Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Web Assessment 1
Angelo M. Roselle
Libr 251-10
November 2, 2009
Dr. Maret
Print vs. Web Assessment 2
URL: http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/Library/
I chose the Pasadena Public Library as my target for this week’s assignment because I am
currently doing a volunteer stint at the library. Recently the library has been pushing to get video
tutorials (through Camtasia screencasts) up on the Web site. Basically these tutorials are meant
to increase patron access to databases and the library catalog through the site. One of my tasks
was to create the video tutorials for the four law databases that patrons can access from the
library. Many times it seems that patrons come to the library to do their own law research, and
these databases are complex in searching functionality. It is even complicated to find the tutorials
created by the database companies such as Westlaw and HeinOnline. All this is to say that PPL
appears to be striving to make the library site more user-friendly, and I thought this would be the
Before I get into the assessment that matches this week’s topic, I want to mention that the
Pasadena Public Library’s site has a lot of usability shortcomings, which are immediately visible
from the homepage. I do not have time to discuss the design, navigation, and overall organization
of the site; however, I want to point out that while I think video tutorials for databases are a great
idea, the Web site needs some work and this should be a priority over the tutorials. One of the
problems is that the library site is a department site of the city of Pasadena’s Web site. All of the
departments for the city of Pasadena are supposed to follow the same navigation, design, and
organization. To complicate matters, the city of Pasadena has recently changed the layout and
Print vs. Web Assessment 3
organization of its site; therefore, the conversion from the old site to the new site for the library
is still in progress and apparent by the inconsistency throughout the pages. Other problems that
exist include inconsistent menus and navigation elements, background screen for some pages
blink when scrolling (it is black and white pixels), no “search the site” functionality for the
search box, a homepage that has a picture taking up half of the visible screen causing most of the
important content to be placed beneath the fold, and the quick links in the left panel and the
lower page all are for the city of Pasadena and not specifically for the library. These are all issues
that need to be taken into account for creating a user-friendly Web site at PPL.
Public libraries in the United States are used by extremely diverse populations and
demographics. Unlike a law library or an academic library where almost all library users are
usually educated and should have a good command of the English language, public library
patrons range from new US citizens with poor English skills to educated professionals. These
two examples may be the extremes of the library patron spectrum, but the diversity extends to
high school students, stay-at-home parents, low literacy adults, college students, college
professors, and even attorneys. While all libraries need to examine their site’s usability, usability
testing should be a priority especially for public libraries because of their service to such a
diverse group of patrons. The Pasadena Public Library is no different. Although Pasadena is
known as a wealthy city, the public library, with its central library and nine branches, has a
population that reflects the diversity of the city. Now, how does the Web site fair in this regard?
While it does a fairly good job in trying to follow usability guidelines, there is still more it can
do. I should note here that PPL’s Web site was redesigned as recently as early Fall 2009, and my
Print vs. Web Assessment 4
assessment of the site after viewing the changes has shown me that PPL is in the process of
From the library’s homepage one can see that PPL does try to make the library
terminology on the Web site simple enough so that all library users can understand. Kuppersmith
(2009) suggests using natural language target words such as Book or Article in top-level pages or
even by providing an intermediary page with natural language. Pasadena Public library follows
this best practice guideline by using the phrase “Find a Book” in the menu on the left side of the
screen (see screenshot “Find a Book”). When a library user clicks on the option to Find a Book,
the sub-sections Search Full Catalog, eBooks & Digital Media, and New Titles List appear in the
dropdown menu. This is easy to understand then that the following sections are ways to find a
book.
PPL does not use a specialized proper name for its catalog that users would not
understand, nor does it leave novice users wondering about the purpose of a catalog. It is Krug’s
(2006) book Don’t Make Me Think that shows how terminology of a section on a Web page
really can make a difference in causing a user to stop and think. It has to be a mindless choice,
and PPL’s use of this simplified and natural language shows the effort PPL has made in
increasing Web usability of the site. A section titled “Find a Book” is a lot more self-explanatory
than “Search WorldCat” or “Library Catalog.” As recently as May 2008 (and possibly even as
recent as August 2009), the library menu for the catalog used to have the term “library catalog”
according to archive.org, but it was changed to “find a book” probably because of some library
An issue that presents usability problems is the lack of a glossary for the library
terminology. I looked, but I could not find one. After browsing through the menus, I tried to
conduct a search for a glossary, but the search box only allows users to search the Library
Catalog or the City, but not the site. At least in this aspect there are problems with usability. No
glossary and no way to search the whole site. PPL should have a glossary, even if they do not
want to create a glossary themselves, they should at least provide a link to a library terminology
Web glossary.
(2009) notes this as a term that is often misunderstood by users. In addition, it seems that many
libraries like to use the letter “e” in front of the words “journals,” “books,” and “resources.”
