Managing Discovery Problems with User Experience in Mind

Managing Discovery Problems with User Experience in Mind

Williams Libraries launched a new ILS and discovery layer. The new system, simply called “the library catalog,” was the first web-scale discovery tool. Because users weren't used to receive prompt, personalized responses when they use an online form to report a problem.

The feedback came trickling in, and most of the submissions were reports of problems connecting to full-text electronic resources. Although many users were experiencing streamlined discovery and seamless connection, some were getting dead links, paywalls, or error messages.

Version 1.0: Tell Us What You Think

Before the discovery layer, a third-party link resolver was used to connect citations from databases to theirs full-text holdings. When there were problems connecting to the full-text, library staff reported them to an email address, which was monitored by the systems librarian and the head of collections. However, the email address was not publicized to users, and only a few problems were reported each month.

After the launch of the new catalog, traffic coming through the “tell us what you think” feedback form, linked in the footer, continued at the same pace. In the first year, it received 70 entries, and 90% of them were from library staff. Even though users were having trouble connecting to full-text electronic resources, they weren’t using the feedback form to report them. The feedback link wasn’t noticeable, and they didn’t realize it could be used to report a problem. Moreover, once they landed on the feedback form, there were too many questions, and they needed to go back to the catalog record to get the URL of the problematic item. The reporting process should be quicker and easier.