
decided you wouldn’t be able to find the
information through the computer – why?

16

Summary Groupings

Archetypes Themes Values

•Good Citizenship
•Patrons •Interaction •Community
•Library Staff •Technology •Learning
•Money •Efficiency •Quality
•Library Services and •Money •Efficiency
Facilities •Money/Risk

Issues Ideal State

Archetypes: Characters

Archetype Summary

12 Good Citizenship
Number of Archetypes

10
8 Patrons

6 Library Staff
4
2 Money

0
Library Services
Archetype Names and Facilities

Good Citizenship Archetypes
Well-Rounded Citizen
(13 attributes) Collaborate
Community brings
people together
Cozy
Diverse activities
Encourage creativity
Good use of our money
Human contact Bergen
Intellectual County
opportunities
Kids feel safe
Nurturing
Opportunities – social
Security
Willing to chat when
time permits

Good Citizenship Archetypes
Strong Community Leader
(6 attributes)

Community builder
Connected
Connecting with
community
SAILS
Gives people mission
Networking
Pulls community
together

Patron Archetypes
Frustrated Patron
(12 attributes)

Annoying
Books out of print
Disruption
Indifference
Lack of wireless
No tape player
Online services
unavailable Cleveland
Out of date
Physical pain
Ripped/missing
pieces, out of date
magazine
Wasted resources
Wasted space

Patron Archetypes

Inquisitive Power User
(12 attributes)

After hours usage
Broader search results
Computer use
Introduction to new
things
Lots of preferences
No online access
Cleveland
outside of library
Not a free service
Open to public
Outside sources
Search method
Universal access
Ways to get information

Patron Archetypes

Disengaged Seeker
(9 attributes)

Can’t get book you want
(timely)
Don’t listen to
reviews/bad reviews (NPR
Reviews)
Embarrassing
Fear of puppets
Cleveland
Forgot card/license
Head aches
Injuries
Some people consider a
waste of money/space
(crafts)
Too long

Library Staff Archetypes
Ultimate Tour Guide
(7 attributes)

Advance reserve on
new materials
Abundance of items
One-stop shopping
Video/DVD lost in
drop box Buffalo-Erie
Access to materials
never afford
Up to date, current
materials
Diversity of materials

Library Services Archetypes
Out-of-Date IT
(6 attributes)

Access to PC’s
Message is too long
(automated computer
system)
Hamilton
Not enough computers
Public
Slow re-boot
Strong database
Technical-media
options

Library Services Archetypes
“Something for Everyone” Resources
(4 attributes)

Can’t remove reference
material
Extensive collection
Library for books, not Hamilton
movie rentals Public
Library for education
films, not Hollywood
movies

Themes: Issues and Problems

Themes

20
Number of Themes

15 Interaction
Technology
10 Efficiency
Money
5
Other

0
Theme Names

Values: Behaviors and Actions

Values

10
9
8
Community
Number of Values

7
Learning
6
Quality
5
Efficiency
4
Money/Risk
3
Other
2
1
0
Value Grouping

Example Focus Areas

Content Service Functionality
SMI Attributes
SMI Attributes Themes Cuts Down Searching
Vast Information Equal Access to Too Many Features
Services
Dedicated Local Library
Directories Ease of Use and Archetypes
Efficiency Satisfied Customer
In-depth Knowledge
Available Meeting Customer
Needs
Values
Archetypes Information Access
Archetypes Self-Learning
Something for
Frustrated Patron
Everyone Resources

Values
Qualities
Quality Librarian
Library Material Types Services
31

Primary Secondary
Anchor Anchor

7 PL Personas
Discovery Dan
 Dan represents the adult non-researcher population.
Haley High School
 Haley represents the high school student population.
Jennifer
 Jennifer represents the parents of teenagers.
Mommy Marcie
 Marcie represents the parents of young children.
Rick Researcher
 Rick represents adult researchers who own a personal computer.
Senior Sally
 Sally represents senior citizens.
Tasha Learner
 Tasha represents adult researchers who do not own a personal computer.

