Report prepared by:

Sharee Cordes –

(N9129111)

Lisa Hetherington

(N9758595)2016IFN617- Managing and Organising CollectionsAssessment 2- Bibliographic Database Report

Image from: creativecommons.org

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Contents Page

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 2

2. Topic area................................................................................................................................................. 3

3. User group................................................................................................................................................ 3

4. Rules and standards.................................................................................................................................. 4

5. Chosen Fields and Indexing Policy:........................................................................................................... 4

Table 1: Fields and Indexing...................................................................................................................... 5

6. Searching the database........................................................................................................................... 11

7. Evaluation of Database........................................................................................................................... 16

Table 2: Criteria for Database Evaluation............................................................................................... 16

User Testing.................................................................................................................................................. 16

User 1: 16 year old, male........................................................................................................................... 17

User 2: 14 year old female......................................................................................................................... 17

Table 3: Overall Evaluation of Database................................................................................................. 20

8. Evaluation of Software.............................................................................................................................. 21

9. Conclusion................................................................................................................................................ 23

10. References.............................................................................................................................................. 24

Logan City Council’s ‘Great Graphics’ Database:.......................................................................................24

Literature referred to in report:................................................................................................................. 24

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1. Introduction

What constitutes quality in an online catalogue from the perspective of library professionals has been well-understood within the profession since library automation was born with the advent of MARC standards coinciding with the growth of computer technologies in the 1960s (Wallace, 1991; Jordan, 2013). Only in the past decade, however, has the profession come to understand the importance of end-user experience, the experience of the intended users of the catalogue, in the design of online library catalogues (OCLC, 2009; Jordan, 2013;). A positive end user experience is determined by a number of factors including:

the expectations of the information seekers being met when entering the catalogue site,

the usability of the site to search, navigate and browse,

the ease/ speed of delivery of wanted items influenced by the number of avenues for discovery, and

the ability of users to interact with the items in the catalogue

(Jordan, 2013; OCLC, 2009; Markey, 2007).

These are generic conditions for a positive user experience, yet they are achieved in different ways depending on the specific information seeking behaviours and searching and retrieval preferences of each collection’s target demographic (Jordan, 2013; Schmidt, 2013).

The scope and purpose of this report is to describe the process of designing an online bibliographic database for a collection to meet the specific information seeking behaviours, expectations and needs of a particular user group. The report includes literature-based evidence of the characteristics of our target demographic and subsequently how our users’ characteristics have influenced the application of tools, methods and standards for the management, organization, description, classification and display of items within the collection.

An evaluation of the database developed is provided based on usability tests which investigated the ability of target users to accomplish set tasks, their interaction with the interface and their feedback on the site. Additionally, an appraisal of CONTENTdm, the digital collection management system software used, is reported on, characterized by the functions it provides and the ease with which the administrators were able to use it to facilitate the actions required by end-users. Within the evaluation sections, recommendations are given for improvements to the software with both the user, the collection administrators, and the end-user, the library patrons, in mind. Such Improvements in usability for user and end-user are deemed to lead to greater use and participation in a collection (Murphy, 2011).

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2. Topic area

This database is a collection of Graphic Novel resources collated for the young adults of the Logan City Council Libraries.

3. User group

Logan City is an ethnically and linguistically diverse community with 31% of residents under the age of 20 years (ID Consulting Pty Ltd., 2015/16). The SEIFA Index of Disadvantage identifies the Logan Council area as being a low socio-economic area with high levels of unemployment and low educational attainment (The State of Logan’s Children and Young People, 2015). The users for this collection are young adults aged from 12 to 20. The collection has been developed in line with the Logan City Council’s mandate to ‘afford quality library and cultural services that meet the specific needs of the Logan community and to make a difference within their community by enabling the growth of creativity, literacy and learning’ (Logan City Council, 2016). In order to do this, it is important to create a database that is consistent, easy to use, and meets the needs of the young adult users.

