Janet Fletcher, The Library, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia jfletcher@scu.edu.au
As the number of university distance education courses increases, so does the demand to utilise new technologies such as the World Wide Web to provide the necessary support and guidance to distance education students. As a result, university libraries are preparing their own web home pages and associated web links as the means for distance education students to access library services, facilities and resources. Despite the home page being regarded as the primary orientation point, little research has been conducted into its effectiveness on the subsequent use of the library's electronic resources. This paper is based on a literature survey and a series of focus group interviews of Southern Cross University distance education students. The purpose of the research was to identify criteria which should be incorporated in the design of a university's library home page to ensure that it is appropriate for the study needs of distance education students.
As libraries move toward a stronger use of electronic formats, there is a great expectation that users will be able to navigate through the library services independently. For those who are on-campus, there is assistance available should they experience difficulty. For those who are distance students, the only source of information and support may be through those same electronic sources. The quality of the electronic guidance offered to such students therefore becomes an important issue. This is particularly critical for universities where many students learn through distance education.
It is important, therefore, that the electronic support offered by libraries is effective and functional. Just as the entrance to a library is designed to orientate a user by providing visual and textual clues, so too is there a need to provide effective access for students exploring the library by electronic means. In recent years, an electronic library connection is achieved through access via the World Wide Web (web). In this situation, the usual access point for distance education users is the home page of a library. As the "door" to the library, the home page should create an overall view and impression of the library by giving some indication of what types of facilities, resources and services are available and how they can be found (Cooper, 1997; Stover & Zink, 1996).
While the importance of screen design has received much attention, little research has been conducted into the effects of a library's home page on the subsequent use of its electronic resources. For example, the guides and cues offered and the manner in which the user interrogates the service, are important influences on the ease with which a person may navigate through library information. This paper will describe the design of the home page and discuss its impact on the use of library resources by distance education students.
The paper is based on a literature survey and a series of focus group interviews of Southern Cross University distance education students. The purpose of the research was to identify criteria which should be incorporated in the design of a university's library home page to ensure that it is appropriate for the study needs of distance education students. This was achieved by identifying the library home page features that assist distance education students in accessing university electronic services.
Though providing distance education courses is not a new concept, the use of technology in developing on-line courses has created opportunities for more learner-centred programs and the ability for greater communication to occur between teacher/student and student/student (Agostinho, Lefoe, & Hedberg, 1997). Bates (1997) comments that using technology for distance education is often regarded as a way to improve access to educational opportunities, improve quality of teaching and learning, and allow education to be cost effective. He argues, however, that there is a danger of being seduced by the potential of technology, thereby forgetting the hurdles technology can create.
Davison (1996), for example, states that distance education students have often never studied at tertiary level or are returning to study after a long break. A high percentage of students are women and in most circumstances, distance education students will be working full-time and/or have conflicting interests. The challenge for these students, as well as learning to cope with study and its associated tasks, is that they are forced into possessing, or having access to, appropriate technology and more importantly, knowing how to use it.
The challenge for university libraries, therefore, is to provide a service for distance education students that recognises their special needs and which utilises technology appropriately (Brinkley & Farrell, 1995; Burge, Snow & Howard, 1989). Often this has resulted in a library offering remote services to a range of core library functions including access to the library catalogue, interlibrary loans, borrowing of material, document delivery, reference services, training in information literacy skills, and personal contacts with subject librarians (Brophy 1992). Studies in this field have investigated and discussed what are the appropriate modes of delivery of these services. These range from traditional methods such as by post and telephone (Cavanagh & Lingham, 1994) and the use of external library sources (Macauley, 1997) to the use of electronic and telecommunication devices (Appleton & Hall, 1993; Blinko, 1996; Brinkley & Farrell, 1995; Brophy, Goodall & Wynne, 1996; Van Dyk, 1996). Most recently the web has become the preferred method of delivery due to its appeal of being easy to use and its ability to accommodate multimedia products and interactive services (Stover & Zink, 1996).
Many university libraries are at the forefront in using technology to assist and support students in the access and use of resources. With the advent of the Internet, the demand for off-campus and desktop services and digitising of paper resources, the university library is swiftly transforming to become a combination of both physical and "virtual" library (Lim, 1996; Schmidt & Wilson, 1998).
This has required careful planning on how to develop the virtual library. Issues such as where to locate computing equipment, the type/s of electronic resources to be made available, what level/s of access should be given and most importantly, what interface between the user and resources is the most appropriate. In the last instance, the popularity of the web may imply that creating interfaces using web browser technology would be ideal. However, due to the restrictive and varied nature of university networks, and software and technical requirements, using web concepts rather than using web browsers has been most common. The University of Melbourne Library's Buddy system, for example, uses Microsoft's Visual Basic to create a "point and click" menu interface to access its multiple electronic products and platforms (Cunnington, 1998). Similarly, at the University of Washington Libraries, a Session Manager was introduced to provide a uniform menu interface to its varied databases (Eliasen, McKinstry, Fraser & Babbitt, 1997).
