osu_archives

This was an excellent conference with a dynamic keynote speaker and very good individual sessions.

A full summary of the program is available at:
http://www.ous.edu/onlinenw/2008/2008OnlineNorthwestProgramSummaries.doc
Take-aways (for me) from keynote and sessions I attended:

KEYNOTE — Jared Spool
Why Good Content Must Suck: Designing for the Scent of Information
** content emits scents; users follow scent of content
** content “sucks”/”draws” the user toward it
** scent communication through trigger words (can determine important trigger words by looking at terms used for searching in search engine logs)
** users don’t mind “clicking” if with every click, they get closer to content (scent gets stronger)
** when good designs work, we don’t notice them
** things that prevent scent
– search engines
– information/content “below the fold” especially if there is a horizontal line suggesting bottom of scrreen page
– navigation panels are “scentless”; often include jargon; often mirror admin organization or “silos”
– short links don’t emit scent
– 7-12 words in link — is optimal for success of user; links need trigger words
– short pages reduce scent and horizontal rule stops scrolling
** site map = the page where we hide all the scent
** on A-Z list, scent arranged ‘”randomly”
** traditional approach to design is to start with home page; should start with “content” and put links in all the places where someone might look for that “content”

Session 1 — Worldcat.org: Platform for a New Kind of Library Catalog?
Amy Crawford, OCLC Western
This session would have benefited by having a “user” of worldcat.org or worldcat local.
Presenter described new model for library catalogs:
synthesize ==> specialize ==> mobillize

Session 2 - Facebook 101: What Librarians Need to Know
Laurie Bridges, OSU Libraries
Great introduction to facebook —

** “fan pages” allow you to “push” content/announcements to your “fans”; “groups” are more static
** users spend more time (20 min/day — is this right?) on Facebook than any other website (which avg less than 5 min/day)
** advertising may be a cost effective way to reach students and young adults (priced per click or per “thousand views”)

Session 3 - Navaigating User Understanding of the OPAC Interface: Case Study from OHSU’s Web Usability Testing
Laura Zeigen, OHSU
Laura provided some background on usability testing; results of the testing of the OPAC interface; and the changes they made at OHSU.

Her powerpoint is available here:
http://www.ohsu.edu/library/staff/zeigenl/onlinenw2008/20080222_onlinenw_v03.pdf

And a list of resources:
http://www.ohsu.edu/library/staff/zeigenl/onlinenw2008/20080221_onlinenwresourcelist.pdf

She referred to this site in her presentation — it would be useful to have similar compilation for “archives” terminology.
http://www.jkup.net/terms.html

Elizabeth Nielsen