34

A typical day at the library: Stops by the library either on their way to or from work or over
their lunch break. May spend time on the weekend if they have a home project. Have
requested the books or DVD’s online so is either dropping them off or picking the
materials up. Enjoys lectures, classes or other non-traditional activities. Appreciates
connecting with the library staff during visits

Information-seeking behavior: Usually checks online to see what has newly arrived at
the library. If they have time during their stop over at the library itself, they will browse
what is new in the nonfiction and music; maybe the fiction shelf as well. Uses the library
to avoid the cost of buying materials. May purchase books after reviewing them in the
library. Signs out DVD’s and movies for entertainment. Appreciates the book club(s),
even if not an active participant. Also seeks community information (pamphlets, etc.)
Reads on-line reviews of books

Ultimate goal: To pick up the books, music or videos they are interested in. Or to simply
discover books or other material that piques their interest to expand their minds

Frustrations: Changing library hours. Unpredictable Internet search results. Pop-ups,
spam. Librarians who aren’t very good at referring them to specific sources or best
sources on a given topic – could be people as often as written information. Wishes
libraries would coordinate culling of collections and try to keep at least one copy of a
book in one of the libraries. Needs more consumer-friendly categorization of material.
Parking (downtown users) Hours need to match commute schedule. Wait-lists for
books so long that they are compelled to purchase the book from Amazon.

35

Product Considerations for Haley Discovery Dan
NEEDS FEATURES Gaps/Opportunities

36

A typical day at the library: They are not daily users of public libraries. When they do
come they focus on magazines, newspapers or quickly check their email or browse the
Internet. If they don’t have a good school library they will come to the public library after
conducting a web search. They may use the library computer to print out a paper,
especially if the shared computer at home is inaccessible.

Information-seeking behavior: Most information activity begins with a web search. They
will type in their search within “ ” and start there to determine what they need. They
might go to their school library or if they have a history of using public libraries, go to the
public library to get help from a reference librarian. They will likely IM their friends to
see what they are doing to find answers to the assignment. Public library Internet use
is up among teens from 36% in 2000 to 54% in 2005. When they go online 74% do it
from home, 17% from school and 9% other (community centers, churches, friend’s
house and libraries). Note: Teens are just as likely as adults to get news and
information about current events online. More than half report political news- seeking.
(Pew – Teens and Technology)

Ultimate goal: They want to complete a school project

Frustrations: The books are too advanced for a high school student. There are no public
library materials available on a web search. The library is at the bottom of the list for
research for some high schoolers.

37

MindTap - poc
Usability Testing
January, 2013
10 usertesting.com studies

• “Wikipedia on steroids.”
Summary
• “Could do a research paper with this!”

• “This is mind-blowing.” (Research Help)
5 MODERATED STUDIES
• Lots of valuable information in a controlled environment.
5 UN-MODERATED STUDIES
COLLEGE STUDENTS –

UNDERGRAD AND GRAD
• Right-clicking on item is valuable but users wouldn’t know it is
an option. How do we make it more evident?

• “Wall of text and “blocks of text can be intimidating.”

• Font size is too small on some pages. Consider adding the
ability to increase or decrease font size.

• A few users did not like being “bombarded” with too much
information when focusing on reading a textbook article.

• Numerous comments
regarding how helpful
videos are .
• Confusion as to whether a
user has to complete all
aspects of the tutorial
(video, examples, quizzes)
or can complete specific
sections only.

• Most well-received page of
the study. (portal page).
• After selecting ‘want to
see more?’ on the previous
page, users expectations
were often exceeded.
•Often cited as ‘what I
like most about this
site.’
•“Combines a lot of
things into one page.”
• “The fact that it is
broken down by
content type is better
than Wikipedia.”

Ng paw
Usability Testing
November 2012
26 usertesting.com studies

Summary

• Lots of excitement over the product, home page
40-65 YEARS OLD (10)
and features.
COLLEGE STUDENTS (13)
• Would use and recommend to others.
RANDOM (3)
• Lots of name recognition and familiarity (Nat Geo).
• Some re-ordering of content types necessary.
• Much confusion tied to ‘Departments.’
• ‘Graphing Tool’ is not understood.
• Collapse/expand and moving of content types is
not clear.
• Recommendations for image viewer.