Research shows that young adults prefer to seek information from peers and trusted adults and are hesitant to ask for help from librarians (Agosto & Hughes-Hassell, 2010; Latrobe & Havener, 1997). Convenience is important to them(Shenton & Dixon, 2003), and they are conscious of not wanting to embarrass themselves by making mistakes in front of others (Fisher, Marcoux, Meyers, & Landry, 2007; Shenton & Dixon, 2004a). Young people like to use the internet to search for their resources, but their search strategies show little preliminary planning and are based on trial and error methods (Shenton, 2007; Williamson, McGregor, Archibald, & Sullivan, 2007). Young adults reported being frustrated by irrelevant search results and slow internet (Shenton & Dixon, 2004b). The implications of this research for our database are that we need to ensure it is convenient and easy for our users to navigate without the need to seek assistance or the risk of embarrassing mistakes. We would try to ensure that searches do not provide irrelevant results. It would also be important that the librarian considers other ways to promote the collection and the database, such as displays and events, that would lead to ‘word of mouth’ recommendations which might send people to the database looking for particular items.

Graphic novel series are often continuing stories as opposed to stand alone episodes, so it is important that graphic novel readers are able to read through these books in the order in which they were released Fee, 2013). Another important facility desired by graphic novel fans is the ability to locate every appearance of a character and every item created by a particular artist or writer (Fee, 2013). Further to this, Tarulli states that publisher is an important factor for many graphic novel fans and they would prefer to have them identified by publisher rather than by series (Tarulli, 2010). According to Fee (2013), the search needs of comic book fans differ to those of the general public and he suggests adding as much detail as possible to accommodate the demands of their searches. This poses a conflict for our collection database, as we want to

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provide a simple, easy to use interface that will meet the needs of teen users, while also providing the level of detail required by graphic novel enthusiasts.

There are several implications for our database that we can draw from this knowledge of graphic novel enthusiasts. Firstly, our database needs to be simple and easy to understand, but also offer users the option to access much more detailed information including series details, publisher details, information about characters, illustrators and cover artists. A variety of access points have been identified as being important to graphic novel enthusiasts (character, artist, publisher), so there should be an option to narrow searches to these headings. The database also needs to have options to pull together lists of items with similar characteristics, for example a search of all the items with a particular character, or by a particular cover artist.

4. Rules and standards

The LCCL Graphic Novel database will be generated using Content DM, a digital collection management system comprising a server where content is stored, a web-based content discovery interface and tools to upload and manage the content (DCC, 2014), with authority field headings mapped to RDA. One of the advantages of using RDA is that it will allow for list of items to be created that share similar characteristics and this is a feature that should appeal to graphic novel readers ( Fee, 2008; Tarulli, 2010). RDA also has the benefit of being able to cater for all types of media, including digital items, so this is useful for this collection that includes a variety of different formats (Bianchini & Guerrini, 2015; Chapman, 2010). RDA caters to the different information needs of users ensuring that relevant items are most likely to be found (Bianchini & Guerrini, 2015) which will be particularly useful to graphic novel enthusiasts.

In the subject heading field this database uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings. It is important to have a controlled vocabulary for this field to ensure consistency and aid searchability. Library of Congress subjects are used throughout Logan City Council Libraries so this controlled vocab will be used to ensure consistency across the library collection.

5. Chosen Fields and Indexing Policy:

Table 1 below gives a description of the database structure, with a justification for the authority files and the indexing policy chosen to make the data entry consistent. Most of the authority files will be searchable, unhidden fields as it is assumed that some users may wish to search for the item with information included in these fields or may be interested in accessing the metadata within these fields for future reference and/or to learn more about the item. This assumption has been made based on our research into the use of these fields in cataloguing for our users which has been explained in column 3: Reason for Field inclusion and naming of field, of the table. If information in the field is unsearchable or hidden, an explanation for this has been provided in the table. Most fields are not required for entry into the data base as they may not be applicable for every item within our collection due the variety of item formats within it. For required fields, an explanation has been given

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in the table below. Controlled vocabularies uphold consistency in preferred terms and the consignment of the same terms to comparable content whilst simultaneously capturing the abundance of variant terms (Harpring, 2010). Hence, the assignment of controlled vocabulary is only relevant for fields that will have consistently similar content. Explanation has been given for why some fields have been ascribed to have controlled vocabulary.

