Meet or manage User expectations of digital libraries

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Meet or manage ? User expectations of digital
libraries

• David Bawden (UK)
• Polona Vilar (Slovenia)

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Some questions

• a) What do users expect of digital libraries
  (DLs)? How do we know? b) How do these differ
  from their expectations of conventional
  libraries? Why?
• a) Do they typically expect too much or too
  little? Why?b) Do expectations differ between
  types or groups of users?
• a) Should we always hope to 'meet'
  expectations?b) Do we sometimes have to 'manage'
  expectations?

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Question 1a

• What do users expect of digital libraries (DLs) ?
  
• How do we know ?

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What do they expect ?

• Comprehensive, include everything
• Accessible everything immediately available
• Immediate gratification, speed of response
• Followability of data, seamless
• Ease of use, single interface
• Multiple formats text, images, sound

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How do we know ?

• mainly anecdote and opinion
• little systematic research
• (Fast and Campbell a good example)

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Question 1b

• How do these differ from their expectations of
  conventional libraries ?
• Why ?

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• Dislike for librarian go to a digital library
• No time for a traditional library
• 24/7 access
• Digital library more useful
• Wider coverage, all in one place
• Smell of books
• User can keep the material, make their own
  collection

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• Price in favour of traditional. Or is it?
• Inconvenience of tachnology
• Expecting entire documents
• User doesnt know what to expect
• Missing context
• Varying experiences, many reasons
• Disabled users

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• They expect the all things just listed
• They dont expect these from conventional
  libraries

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Why

• Web searching is shaping user expectations of
  what an information retrieval system looks like,
  how it behaves, and how to interact with
  it.Digital libraries are now being used by
  people who have extensive experience on systems
  that require almost no training, and which
  produce immediate, if not completely satisfying,
  results (Fast and Campbell)
• library users are now people who want fast,
  easy access to unlimited, full-text content using
  interfaces that require no critical thought or
  evaluation (Bell)

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Why ?

• Experience with the web
• the Amazoogle effect (Dempsey)
• also changes in society
• immediate gratification
• greater speed
• more information rich

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Question 2a

• Do users typically expect too much or too little
  from DLs?
• Why ?

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Too much or too little ?

• usually too much
• but the picture is not clear

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• The disconnect between the users expectations
  and the librarians reality is often greater in
  the virtual world than in the traditional
  face-to-face meeting. Increasingly more users see
  the virtual reference encounter as magically
  solving a whole range of problems with instant
  answers and full-text electronic content. (Straw)

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Why ?

• studies show that users believe that web search
  is fast and easy, providing immediate access to
  information and giving them what they want
• by contrast, they find that traditional library
  systems, even in digital form such as OPAC, are
  disappointing, frustrating, illogical,
  counter-intuitive, intimidating

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Solution

• one way to overcome this may be to make DLs look
  like the web
• but this may lead to unreasonably high
  expectations

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Question 2b

• Do expectations differ in any systematic way
  between different types or groups of users ?
• Does knowing of such differences help DL service
  providers ?

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Do expectations differ ?

• Some evidence that they do
• earth scientists, information specialists,
  educators (University of California Alexia
  project)
• staff, UG, PG (Victoria University of
  Wellington, New Zealand)
• library staff, hobbyists, scholars, researchers,
  object seekers, rummagers, surfers, teachers,
  students (Library of Congress)

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• Users dont expect too much or too little, but
  the right thing for their need
• They expect greater user friendliness
• No difference between traditional and digital
  libraries
• Target user groups
• Do the users need both libraries?
• Different expectations stemming from experience,
  age, profession

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Does knowing differences help ?

• Some evidence that it does
• Library of Congress New Digital Library project

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Question 3a

• Should we always hope to 'meet' user
  expectations, by providing better services ?
• How realistic is this ?

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Meeting expectations

• The organisation and control that characterises
  an online library catalogue must be packaged and
  presented in a way that anticipates and tries to
  minimise the intimidation and frustration that
  users feel upon trying to take advantage of
  these benefits (Fast and Campbell)

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But

• the more a digital library looks like the Web
• the higher user expectations will be

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Question 3b

• Do we sometimes have to 'manage' expectations, by
  explanation and instruction ?
• to avoid disappointment from unrealistic/impossibl
  e expectations ?
• to help users appreciate the new, and perhaps
  unexpected, things that DLs can do ?

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Managing unrealistic expectations, example 1

• need to help users understand quickly
• what items are NOT in the digital library
• that few primary material are online
• that there are many levels of search to work
  through
• that there are many access points, but they are
  not uniform
• (Library of Congress, National Digital Library
  Program)

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Managing unrealistic expectations, example 2

• describe the situation as fully as possible in
  the interface.
• change the interaction metaphor, from a search
  box, to a discussion list thread
• (managing expectations of a virtual reference
  service at Middlesex University UK)

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• Interactive process (talking to users, asking
  them, explaining,...)
• Shaping technique much more useful
• Personal communication very important
• Managing as the both-way process
• User expectation management

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Summary

• several main questions
• some understanding from studies
• much still to be understood..
• and put into practice