G R O U P 2R O S E D E E B & M I C H A E L M O R C O S

RUTGERS ARCHIVES WEBSITE

W H AT D O I D O ? . . .

HOME PAGE OF RUTGERS ARCHIVE WEBSITE

DATA COLLECTION

• Survey• 10 Questions• Distributed to 17 people, with a total of 10 respondents • All students were grad students of the MLIS program at

Rutgers, the bulk of them were concurrently enrolled the Manuscripts and Archives class.

• Interviews• 2 separate, face-to-face interviews conducted by each

group member (approx. 15-20 minutes each)• Interviewees were asked to complete a set of tasks and

then encouraged to explore the site and provide feedback.

SURVEY & INTERVIEW RESULTS

• Site Users• High level of comfort using a computer• Experienced using online information retrieval systems• All respondents visited this site from a desktop (vs.

mobile)

• Common Tasks & Search Preferences• Browse (mostly images, when available)• Browse by Collection • Browse by Category

• Desired Features (currently not supported)• Online Request for Reproductions of Archival Materials• Online Payment for Reproductions and Shipping Costs

COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH: REQUEST REPRODUCTIONS AND PAY FOR THEM

• This task is currently not supported online and would have to be performed through a series of steps (9) including:• Browsing for the desired archival record• Emailing and/or calling the University Archives and

requesting the archivist locate and scan and/or photocopy the record (takes time!)

• The archivist would then have to call you back (or the user would have to call back)

• Then, if or when the record is located, paying for the scans and shipping with a credit card over the phone (requests are usually fulfilled a minimum of 2 weeks)

EYE-TRACKING EXERCISE

EYE-TRACKING EXERCISE

• Task: • From the Rutgers University Archives Homepage, locate an

image of the Old Queen’s building from one of the online collections.

• Results:• Initially looked for a way to search the site and kept looking

to the top of the page for navigation• The multiple ways of navigating in the Rutgers Through the

Years collection was very confusing, as well as the navigational elements

• Took the user 5:19 to locate the image

• Comments: • Needs simple navigation• Need to minimize the time and steps involved in

browsing/searching through the online archives collections

PAPER PROTOTYPERE-DESIGN OF RUTGERS ARCHIVES HOME PAGE

Old: NEW!:

PAPER PROTOTYPEBROWSE THROUGH COLLECTIONS AND ZOOM IN ON IMAGE

1. Browse Collections:2. Enter Collection

Category:

PAPER PROTOTYPEBROWSE THROUGH COLLECTIONS AND ZOOM IN ON IMAGE

3. View Specific Collection:

4. Enlarge Thumbnail Image:

PAPER PROTOTYPEREQUEST AND PAY FOR ITEM ONLINE

1. Click “REQUEST”: 2. Requested Items List

PAPER PROTOTYPEREQUEST AND PAY FOR ITEM ONLINE

3. Address/Payment Forms: 4. Payment Confirmation