• It presents a really cool repository of history over the last 125 years that are

The (Really) unavailable anywhere else on the web. I

good…. •I would use this site for research on school projects because it is easy to use,
navigate, has a plethora of information and is reputable/credible with great history.
INFORMATIVE
Really a prime go to spot for info.
CLEAN AND SIMPLE INTERFACE
• Much easier than having to find the actual printed volumes and wait for them to
MANY PAST OR PRESENT
arrive at our library. The website archive is very simple and easy.
SUBSCRIBERS
LITTLE USE OF THE MAGIC WAND • It provides information on many of the aspects of this planet such as environments,
animals, and culture.

• National Geographic has such an iconic logo.

• Expect that you're gonna be informed.

• That’s a large bank of data there.

• Slider draws my attention.

• Simple and straight forward.

• Covers look interesting.

• Polished and easy to use.

•I grew up on National Geographic and believe there is no other publication that
comes close to it.

User Test: Rank top three content types
Survey says…. Test #1

Feature articles # 1 overall but….
Visuals are key (images often
included in top three and
mentioned in comments)

User comments:
I’m coming here to get articles.

NG is known for their magazines.

NG is known for their photography.

I would rearrange the
categories/subjects to put the most
impactful ones at the top, particularly
featured images. That is what people
think of when they think of National
Geographic.

I would probably start my search
browsing for images.

User Test: Image viewer navigation (Where would you turn page?/Expect to turn
page?)
Survey says….

Users did see arrows to turn
page but the majority of users
would expect to turn pages on
the right hand of the page.

User comments:
It seems more natural to a reading
flow to click on the right rather than
go to the top of the page (to select
arrow).

Would expect to turn page closer to
where the page number is.

I would like/expect to turn the page
any time I’m close to left or right-
hand side of screen.

Click right and advance.

USABILITY SAYS….Add arrows to the
left and right and have them appear
as user hovers over a certain section

NCCO
Photo Archive
UX_Testing
December 2012
5 Moderated WebEx Studies

Looks “modern & clean” ; “love pictures of the
•

Summary
5 ACADEMIC SCHOLARS IN 18 TH
& archives”
19TH CENTURY LIT • All testers liked the descriptive hover-over tabs
JUSTIN, YALE PHD, 18TH C
• All testers liked predictive search
SLANEY, PURDUE PHD, 18TH C
• 2/5 users expressed much interest in graphing tool
TONYA, MARYMOUNT PROF., 18TH &
19TH CENTURY • Users understand the distinction between a
TOM, PROF. OF LIT., U OF
photographic content type and a book or manuscript
BIRMINGHAM , UK, 18TH & 19TH C
that merely contains photographs.

SARAH, MARYMOUNT PROF., 19TH & • Although all users can make this distinction, they
20TH C. BRITISH LIT. prefer to have some type of notification on search
results page that “floats” the illustration info from the
document page, up to results page
• Users had difficulty finding illustration information on
a document page, since scrolling down is often
required
• On document page, show illustrations before
related content

User Test: Search for Maps + China
Users Searching
NCCO say….

Users searched maps as a proxy for
searching photos
“Drilling down” into the
document to determine if it
contains illustrations is
cumbersome for our users. “if
the data exists there, can you
surface it here?”

Solutions:
•Users indicated that they understand
that not all maps or photos will display
under content types at left, but since
we have the metadata, and display it
on the document page, why not
surface it to the search results page
here (Arrow #1)

User Test: Search for Maps + China U01

User Test: Can you find illustrations on
the document page?
Users Searching
NCCO say….

searching photos
When relevant pages returned,
number so many as displayed
here, user does not see or know
to scroll down, to find illustration
information that is listed below

Solutions:
•When more than two rows or relevant
pages are returned, collapse the rest
of the page numbers in an accordion
or drop-down fashion, in order to
display critical information to the user
(Arrow #1)

User Test: Finding illustrations U05

User Test: Finding illustrations U04

User Test: What would you change ?
Users Searching
NCCO say….

searching photos
Users can accept that not all
maps or photos merit inclusion
in the map or photo content type
bucket, but still want to see these
‘lesser’ illustrations made more
visible on the document pages,
and floated to results page too.