Despite the difficulties and technical hurdles there is, however, a progression towards creating a web browser interface between a library's electronic services and its users. Due to user friendliness, familiarity to users and the ability to integrate different media and services, the web browser is an extremely powerful and flexible library tool (Metz & Junion-Metz, 1996). As a result academic libraries throughout the world are creating their own web sites. How successful such web sites will be depends on what navigation cues are made available to assist users in successfully navigating through vast amounts of information in order to find the right information at the right time (Drake, 1996; Lyman, 1994). Success also depends on determining the purpose of the library home page in the first place. The purpose will determine the format and content of the page (Clyde, 1996).
The criteria used to determine a good web design, have been the subject of a number of recent studies (Campbell & Waddell, 1997; Cooper, 1997; Mosley & Xiao, 1996; Stern, 1995; Stover & Zink, 1996). It is evident from these studies that screen layout and terminology, searching capabilities, graphic elements and style are primary factors in the users' satisfaction level and success rate in obtaining meaningful content when using web sites. It is important to recognise that users will be using different browsers and hence what they see on their screen will differ (Mosley & Xiao, 1996) . It is also important to identify how potential users will be using the web site, for the useability of a home page design should be based on how users are solving problems and/or seeking information (Cottrell & Eisenberg, 1997).
To reach these conclusions, the studies primarily focused on researchers' own skills and experience and knowledge in understanding and interpreting the needs and behaviours of users. In contrast, other studies have investigated the use of web sites by directly involving the general user (Morkes & Nielsen, 1997; Nielsen, 1998). Users were required to search specified web pages in order to find the answers to prepared questions . As well as requiring users to undertake searches and be observed whilst doing this, they were also asked to complete questionnaires and participate with verbal feedback about their preferences of navigational features, page design and layout, site architecture, and graphic styles. Similar methods have been used in other studies, for example to investigate the use of online menus (Eliasen et al., 1997) and online catalogues (Connaway, Johnson & Searing, 1997). In the latter study, the primary method to determine users' perspective and priorities on using the online catalogue was through the use of focus groups and questionnaires.
A range of methodologies may be employed to examine the opinions and attitudes of respondents. The focus group interview technique is gaining recognition as an effective means of researching respondent impressions where the "goal is to explain how people regard an experience, idea or event" (Krueger, 1994, p.8). Often such a technique is used to help define issues to be used in subsequent studies and for generating new ideas, as the qualitative results provide useful insights into user behaviours (Berger & Hines, 1994; Neuman, 1997; Rice-Lively & Racine, 1997). The ability to use open-ended questions allowing students to share experiences and elaborate on issues, has meant that focus groups are often used in areas where it is important to measure the impact of a service on clients. Therefore, this method is particularly useful in educational, health and other fields of social science (Connaway at al., 1997; Jong & Schellens, 1998). Utilising focus groups to gather qualitative data is a recognised method of achieving theoretical relevance, with validity of the study being achieved if the scope of the study is suitable for focus group inquiry (Krueger, 1994). By defining the characteristics of a focus group and applying these to the intended study it is evident that it is a valid method of research. It is recommended that focus groups should be characterised by homogeneity but have enough variation to ensure exploration of opinions and ideas (Krueger, 1994).
As the purpose of the study was to investigate how distance education students interrogate library home pages, it was essential that distance education students were the subjects. Southern Cross University distance education students who are currently using the web as their primary access to library resources were invited to participate in the study. A total of sixteen subjects were randomly selected from those who responded to the invitation. The interviews were held at the University Centres at Port Macquarie and Coolangatta during February 1999. Students were aged between 18-65 and all were undergraduate students who had already completed at least one year of study at the University.
Participants were questioned about their preferred home page features and the difficulties they have encountered in using university library home pages. They were also asked to consider what features might be available from a library's home page in 2010. The participants were shown seven Australian university library home pages that belonged to institutions with a large number of distance education students and/or with a strong regional presence, namely; Central Queensland University (CQU) [HREF1], Charles Sturt University (CSU) [HREF2], Deakin University (DU) [HREF3], Edith Cowan University (ECU) [HREF4], Monash University (MU) [HREF5], Southern Cross University (SCU) [HREF6], and University of Southern Queensland (USQ) [HREF7]. They were asked to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each presentation. (N.B. These comments should be seen as relating only to the version of each institution's webpage presented in February 1999.) Each group was then asked to design a library home page incorporating the features that they deemed the most useful in helping them undertake library research.
From the initial general discussion about how the participants had researched for assignments in 1998, ten commented that they preferred to access library resources by traditional means. This included visiting a university library near to where they lived and/or relying on material from reading lists being posted to them. However, most participants said that they had used material they had found on the Internet and had used Southern Cross University's library home page to access the library catalogue. The reluctance to use the electronic library was primarily due to participants not knowing what was available.