Table 1: Fields and Indexing

Field Name in ContentDM

Field in RDA Reason for Field inclusion and naming of field

Indexing Policy SearchableFields

Hidden Fields

Required Fields Controlled vocabulary

1.Title

RDA: 2.3.2Title proper

Title is a very common way for people to search for items that they are looking for (Antelman et al, 2006). Although the field name is called ‘Title proper’ in RDA, 2.3.2, our users would be far more likely to search the field name ‘Title’.

Each word within the title will be capitalized except for articles and prepositions unless they appear at the beginning of the title e.g. The End of the Line

Yes No Yes. All items in a catalogue must have or be assigned a title to identify them by.

No

2.Alternate Title

RDA: 2.3.6 Variant Title

Numerous literary works are published under different titles in different parts of the world. As our users come from diverse cultural backgrounds and have access to the social media globally through the internet, they may be more familiar with an alternative title than the one used for publication in Australia. Variant Title 2.3.6’ in RDA matches to ‘Alternate Title’ which we have chosen as this term is deemed more accessible to our users.

Each word within the alternate title will be capitalized except for articles and prepositions unless they appear at the beginning of the title e.g. The End of the Line

Yes No No No

3.Series Title and Volume

RDA: 2.12.2Title Proper of Series andRDA: 2.12.9Numbering  within Series

Series Title and Volume Number will be included under one field in Content DM. Series are very popular with teens and graphic novel enthusiasts so whether an item is part of a series and the ordering of the item within the series is highly applicable to our users (Agosto and Hughes-Hassell, 2010) who have been reported to prefer reading multi-title events in a chronological order, thus preserving the storyline (Fee, 2013).

Each word within the series title will be capitalized except for articles and prepositions unless they appear at the beginning of the title. This will be followed by the volume number written in the following format:The End of the Line - Vol. 3

Yes No No No

4. RDA: 2.4.2 Author is a very common way for Author names will be Yes No No (for some No

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Author/s Statement of responsibility relating to title proper

people to search for written items, such as books, magazines, comics and blogs (Antelman et al, 2006). Although the field name is called ‘Statement of responsibility relating to title proper’ in RDA, 2.4.2, our users would not be familiar with this RDA field name.

consistently entered in the following formatSurname, initial of first name/se.gHetherington,L. J.When there is more than one author, author names will appear on separate lines.

items, the author’s details are no available)

5.Illustrator

RDA: 2.4.2Statement of responsibility relating to title proper

As the illustrations are often as important as the text in graphics novels, as both work together to tell the story, the illustrator may be just as well-known as the author and hence ‘illustrator’ has been attributed its own field. (Bongco, 2014).  Although the field name is called ‘Statement of responsibility relating to title proper’ in RDA, 2.4.2, our users would search for ‘illustrator’.

Illustrator names will be consistently entered in the following formatSurname, initial of first name/se.gHetherington,L. J.When there is more than one illustrator, illustrator names will appear on separate lines.

Yes No No No

6.Cover Artist

RDA: 2.4.2Statement of responsibility relating to title proper

Cover artists are also extremely well-known by graphic novel enthusiasts. A great cover promotes the story within and introduces the issue’s mood and aesthetic. (The CMYK-Stained Paste Comics Team, 2015) Hence, ‘cover artist’ is a pertinent searchable field. The field name was chosen as our users would search for ‘cover artist’ rather than ‘Statement of responsibility relating to title proper’ (RDA: 2.4.2)

Cover artist will be consistently entered in the following formatSurname, initial of first name/se.gHetherington,L. J.When there is more than one cover artist, cover artist names will appear on separate lines.

