1. 1 Overview What does this tell us about digital libraries? Designing for the Humanities –Resource assessment –Serendipity –Naïve searchers –Complex documents –Communication

2. 2 From Users to Systems Rich, detailed understanding of users –Including non-digital –Grounded –Emergent themes –Ill-defined problems Designing a library system –Concrete problems –Speculative solutions –Choose carefully! Validation

3. 3 Resource assessment Research ‘sleuth’ –visits many libraries –huge variety Do I search here? Welcome page –Description –Options –Instructions –Content?

4. 4 Content helps assessment

5. 5 Resource overview

6. 6 Solution: Overview by example

7. 7 Serendipity “Finding valuable things not sought for.” Lots of obscure material Interpretation Thesis from single document Find without search? –Unfocused browsing –Continuity vs. juxtaposition

8. 8 Fancy a browse?

9. 9

10. 10 iTunes Coverflow

11. 11 Mapping Amazon

12. 12 Mapping Amazon

13. 13 Mapping Amazon

14. 14 Mapping Amazon

15. 15 Mapping Amazon

16. 16 Mapping Amazon

17. 17 Mapping Amazon

18. 18 Solution: Virtual shelves Building shelf browser for Greenstone Easy to skim –Immediate content –Informative document ‘cover’ Semi-organised –Some continuity of subject –Broad shelf headings One dimensional

19. 19 Naïve searchers Poor search skills –“Search = Google” Too complicated? What about title, author, text, ….?

20. 20 If You Can’t Beat Them…? Relegate options –Free user to think But poor searchers… –Don’t use ‘Advanced’ –Won’t develop skills

21. 21 Solution: Search suggestions How search options could have been used –Encourage experimentation

22. 22 Complex documents Users engaged with documents –Close reading –A lot of navigation Parts –Books, chapters, verses, … Aggregates –Multi-volume works –Serial publications –…

23. 23 Complex documents

24. 24 Solution: Visible structure Parts within document Documents within aggregate Adjustable granularity –Easy to move between part and whole Browsing and searching Data issues –Sensible structure –Appropriate labels

25. 25 Communication & Presence People are important –Librarians, archivists –Colleagues Digital libraries are empty Presence –Well-used book Communication –Recommendations, comments

26. 26 Solution: Virtual presence Usage stats –How often has this been viewed? What is valued? –Obscure primary sources –Well-cited secondary sources Views vs users –User identity

27. 27 Virtual communities

28. 28 Summary Resource assessment (Overview by example) Serendipity (Virtual shelf browser) Naïve searchers (Suggested searches) Complex documents (Visible structure) Presence (Usage stats) Communication… too far?

29. 29 Conclusions Understanding Humanities use of information resources Interviews –Emerging themes –Complex problems Systems design –Address concrete problems –Speculative solutions Build and test