The lack of understanding about what libraries had to offer was quickly apparent when the participants were asked to compare the six university library home pages. Initial comments were not about the look of the home pages but rather of the language used, with participants disliking the use of "library speak" or parochial terms such as, Moninfo (MU), Databases or Electronic Databases (ECU, MU, CQU), Reserve or Electronic Reserve (CQU, CSU), Electronic Resources Directory (MU), Electronic Information Sources (USQ), Electronic Services (SCU), Information Resources (DU) and Information Kiosk (MU). Even when accompanied with some explanatory text, the participants did not believe that the meaning was clear enough. They agreed that using this terminology reinforced their lack of confidence in being able to use library resources. As one student stated, at least when you are in a "real" library, if you are confused with unfamiliar signage or library guides, there are supporting visual clues and personal assistance available. As all the home pages use these terms to some degree and are usually the links to the most important areas of the website, it is a concern that users do not understand what they mean.
Similarly, common terms such as What's New (ECU), Our Noticeboard (SCU) and Picks of the Week (USQ) had different meanings for different participants and hence twelve of the participants deemed them unnecessary. The remaining participants said, time permitting, they would check to see what was there. They agreed that in order for them to do this, the links had to be prominently displayed, such as Monash University's "Headlines". All participants believed that if a library wanted to promote new services or developments, it is more effective to disseminate this information via email.
The participants were impressed with most of the home page designs. Factors that they considered were colours, download speed, graphics and layout. The colours of the home pages were regarded as the most important design feature. The participants considered that a library home page should have an uncluttered layout by limiting the number of colours and ensuring that the background's colour did not overpower the site. The most popular colours for a home page were either a white background with blue and black text and sections highlighted in blue (CSU) or a blue background with contrasting text in blue, black and white (MU). No comments were made about font size or design and it is assumed that this meant that font styles are appropriate.
The participants agreed that a library home page should provide a banner at the top of the page that clearly identifies itself and its institution. The inclusion of any other graphic was not essential, particularly as the participants knew that additional graphics would slow downloading. If graphics were provided they should represent the content, for example, a book icon to represent the catalogue. Though most of the home pages included its URL, date of last update, disclaimer and copyright notices and email address of the web author, the participants did not consider this information essential. They did agree, however, that it was reassuring that a home page was being regularly updated. Some students even interpreted the update notice to represent the entire web site and hence consider it an indicator that the library's resources are current.
Five of the home pages (CSU, DU, MU, USQ) have been designed to fit key information into a single 14" screen with the remaining three requiring scrolling down to a second screen. The need to scroll was not considered important by the participants though they all agreed that two screens should be the maximum length of a home page.
All participants considered the look and feel of the pages and asserted that simplicity was the key to a good design. They thought that the best way to achieve this was to keep the number of links to a minimum. The inclusion of a drop down menu, for example MU's "Choose a shortcut", that reduced the number of displayed words yet at the same time provided fast access to several different library resources, was highly regarded.
Though the participants did not investigate pages beyond the home page, they correctly identified the links that lead directly to a resource. The participants wanted most links on the home page to do this with wording needing to be clear and succinct. The less time they spent wading through text and secondary pages the better. Providing a search function was also considered beneficial in reducing time searching for resources.
The participants were unanimous that a library home page should provide as much guidance to the user as possible. This was particularly important for new users but is also relevant to the more experienced. What type of help is required became evident when discussing what a library home page might be like in 2010.
In 2010, participants believed that library research would be a simple process of telling the computer (no keyboard) what they required and receiving a list of relevant full-text resources back. The procedure would be so intuitive and reliable that success in finding resources in a timely manner would be very high. However, as no system is infallible, if users needed help all they would need to do is call for assistance and they would instantly be connected to an information professional. All services would be available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
In considering what is available today, it is not surprising that the participants rated the need to communicate with library staff very important. The participants did not believe that the design of the library home pages reflected this importance. Five libraries (CQU, ECU, MU, SCU, USQ) provided no clear references to support and though Deakin University provided links to assistance that participants thought may be useful, they were unsure to what extent. Only CSU was deemed to be helpful due to the inclusion of a "First time user" and prominent email addresses. Participants were seeking assistance beyond on-line tutorials and user guides. They wanted to feel assured that "someone" was at the other end of the computer to help them whether it be for technical assistance, help in searching for resources or even making a request to have material sent to them.
After analysing the library home pages, participants were asked to list the top six features that a library home page should have. Excluding the obvious feature that the library and its institution should be clearly identified, in order of importance, the six were:
Though the focus group participants found most of the library home pages visually appealing, they believe that barriers such as the style of language and not clearly identifying methods of communicating with library staff, reduced the effectiveness of the home pages. The challenge for library web developers, therefore, is to ensure that future improvements in library home page design must tackle not only how the pages look but how to present and give access to an ever increasing amount of resources in a style that is easily understood and identifiable. In addition, it is evident that users are not yet confident enough to undertake research in isolation and hence require a high level of support from their library.
Based on this focus group interview data, the design of the library home page and associated web pages at Southern Cross University is currently under review. It is envisaged that appropriate changes will be made during March 1999. It is also intended that a questionnaire will be prepared and distributed electronically to a larger selection of Southern Cross University distance education participants. It will seek to confirm points raised at the focus groups and to identify and clarify any further issues relating to what features are expected of a good library home page. The results of this questionnaire will be published later in 1999.
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Janet Fletcher, © 1999. The author assigns to Southern Cross University and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The author also grants a non-exclusive licence to Southern Cross University to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web.