Yes No No No

7.Director

RDA: 2.4.2Statement of responsibility relating to title properRDA: 2.4.2

Director is a very common way for people to search for published audio-visual items due to the importance of the director in the film’s production and the extent to which many directors are known globally (Hadida, 2010). Although the field name is called ‘Statement of responsibility relating to title properRDA: 2.4.2’ our users would be far more likely to search the field

Director names will be consistently entered in the following formatSurname, initial of first name/se.gHetherington,L. J.When there is more than one director, director names will

Yes No No No

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name ‘Director’. appear on separate lines.

8.Producer

RDA: 2.4.2Statement of responsibility relating to title proper

Producer is a very common way for people to search for published audio-visual items as it is the producer of a motion picture who is accredited with the accolade of ‘Best Picture’, for example (Barclay, 2015), and hence is often well-known. Although the field name is called ‘Statement of responsibility relating to title properRDA: 2.4.2’ our users would be far more likely to search the field name ‘Producer.

Producer names will be consistently entered in the following formatSurname, initial of first name/se.gHetherington,L. J.When there is more than one producer, producer names will appear on separate lines.

Yes No No No

9.Publication details

RDA: 2.8.4.2Publisher’s name

RDA: 2.8.2.2Place of Publication

RDA: 2.8.6.2Date of Publication

This field has been chosen due to research findings showing that many fans of graphic novels want their graphic novels to be separated by publisher, rather than series (Weiner, 2010).The date and geographic location of publication are extremely important as users are often looking for specific editions as the content within them may vary depending on the geographic location of publication and the publication date. (Academia Stack Exchange, n.d)The three fields containing information on the item’s publication, will be shown under one field: ‘Publication details’.

The publication details will be entered in the format –Publishing Company, Place of Publication: Year of Publication

Kodansha Comics, New York : 2015

This is consistent with the current format in the Logan City Council Libraries catalogue.

Yes No No No

10.Format

RDA 3.3Carrier Type

The format (e.g videodisc) is deemed important for the user to identify and utilize the item. (American Library Association, 2014). It is extremely useful for distinguishing the type of resource when items with the same title come in multiple formats, e.g. paperback, hardcover, e-book, video

The format for this field will be entered as follows:carrier type (text in lower case)

e.gvideodisc

Yes No Yes. It is essential that information be given on the carrier type of the item so that they know what type of format the item will come in.

Yes: given our users may use different terms for the same format, eg. novel/ book/ paperback, or video/ videodisc/movie/ DVD, or hardback/ hardcover, using controlled vocabulary gives the synonymous terms an equivalence relationship, and ensures that the user

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receives appropriate items returned regardless of the term they use.

11.Notes

RDA: 3.22 Note on Item-Specific Carrier Characteristic

Notes providing additional information about carrier characteristics that are specific to the item being described are often important for identification or selection, or to communicate information on the library’s holdings for series if its holdings are incomplete and to describe the extent and dimensions of the item (American Library Association, 2014).

In relation to a graphic novel collection for teens, one of the biggest issues is that of explicit material. This field will be used to add any relevant age ratings or warnings to assist the user, the library staff or parents in selecting appropriate materials.

Notes will be entered as phrases separated by semi-colons

contains explicit material; rated older teen 16+reads from right to left in the traditional manga format; library holds volumes 2-5 of series only..

Due to the diversity and breath of information provided in this field for any items that have notes, words or phrases within this field will not be searchable

No No No

12.Genre

RDA: 6.3Form of Work

The more commonly used term ‘genre’ has been chosen as there is evidence suggesting that more users are browsing within their preferred genres, rather than by author or title (Chadwick, 2016). It has been noted that there is a need for geographic locations to be inserted into the genre headings when cataloguing graphic novels and manga. In the case of manga for example, other countries are now copying the manga style which originated in Japan so the practice of subdividing these headings by country of origin, distinguishing between Korean, Japanese or American manga is becoming common. (Tarulli, 2010).

The first word of the genre only will be capitilised.

e.g Instructural non-fiction

Manga items will include the country of publication

e.gManga (Japan)

Yes No Yes: every item has a specific

Yes: given our users may use different terms for the same genre, eg. fiction/ story/ novel/ legend, or non-fiction/ reality, or science fiction/ sci-fi/ SF/ space fiction, using controlled vocabulary gives the synonymous terms an equivalence relationship, and ensures that the user receives appropriate items returned regardless of the term they use.

