Libraries Web Site Analysis

A libraries web site is the virtual front door to many of the services and information that it provides to patrons. There are several things that can be done to examine and evaluate the use of a web site. The first step is to start by gathering information about the libraries web site from a variety of different sources from user statistics to conducting a usability study. It starts by understanding your library patrons and anticipating how a web site might best effectively meet their needs. If we anticipate the questions patrons have, we can better design and develop a web site that meets and may even exceed their exceptions. One of the best ways to gather information about the needs of patrons is to illicit feedback from the librarians

The information that you collect is great resource to understand the types of information people need help in locating. If you have a high number of questions that are similar in nature they might be able to be answered through a new web service. While working at the reference desk in the Information Commons at Indiana University, we would get several questions about locating information within the libraries web site. This information was directly incorporated in to the libraries new web site to make it easier for patrons to find the items they where looking for that already

The most effective way to evaluate a web site is to conduct a usability study with people who are your target audience. Nielsen and Loranger (2006) describe usability as “...how quickly people can learn to use something, how efficient they are while using it, how memorable it is...and how much users like using it”. In other words how easy is if for someone to use your web site. This evaluation is based upon the research that Nielsen, Loranger, and others have done in the area of usability research along with my own experiences doing usability studies, creating prototypes, and redesigning web