User Studies for Digital Library Development
ISBN: 9781856047654
Published: 2012
6 x 9 | 192 pp. | $99.95
As the information environment becomes increasingly electronic, digital libraries have proliferated, but the focus has often been on innovations in technology and not the user. User Studies For Digital Library Development focuses on the feedback that matters most when developing digital services: the library user’s. Research and analysis of users is essential to fine-tune the content and approach of digital libraries, and this landmark guide by Milena Dobreva, Andy O'Dwyer, and Pierluigi Feliciati explores the place and methods of user studies in digital libraries and explains the different types of studies. Offering methods to ensure libraries are effective, accessible and sustainable in the long term, this book covers such key topics as
- The place of user studies in digital libraries
- Explaining user-centric studies, information behavior and user experience studies
- User-study methods, including surveys, questionnaires, expert evaluation methods, eye tracking, deep log analysis, personae and ethnographic studies
- Critical issues such as evaluation of digital libraries, digital preservation, social media, the shift to mobile devices, and ethics
- How user studies function in different types of institutions, from libraries, archives, and museums to audiovisual collections and art collections
- The future of user studies
This book is ideal for anyone involved in the development, design, or support of digital library services.