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13.Summary

RDA:Summarization of the content

An abstract, summary, synopsis, etc., of the content of a resource is provided as this information is considered important for identification or selection (American Library Association, 2014).

The summary will be one paragraph in length. Summaries will be copied directly from the item blurb, if possible.

Yes No Yes. A summary of the item helps the user discern whether or not they would find the item interesting or useful given their information needs or preferences

No

14.Subjects

RDA:23.4 Subject Relationships

Subject headings are essential to include in a catalogue considering that many users may not remember the titles or authors of items that match their information need but will know the subject of the material. Suitably chosen subject headings improve subject access enormously (Walker, 1998).

The data in this field will be obtained and directly copied from suitable headings within Library of Congress Subject Headings site

Yes No Yes. Each item can been associated with specific subjects that are listed in the Library of Congress Headings

Yes: Using the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH ), which form a comprehensive list of preferred terms or strings, often with cross-references (Harpring, 2010), consigns a unique type of controlled vocabulary to items in a catalogue. Assigning uniform words and phrases to items in order to describe their subject or topic ensures that they are catalogued with items having similar subjects. This allows for our users to find additional items that may be of interest to them.

15.Language

RDA: 6.11Language of Expression

Due to the large number of multi-volume graphic novel and manga sets as well as movies with written or spoken text in languages other than English, the language of delivery and/or the inclusion of subtitles in different languages is important information for our users.

The language field contents will be in one of the following formats depending on the context:

1. English

2. Bilingual text: Japanese and English

Yes No No (some items are graphic only so language is not relevant)

No

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3. Japanese with English subtitles

16.Website address

RDA:4.6 Uniform Resource Locator

The universal resource indicator or URL is necessary for locating internet items, some of which are included in our selection. As a URL is used to specify addresses on the World Wide Web, we have used the field name ‘Website address’ as not all users may know the term ‘Uniform Resource Locator’ or URL.

The format will be the standard format of a uniform resource locator: http://example.com/index.html, which indicates a protocol (http) a hostname (www.example.com), and a file name (index.html).

The website address will not be searchable as it is assumed that if the user has this information he/she would search the World Wide Web directly

No No No

17.Identifier

RDA: 2.15 Identifier for the Manifestation

Unambiguous identifiers, such as ISBN, ISSN or DOI are accurate references which should be included whenever possible in library cataloguing to identify items efficiently and precisely (Academia Stack Exchange, n.d)

Depending on the identifier used for the item, the format will be as follows:ISBN:9780582777316ISSN: 0000-0000 doi:10.NNNN/doisuffix

Yes: Occasionally, users may be provided with ISBN numbers from book shops or seen them listed on sites such as Amazon, hence they may search using this reference.

No No No

18. MainCharacter/ characters

No suitable RDA authority file could be matched to the fictional character field

Research has shown that graphic novel and manga enthusiasts often search by the character in the series to find additional items with this character (Fee, 2013).

As the character names are proper nouns, they will be capitilised or written as they appear in the story if prepositions and/or articles appear in their name.

Eg:Robin Hood/Astro Boy/Dragon of the Underworld

Yes No No No

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6. Searching the database

The landing page that people first see when entering the website has a carousel of thumbnail images of book covers/ item images that users can scroll through. This will be a very useful tool for our users. Research shows that young adults like to seek information from their peers and also in the tween years they like to find information together in a social atmosphere (Dresang, Gross, & Holt, 2007; Fisher, Marcoux, Meyers, & Landry, 2007; Shenton, 2007). The thumbnail carousel provides an opportunity for users to scroll through images with their friends, discussing and recommending books/ items to each other as they search. We have set the carousel to show the newest books/ items first, so young readers will be able to use this feature to check for the latest editions of their favourite series or for things they have not yet read, listened to or watched. On the right of the page is a box containing thumbnails of latest additions to the collection. Hovering over these images will give users a simple outline of the basic information but they also have the option of clicking on the image to find more detailed information as shown in Figure 1 below. This feature will cater for the needs of young adult users as well as those graphic novel enthusiasts and want more information. We would have liked to change the basic information to include illustrators and series details instead of the subject field, as we think these are the elements that would be of must interest to our young adult users, but this did not seem to be possible in Content DM.