Solutions:
•Collapse long lists of page numbers
(Arrow #1)
• Push ‘Related Volumes’ down the
page, since users care more about
finding contents and illustrations on
this page (Arrow #2)
•Highlight Illustrations and float them to
search results page (Arrow #3)

Supporting Libraries Advocacy

59

The Value of Libraries Soundbite
 The Value of Public Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-public-libraries/
 The Value of School Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-school-libraries/
 The Value of Academic and College Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-academic-and-
college-libraries/
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/11/01/the-value-of-academic-libraries-
redux-acrl/
 The Value of Special Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-special-libraries/
 Library Advocacy: Save the Library Campaigns
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/01/save-the-library-campaigns/
 Storytelling…

The Value of Libraries Soundbite

 The Value of Academic and College Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-academic-and-
college-libraries/
 ACRL The Value of Academic Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/11/01/the-value-of-academic-
libraries-redux-acrl/
 VALUE OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES TOOLKIT
http://www.ala.org/acrl/issues/value/valueofacademiclibrariestoolkit
• Working Together: Evolving Value for Academic Libraries
http://libraryvalue.wordpress.com/report/

Positioning the Library in The Right Minds

Reading not Books
Librarians not Libraries
Questions not Answers
Knowledge not Information
Community and Learning not Warehouses
Measurements not Statistics
Members or Students or Faculty not Users
Full Intellectual Access not Physical Access
Professional Consultative Service not Servant or mere efficient and effective
service

63

So what is the answer?
Where are the real pain points?

Let’s think
Think: Are you thinking food, courses,
days, weekly plan, or nutrition overall?
What is a meal in library end-user community or research, education and
learning terms?

The new
bibliography and
collection
development

KNOWLEDGE
PORTALS
KNOWLEDGE,
LEARNING,
INFORMATION &
RESEARCH
COMMONS

What are the real issues?
Craft versus Industrial Strength - Scalability
Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy
Hand knitted prototypes versus Production
e.g. Information Literacy initiatives
Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search
eLearning units
Strategic Analytics
Value measures
Behaviours

What We Never Really Knew Before
 27% of our users are under 18.
 59% are female.
 29% are college students. We often
believe a
 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.
lot that
 On any given day, 35% of our users are true. for the very
isn’t there
first time!
 Only 29% found the databases via the library website.
 59% found what they were looking for on their first search.
 72% trusted our content more than Google.
 But, 81% still use Google.

2010 Eduventures Research on Investments
 58% of instructors believe that technology in courses positively impacts student engagement.

 71% of instructors that rated student engagement levels as “high” as a result of using technology in courses.

 71% of students who are employed full-time and 77% of students who are employed part-time prefer more technology-
based tools in the classroom.

 79% of instructors and 86 percent of students have seen the average level of engagement improve over the last year as
they have increased their use of digital educational tools.

 87% of students believe online libraries and databases have had the most significant impact on their overall
learning.

 62% identify blogs, wikis, and other online authoring tools while 59% identify YouTube and recorded lectures.

 E-books and e-textbooks impact overall learning among 50% of students surveyed, while 42% of students identify online
portals.

 44% of instructors believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student
engagement.

 32% of instructors identify e-textbooks and 30% identify interactive homework solutions as having the potential to improve
engagement and learning outcomes. (e-readers was 11%)

 49% of students believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.

 Students are more optimistic about the potential for technology.

What we know is POWERFUL! Facts + Stories
Via Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
“Curb Your Librarian Frustration in 8 Easy Steps”
New York State 2012 Summary of School Library Research
Ken Haycock OLA Summary of School Library Impact Studies
Advance: McKinley HS Study by Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow reports to Congress
Alison Head and Information Fluency research
Foresee Data and Overall Usage Data
Pew Internet & American Life reports
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation studies
IMLS, NCES, ARL, ACRL, ALA, LJ, etc.

77

Be More Open to the Users’ Path

Until the lion learns to write her own story,
the story will always be from the perspective
of the hunter not the hunted.

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
VP strategic partnerships and markets
Cengage Learning (Gale)
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@cengage.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
Facebook, Pinterest: Stephen Abram
LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram
Twitter: @sabram
SlideShare: StephenAbram1

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