When I started volunteering at the library in August 2009, PPL was using the term “e-resources”
in reference to databases, reference services, and the library catalog. The new term for these
Pasadena Public Library has a treasure trove of databases, research sites, and electronic
materials. The good news is that there are some brief descriptions about each of these resources
resourcesList.asp#businessdecision, which oddly enough still has the same design as the old PPL
site. The library is still in the process of redesigning the site, because while the top-level pages
are completed in a new design, the lower-level pages are still a work in progress and have the old
navigation and page layout. Interesting! This list gives a brief description about each of these
resources, such as the type of information one can expect to find in a specific database, and the
type of user (e.g. high school, grades 4-5, etc) for the database. Date ranges for database content
Print vs. Web Assessment 6
are also provided for a few databases, such as to differentiate between Los Angeles Times-
According to the Elsevier article How to Design Library Websites to Maximize Usability
(Jasek, 2007, p.7), it is important to provide database descriptions for digital databases because
often times users do not always know what information is contained in the database by looking at
the name. Overall I think these brief descriptions on the PPL site are helpful for users. The
descriptions are in non-technical language, and are easy to read; however, PPL needs to get on
top of the site and implement the new design throughout the entire site because these
descriptions are only available once a user clicks on the “about” link, which brings them to the
old layout.
Number seven on Kuppersmith’s (2009) list of best practices for using Library Terms
That Users Understand is to “be consistent” by making sure to “use terms consistently
throughout your website.” Because of the in-progress state of the site, there is no consistency in
the language throughout the site. While one section on the menu is termed Electronic Resources
on top-level pages, the same section on the menu still has the term e-Resources when users start
Something I applaud PPL for using is the different icons (see screenshot “database access
icons”) which indicate how the databases can be accessed. The icons depict whether the resource
is for all users or only for people with a valid PPL card. In addition, there is an icon showing
whether the resource (e.g. database, catalog, or reference service) is available only in the library
or can be accessed outside of the library. Having these icons is an important way of documenting
access to the library’s services. One other icon that is useful is the “full-text” icon next to each
applicable resource; however, I think a mouseover explaining full-text would be helpful because
Print vs. Web Assessment 7
not all users will be familiar with this term. With the use of these icons, PPL is explaining not
only the purpose of the databases, but how they can be accessed.
As I was thinking of other words that may be misunderstood by library users, I searched
around on PPL’s site and discovered that most of the places where the potentially confusing
words were used, such as reference, circulation, interlibrary loan, collection, and digital library,
there were also brief descriptions explaining the terms. These explanations from PPL’s site
materials.
automated check-out service, find out what other services our circulation department
provides.
4) Term: Reference; Explanation: Have a question? Need a book borrowed from another
library? Find out how the reference department can help you.
This is not to say that the library is using the perfect terminology for all its services. Common
library terms such as circulation, reference, and hold requests are used frequently throughout the
site, and I think that this is a problem prevalent through most public library Web sites; however,
PPL does do a decent job of either giving a short explanation or listing the various services that
users can partake of through a circulation desk or a reference desk. This adheres to
Kuppersmith’s (2009) best practice number four, “Enhance or explain potentially confusing
terms.”
PPL’s tutorial videos, a topic I mentioned in the introduction section of this paper, have
issues that I can speak of from my personal experience as a volunteer in the library. Currently
there are not any “tutorials” on the Web site to the best of my searching yesterday. Over the last
two months, the library has been working to create tutorials for the most used databases, and the
databases and research resources that have the most problematic self-service issues. Using
Camtasia software, librarians, with the help of LIS interns, are recording short screencasts
(including voice and captions) that will explain the simply steps involved in using specific
My task was to develop a video tutorial storyboard for helping users to get to the actual
tutorials for the law databases in those external sites. Checking PPL’s site this morning, I see that
the tutorials are not yet available; however, I can say that in the staff meetings and tutorial
creation handouts, we were all instructed about using terms that users would understand and
about the importance of keeping the screencast tutorials short and to the point. I read over some
of the tutorial scripts in the draft phases of the project, and I think the library will do a good job
of creating these tutorials. There did not seem to be library terminology used that did not have an
explanation. Using databases, especially law databases, can be overwhelming for even the tried
and true library patrons (Westlaw is the prime candidate for my wrath); therefore, simple
instructions that even novice users can understand are necessary, and this is what the tutorials are
supposed to present. I expect that these tutorials will be up sometime next spring, and I think that
by creating these tutorials PPL is trying to make the databases more accessible.