Figure 1: Hovering feature to display summary of item

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Clicking on the ‘search or browse the collection’ button will take users to the search page. This page also features thumbnail images of the items in the collection (see Figure 2). Once again, users can browse through the collection of images, hovering over the items for basic information and clicking on them for a more detailed listing.

Figure 2: Search page of database

We were disappointed that the details page listed the subjects and authors on one line, as shown below in Figure 3, as we had tried to set this when we entered items into the collection to show these on separate lines which would have made it clearer.

Figure 3: Subject heading arrangements

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From this page users have the option of using the ‘search’ or ‘advanced search’ features, then narrowing their search results by either subject, title or author. When setting up our search features, we have set the search mode to ‘all of the words’ as this will help to prevent irrelevant results from being returned as this is known to be frustrating for young adults. We have also selected all of the features, except notes and website address, to be available in the advanced search as we have found that many graphic novel readers like to search for novels by some categories not generally used by other users, such as cover artist and publisher (see Figure 4 below).

Figure 4: Set up of search features

Young people like to share what they have discovered, and also to get advice about their information from peers (Dresang, 2005) so to facilitate this, we have included the option for users to leave comments and ratings for items in the collection as shown in Figure 5 below. Some people may feel that it is risky to allow young people to post public comments, but we feel that this is an important step as it shows the library has trust in young people and will help to build a strong connection, as well as facilitating conversations between users.

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Figure 5: Rating and comment feature

The search tool in Content DM is quite basic, but with the addition of the more comprehensive advanced search it will meet most of the needs of users as shown in Figure 6 below. One problem we found was that the search bar defaults to ‘within results’ rather than ‘new search’ after the initial search and we felt this would be very confusing for users.

Figure 6: Search and advanced search features

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There is an Advanced Search option which allows users to select individual fields to search in and also gives them the option of choosing to search for any of the words, all of the words or the exact phrase. We have set this up to allow users to choose from a very wide selection of search fields, to cater for the needs of graphic novel enthusiasts who, as has been shown earlier, like to find items using many different entry points as shown in Figure 7 below.

Figure 7: Field search feature

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7. Evaluation of Database

In order to evaluate the database, six criteria were recognized as pertinent to establishing its quality and these are outlined and justified in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Criteria for Database EvaluationCriteria for evaluation Justification

1. Users can find relevant items in the database using a variety of avenues for discovery.

As identified in section 1, graphic novel enthusiasts like to search for items based on different avenues of discovery compared to most other library users such as series, illustrator, cover artist, publisher, and characters.

2. Users can generate a list of relevant items all featuring the same character, publisher or artists.

As identified in section 1, one of the benefits of RDA is that it will allow users to create a list of items with a shared characteristic and this has been identified as being a need for graphic novel enthusiasts.

3. Users find the database clear and simple to use.

As identified in section 1, young adults are hesitant to ask for help from librarians and do not like to be seen to make mistakes, so a simple to use website is important.

4. Users can utilise the database to find summarised or more detailed information as required

As indicated in section 1, while young adults may prefer a simple, easy to use system, graphic novel enthusiasts will often want a lot of detail about an item. This database has been designed to cater for both of these situations.

5. Users are able to use the website with friends and communicate with friends about items in the collection.

As indicated in section 1, young adults like to seek information from friends, search for information in social situations, and share what they have found with each other.

6. Users are able to browse for items of interest on this database.

This is considered an important feature to promote wider reading among users.

User TestingTo test the database, we asked our users to find several items,

An item with the character ‘Love Punks’ (criteria 1,2,3,4) A DVD (criteria 1,2,3,4) Something in the Attack on Titan series (criteria 1,2,3,4) Something they would like to read and share with their friends (criteria 5,6)

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User 1: 16 year old, maleUser 1 went straight to the simple search toolbar and used this for all of the searches. He was happy with the results and said that the website was ‘simple and straightforward like a library computer’. He liked that the information given was brief and easy to read and had website links so that he could find out more (although not all items have this).

