1. CONSULS Usability Issues
& Why all Catalogs Fail in the Context
of the Library’s Web Presence

2. Get information on the Weantinocks at
the State Library

3. Huh? Where Am I? What’s CONSULS?
Where’s my info? What’s “course
reserves”?

4. What users expect

5. (or book-specifically) this…

6. Try #2:
Get information on the Weantinocks at
the State Library
Reformulate
(translation… it’s not the catalog, it’s
my lousy searching)

7. Get information on the Weantinock
OK, let me be less specific – how about native americans Connecticut (or
would it be indians?)

9. Question – how come “Native Americans Connecticut” search
results are different than the ones below for “Indians
Connecticut”? (e.g., the former includes a book on the
Quinnipiacs, the latter does not)

10. OK, I get it – “indians” (native american) v. “Indians” (from
Indian) – but why didn’t it behave more like Google?

11. Looking at the details for a
specific book (the bib record):
What is this?
Where to begin?
I want to know more before I
hit the stacks … & where in the
stacks is it again? What visual
cues will tell me that I’ve found
the right book on the shelf?
Why can’t I just get the
content or at least preview the
book?
Why not?
It’s impossible… can’t be
done… Yeah, websites look
better, but library systems are
more complex than websites…

12. So this is what I got…

13. But this is what I wanted…

15. OK, we can make do – let’s request it…

16. Request?

17. OK, make a list of items to get from stacks (though the SMS from Bib
Record is definitely a great enhancement!)… hmmm…. “Save
Record”…. Ok, where is it? …. “View All Saved Records”

18. How do I email it? How come I can’t just email it from the bib record
screen itself, as we see on regular news articles online? OK, I guess it’s
“View and Export Your Saved Records”???? This form is frustrating,
too…Do I need to check off the record?

19. What I was expecting….

20. What I got…

21. And why do I have to hit a “Start Over”
option to search again?

22. Why it’s a pretty face (VuFind)

23. Though its algorithm still isn’t as smart as Google’s – at least it
“suggests topics” that get me there when I search on “indians”

24. At least we’re getting closer to content

25. And there’s a simple “Email this” option (along with others) at
the Top of the Bib Record – creates a “modal box”

26. So much more…
• Tagging
• Which to some degree = tweaking the search
engine (in real time) to respond to the users’
language

27. But from my perspective, the biggest
thing is…
• Your library is YOUR library – even online
• The experience of using your library online is
the experience of using YOUR library
• = the digital branch
• But this is only true when you have a product
that integrates (at least at a surface level, but
ideally much deeper) the website and the
catalog and other digital assets/collections