One language issue that I would like to point out is the wording of the link to the user
guide for one of the law databases. Actually, this is what happened. When the librarian I was
working with at PPL told me to create video tutorials which would show users how to get from
Print vs. Web Assessment 9
the PPL electronic resources page to the law database tutorials, I asked if it would be simpler
just to create a link directly to the tutorials from the electronic resources page instead of showing
users how to get there through a video tutorial. We both agreed that this made sense, and we
asked the IT department to help us put the user guides and tutorials as a direct link. Looking at
the Web site today, I see that the IT department did put a link to the user guide for OnLaw
database; however, the link is called “help” and not “user guide.” I think this is a problem
because the language is not descriptive. If I was a user wondering how to search, and this was the
first time I happened to come across the database, I would probably be more apt to click on a link
titled “user guide” than a link titled “help.” This shows how librarians need to be in close
communication with the IT department when organizing or adding content to Web sites.
Having help access points throughout a library’s Web site is extremely important. Jasek
(2007, p. 7) notes that having a “help” link in the same location on every page provides
consistency and lets users know how to find help when needed. It is sad to say, but PPL does not
have easy access points to help. Usually a help link would be in the upper right corner of every
page or at the bottom of every page; however, because PPL is part of the city’s site, the bottom
portion of the page is taken up by links to the city and the top screen only has a search box.
There is a “contact us” section that users can link to from the homepage, a reference question
section for emailing a reference question, and a couple of other pages that have contact
information such as phone and fax numbers, but there is not consistent help sections. This is not
acceptable. With such a complex library system, library site, and numerous databases available,
Chucking Information
Print vs. Web Assessment 10
“chunked” format, it is making the content on the site easier to read. This is where I ran into
problems when assessing PPL’s site. Lynch and Horton (2009) state that “chunking can help
organize and present information in a modular layout that is consistent throughout the site.” All
of our readings over the last 10 weeks discuss the importance of consistency and its necessity for
good usability. PPL does not provide consistency. I did not realize how many lower-level linked
pages have the old PPL Web layout and organization. It is really confusing to go from one
navigation, menu, and page layout on one page and then click on a link and be taken to another
page layout with a totally different color scheme, menu, and navigation.
The content on some of the newer designed pages appears to be “chunked” in a logical
way that is easy for a user to read and scan. On other pages (e.g. Circulation Services) the page
may be a bit long, which requires scrolling through the content, but the breaking up the content
with bullet points and in an outline format (e.g. fee schedule section) allows for easier reading
and scanning of text. It was Krug (2006, p. 31) who discussed how creating a clear visual
hierarchy is necessary to ease scanning of page content. By dividing the content on the PPL site
into readable chunks, PPL is creating a visual hierarchy. The press releases section is a good
example of how organizing information in smaller chunks is a good way to organize and present
the information. The title of the press release followed by a short description of the press
Not all the pages are displaying content in this form. Some of the older page layouts still
have longer paragraphs that are not properly chunked information in my opinion, making reading
and scanning more difficult. Usability.gov’s Reading and Scanning guidelines state “Enhance
scanning by providing clear links, headings, short phrases and sentences, and short paragraphs.”
Print vs. Web Assessment 11
I think overall PPL does follow this guideline. Paragraphs are separated with headings and these
headings are usually in a different color than the text. White space also aids in showing a clear
distinction between sections and chunks of information. The use of bullet points and the outline
Conclusion
As I have mentioned several times throughout this assessment, Pasadena Public Library’s
Web site is a work in progress. It seems that they have recently been transitioning from an old
site to a new and improved site. This new site seems to be providing a lot of the necessary user-
friendly elements and also seems to follow the usability guidelines that we have been reading
about this week. I do not know if a usability test was conducted or if a team of librarians
discussed the necessary usability changes needed and made recommendations; however, I do
know, from comparing the current site to the old site on WayBackMachine on archive.org, that
the changes made were deliberate and actually match many of the site usability enhancements
There are several issues that PPL needs to consider further and implement as soon as
possible. These issues include creating or linking to a library terminology glossary, providing a
clear “help” link in a consistent location throughout the site, finishing tutorials and making sure
that the language is not too technical, allowing the search engine to search the site, and provide
consistency in design and layout throughout all pages of the site. The Pasadena Public Library is
on the right track, but it should continue to test its site with actual users to make sure that it is
References
Archive.org. (May 2008). WayBackMachine. Pasadena Public Library. Retrieved October 30,
www.cityofpasadena.net/library/
Jasek, C. (2007). How to design library websites to maximize usability. Retrieved October 25,
pamphlets
Krug, S. (2006). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to Web usability (2nd ed.).
Kuppersmith, J. (2009). Library terms that users understand. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from
http://www.jkup.net/terms.html
Lynch, P. & Norton, S. (2009). Organizing your information in Web Style Guide 3rd edition.
architecture/2-organizing-information.html
Usability.gov. (2005). Reading and Scanning. Retrieved October 31, 2009, from San Jose State
University, School of Library & Information Science, Fall 2009, Maret 251-10, Angel 7.4
Screenshots
3) Find a Book