User 2: 14 year old femaleSimilarly, User 2 went straight to the simple search toolbar and used this for all her initial searches. She stated that it was satisfying to have retrieved immediate results for each search. She also stated that enough, but not too much, information was provided on each item for teens to work out if the item would be of interest to them. She felt that the language used was age appropriate in terms of its reading difficulty. Although not a comic book enthusiast, User 2 has friends who are interested in Marvel comics and was happy to find two items in the catalogue that she could share with them when she entered ‘Marvel’ into the search bar . Subsequently, she scrolled down to view the whole catalogue and clicked on the thumb nail of one of the covers she thought looked interesting.

It was noted that neither User 1 nor 2 hovered their mouse over the thumb nails long enough before clicking on the item so were not exposed to the feature allowing the user to see a simple outline of key information. As most young people want information immediately, and expect instant gratification (Muther, 2013), they are more likely to start clicking on an image than to hover over it. Ironically then, they miss out on this database’s feature giving them instant gratification. In order for this feature not to be overlooked, a message beside the search bar (see Figure 8 below) may increase its utilization and faster access for teens to the information they require.

Figure 8: Suggested message inclusion

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It was noticed during both teens’ searches that irrelevant results were returned for the search of ‘Attack on Titan’, which yielded 18 results, which were given in alphabetical order as shown in Figure 9 below.

Figure 9: Irrelevant return items

It was discovered that the database does not appear to filter out ‘stop words’ such as ‘of’, despite the search mode to being set to ‘all of the words’. When only “Attack Titan” was searched, only relevant results were returned, as shown in Figure 10 below.

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Figure 10: Search without stop words

This is an obvious drawback as the database will return many irrelevant returns whenever a user includes frequently occurring words such as a, an, the, in, of, on, are, be, if, or into. This will cause a lot of frustration for users as such words obviously appear commonly in titles and summaries, and teens are unlikely to filter them out of their searches. Hence, the number of irrelevant items yielded will be frequent which decreases the chances of teens accessing an item to suit their needs. Research has shown that few teens will take the time to scroll through more than the first 10 items returned and are reluctant to reformulate a search when experiencing problems or difficulties in the online catalogue search (Chen, 2003).

An overall evaluation of the quality of the database for its users based on its features and how its target users utilize it is presented in the Table 3 below.

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Table 3: Overall Evaluation of Database

Criteria for evaluation Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest rating) Justification of rating1. Users can find relevant items in the

database using a variety of different entry points.

3 Not all items returned will be relevant due to stop words not being filtered from the search terms used

2. Users can generate a list of relevant items all featuring the same character, publisher or artists.

3 Not all items returned will be relevant due to stop words not being filtered from the search terms used

3. Users find the database clear and simple to use.

4 Users are able to use the general search feature effectively and most features of the catalogue are familiar and easily accessible to them

4. Users can utilise the database to find summarised or more detailed information as required

3 Users will most likely click on the item to retrieve the full details of the item and be unaware of the feature allowing them hover over the thumbnail to see the summary.

5. Users are able to use the website with friends and communicate with friends about items in the collection.

4 The feature to scroll through the thumb nails allows teens to quickly and easily identify items they like and can discuss them with their friends simultaneously. Teens can, if they discover the hovering feature, can also access information quickly on items to discuss with friends. They can also leave ratings and comments to communicate indirectly with others.

6. Users are able to browse for items of interest on this database.

4 The feature to scroll through the thumb nails allows teens to quickly and easily identify items they like. Teens can, if they discover the hovering feature, can also access information quickly on items of interest.

