Contexts.

The Digital Library North project has been designed with a number of different research contexts in mind. The following pages outline these contexts in detail.

Digital Libraries ~ Metadata ~ Information Needs ~ Cultural Heritage ~ Multilingual User Interfaces ~ User Evaluation ~ Community-Driven Research ~ Partnerships ~ Bibliography

User Evaluation.

Evaluation is a key component. A solid evaluation program will consider a number of criteria and the extent to which these properly serve the user-community. The evaluation will inform decisions made by creators and funders. Saracevic (2000) lists 20 elements for evaluation, including the collection, selection, organization, management, preservation, access, and economics of a digital library, as well as the need to evaluate user-centred and systems-centred components and adaptation of traditional library, information retrieval, and human-computer interaction criteria. Lagoze (2010) stresses the socio-technical perspective as the creation and exchange of information is tied to human activities, and Parandjuk (2010) recommends evaluation based on information architecture, which includes such elements as multiple ways to access information, indexes and sitemaps to support the taxonomy, navigation, appropriate language for the audience and integration of searching and browsing. A number of user interfaces have been subject to evaluation (e.g. Gordon and Domeshek, 1998). Sutcliffe et al. (2000) describe a visual interface that provides simultaneous access to a query bar, thesaurus terms and structure as well as search results. A usability evaluation of the interface demonstrated that users liked the visualizations of the thesaurus and the results. Blocks et al. (2002) reported the development of a prototype search interface. A formative evaluation showed that it was successful in allowing a person with little knowledge of the interface to make use of its functionality. There are various approaches and methods, including focus groups, surveys, web log analysis (Comeaux 2008) and formal usability testing techniques, which involves actual users to examine their interaction with the product (Comeaux, 2008; Petrelli & Clough, 2012).

Since a digital library requires a solid metadata framework, an examination of the suitability of current standards (e.g., Dublin Core) will be conducted to create a culturally appropriate framework. To this end, we will create a framework based on: a) current standards, b) common practices used by information services in the ISR; and, c) consultations with elders and other members of the community. Once the digital library and the metadata framework are developed, by drawing upon the works of Nielsen (1993), Bates (2002), Fuhr et al. (2001), Saracevic (2000, 2004), a user-centred evaluation will be conducted to ensure that they are usable and will support the needs of the community. The evaluation will study users’ experience of and interaction with the content, metadata, and the user interface. Further, their impressions of and satisfaction with the digital library will be examined.