New Library Catalogue Interface

1
New Library Catalogue Interface

• Proposal 3

2
Introduction

• This presentation will outline the design
  decisions for the new interface of the on-line
  library catalogue for Liverpool university.
• The design decisions will be split into three
  main phases
• Tasks performed by the user
• Metaphor development
• Interface design
• Changes to the design of the physical interface
  will be minimal as users are already familiar
  with the current design
• Tasks will be added where appropriate
• Subtle changes will be made to improve the
  experience for current users and to simplify
  training for new users

3
Tasks Performed

• The interface will allow the user to perform the
  following main tasks
• Search books
• Browse books
• Renew books
• Reserve Books
• Log into a personal account
• Gather basic details about the Library

4
Tasks Performed Searching

• Searching
• The user will be enabled to search for a book
  using a keyword. The keyword can be specific to a
  particular items of information (e.g. ISBN no.,
  author, etc) or can be generalised. The search
  can be specified to the following items of
  information using a drop-down list (All), Title,
  Author, Keyword, Subject, Class number, ISBN.
• The controls available to the user will be the
  same as with the current design. This means that
  the search criteria will be entered with a text
  box, the search area will be selected using a
  drop-down list and a button will be used to
  perform the search.
• User Login
• This task will be performed by the user so as to
  ascertain details about their current withdrawals
  and to gather any other basic information about
  the current status of their library account.
• They will have their own personal account which
  will be setup when they join the library
• If there are complications with the login, the
  user will be given helpful feedback (unlike the
  current design)

5
Tasks Performed Browse

• This task wasnt part of the old interface, it
  will allow the user to browse through a database
  of all the books available at the library. The
  image to the right illustrates the sort of
  organisation that would be adopted.
• The following points will be the main
  considerations for the development of such an
  interface
• Logical hieratical organisation
• Well laid out webpage design which keeps the user
  well informed about their location in the
  hierarchy.
• Dynamic design, making the database easy to edit
  regularly.

Journals
Books
Social
Science
Arts
Veterinary
Engineering
Medicine
Civil
Electrical
Engineering
Electronics
Robotics
Multimedia
Java
Flash
Photoshop
6
Tasks Performed Renew/Reserve

• Renew
• This task allows the user to renew a book which
  has already been taken out from the university
  library, this will be constructed using a simple
  form.
• This feature is accessible from the webpage of
  the book, therefore the details of the book will
  automatically be entered into the form
• User provides details of the book and their
  account for this task to be performed
• Accessible from the book details webpage (found
  using the search or browse tasks)
• Reserve
• As well as the ability to renew a book, the
  interface will allow the user to reserve books.
  The reserve and renew facilities will be
  displayed in the same portion of the interface as
  they are both similar tasks. This is a new task
  and has been added to improve the customer
  service.
• As this feature is accessed from either the book
  or the users webpage, the details of either the
  book or the user will be entered into the form
  automatically depending how the page was
  accessed.
• Again, the user provides details about the book
  and their account.

7
Metaphor

• As with most software interfaces, a metaphor will
  be adopted to make it easier for the user to
  operate and to make it more familiar.
• The metaphor will only be used as a rough guide,
  trying to keep too true to a metaphor can
  sometimes defeat the object and only make tasks
  more complex.
• The following is a small discussion of the
  possible metaphors and an evaluation of the
  decisions made for this project.
• Candidate Metaphors
• The following metaphors are regarded as the most
  suitable in this case
• Desktop documents, files,
• Library Help Desk general information, search
  help
• Book end product, source of information

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Metaphor Respective Tasks

• Desktop
• Browse/ Search File cabinet
• General library information Post-it notes
• Login Computer
• Reserve/Renew letters
• (requesting services from others)
• Library Help Desk
• General library information notice board
• Search assistant
• Book
• Browse contents
• Search index
• General library information book content

9
Metaphor Final Metaphor

• As the following slide shows, all the tasks were
  covered in the Desktop metaphor. This is the main
  reason why this has been selected as the final
  metaphor.
• The appearance will only take a small influence
  from the metaphor. The main influence will be in
  the relationships.
• The browse feature is a good example of where
  this will be used, the hieratical form is ideal
  for the metaphor of a filing system.
• The user will use their experiences from desktops
  to help them to use the interface
• Objects will be laid out on a background as they
  would on a desk.
• File (page) names will be displayed at the top of
  the page in a similar way to the use of tabs on a
  modern filing system.
• Related items will be grouped together using
  frames, this is similar as the grouping documents
  into a paper file.
• Separate tasks will be located on different
  pages, similar to the way in which different
  books have different subjects/tasks.

10
Interface Design

• As with the current design, the manipulation
  style will be direct.
• The colour scheme will be taken directly from
  that of the existing university website, it is
  hoped that this will help to give better
  continuity between the two sites. The following
  samples show these colours.
• The design has been created so as to be true to
  the current design but to rectify the problems
  that have been highlighted by this analysis.
• Familiar formats tools have been used, this
  should make the site easier for the user to
  operate.
• Layouts will be as simple as possible. In
  circumstances where the user may need help, a
  help facility will be setup and will be
  accessible from a textual link.

11
Navigation Map

• The following is a basic plan of the navigation
  throughout the site. Textual links and graphical
  links will be used to full fill the navigation
  needs.
• All links allow the user to go both forward and
  backward.
• In addition to the links shown on the map, every
  page will have a home button which will return
  them to the home page

The following slides show the basic layout of the
main pages in the website (textual links are
shown using underlining).
12
Page Layouts (1)
Home Page
lt Main
Search Page
University of Liverpool
lt Main
Uni Crest
Library
Help
Search
GO
13
Page Layouts (2)
Search Results
Browse Layout
14
Page Layouts (3)
Log In
University of Liverpool
Uni Crest
lt Main
Library
Help
Password
Username
Personal Account
15
Page Layouts (4)
Book Details