Evaluation Score: /30 21/30

In conclusion, teens can easily access items in this database, either of interest to them or their friends, or those that satisfy a specific information need or category, by inputting details into the search bar, browsing the thumb nail pictures on the landing page or scrolling through the item images and titles displayed in the browse search section of the catalogue. Yet, in its current format, they will retrieve too many irrelevant returns due to the inclusion of stop words in searches which decreases the efficacy of the site for our users. Furthermore, the hovering feature which allows a short cut to key item details, and is thus highly applicable to our users, will be underutilized due to the habits of teens to immediately click rather than hover. However, these drawbacks are easily remediable and following this, the database will be of higher quality.

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8. Evaluation of Software

The mandated software for the development and management of our collection was CONTENTdm. Both strengths and limitations of the software were easily identifiable from the perspective of first time users.

In relation to user functionality, utilization of CONTENTDm at a basic level requires very little training. The landing interface is minimalistic, consisting of three main tabs: Server, Collections and Items. Hence, an inexperienced user is not overwhelmed upon entry into the site. CONTENTdm allows you to have custom metadata fields for individual collections based on RDA and adding, editing, deleting and ordering fields is straightforward . Adding images and relevant metadata is also unproblematic once you become familiar with requirements of item entry. Although we did not use them in this collection, the tag fields allow you to create your own taxonomy within a collection and this can enhance the user experience in the information retrieval process.

We discovered a number of weaknesses with CONTENTdm from a user experience perspective. Having said that, we are unsure whether the ‘limitations’ of the software that we found are genuine limitations or caused by user input error or user unfamiliarity with the scope of the software’s features and how to utilize them effectively. Regardless, this reveals that ContentDM is not an intuitive product for novice users and does require comprehensive training for its effective and efficient use. Some of the problems we experienced were:

Error notices during the uploading process that were not easily understood, Multiple import attempts due to unexplained incorrect entry of metadata, and that The uploading process in relation to the display of metadata is inconsistent (we tried to display subject headings on separate lines in the

catalogue but this only worked for some items despite consistency of input procedure).

Some of the functions which we would have liked the software to have, or their existence be more easily accessible to us as users are:

To be able to save the metadata for items for later completion rather than having to add, approve, index and then edit the data, To be able to make batch corrections if needed, To be able to edit the thumbnail image. The user cannot change this image after indexing; he/she must delete the item and enter all

fields of metadata again if the image requires changing, To be able to duplicate metadata fields for items belonging to the same series and/or having similar metadata content or to be able to

pre-populate specific metadata fields for a number of items in a collection, To have dual or multiple level picture features, eg. a feature that allows the user to flip the item over to see an image of its back cover or

a page inside,

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To allow distinct portions of metadata when entered in the ‘Large’ textbox fields on separate lines to be subsequently displayed on separate lines in the catalogue; Figure 11 below shows the authors of one of our items displayed on the same line, whilst the contributors of an item in Logan City Council’s catalogue are displayed line by line.

In conclusion, CONTENTdm has a variety of features that allow it to be used easily on a basic level by the novice cataloguer. However, to create a more intuitive experience for users building a collection using CONTENTdm, some parts of the software need to be redesigned, incorporating the feedback from usability studies on what users who build and showcase collections may want or need to do. The challenge for the CONTENTdm software developers is to ensure that the interface has elements that are easy to access, understand, and use to facilitate the actions that users require (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d).

Figure 11: Display of items in the catalogue

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9. Conclusion

This report has described the process of developing an online database for cataloguing a collection of graphic novel items in a variety of formats for young adult patrons of Logan City Council Libraries. The features and functions required for our database were established based on research into our target users, focusing specifically on evidence-based research into the expectations of young adults of a similar demographic when seeking and retrieving information. Following the development of the database, its ease of use and efficacy were determined through usability tests on target end-users. The CONTENTdm software we used to produce the database was also appraised based on its usability from the perspective of digital collection administrators and our level of satisfaction with its customization tools. Recommendations for improvements to the software and the database experienced by our end-users have been suggested in order to enhance use of and participation in the library’s collections.

8.

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10. References

Logan City Council’s ‘Great Graphics’ Database:

Link to collection landing page: http://cdm20005.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p20005coll99

Link to Browse and Search the Collection: http://cdm20005.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p20005coll99

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