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Lin Lin, Sr. UX Researcher
EBSCO Information Services
UK EDS Conference
July 6 , 2016
The Student Search Experience
User Research at EBSCO:More Than Just Usability Testing
Data
Secondary ResearchWhat questions have been
asked and answered
previously?
Primary ResearchCarefully matching research
method to question
Looking across three dimensions gives us a complete picture
What patterns are
identified from the
usage data?
type_your_search_here
s1 and s2
research methods
s1 and s2 and s3
marketing
leadership
qualitative research
social media
exploring strategy
mintel
project management
reflective practice
research methods for business students
communication
dementia
human resource management
corporate social responsibility
operations management
swot analysis
motivation
autism
psychology
quantitative research
westlaw
reflection
dissertation
globalisation
gibbs reflective cycle
change management
strategic management
digital marketing
time management
transformational leadership
methodology
corporate governance
research methodology
s1 and s2 and s3 and s4
social media marketing
balanced scorecard
ebsco
leadership styles
social research methods
depression
mental health
s2 and s3
obesity
business ethics
spss
teamwork
education
social psychology
s3 and s4
management
literature review
marketing mix
diabetes
thematic analysis
UK Top EDS Search TermsApril – June, 2016 Academic Market Usage Data
Contact [email protected]
Average # of words per search
(Top 1000) is 2. Search terms
are mostly basic exploratory
searches.
UsabilityTesting
EthnographyBecause what users say they do isn’t the same as what they
actually do.
Surveys
Key UserInterviews
Video DiaryStudies
Social MediaMining
FocusGroups
EthnographyLets you see the tools &
services students are using to
do research
And how they fit into the rest of their lives.
The Reality of Student Research
The library is a meeting space and a study space, and a place to go in between classes.
Worry,
anxietyPresearch:
Presearch:
Wikipedia
Then,
“Serious
Research”
Presearch* is the pre-work; the work beforeit counts.
*Allison Head PhD & Project Information Literacy, 2013
First stop worry, then Google
A Bifurcated Process
Learning about topic
1
2
Wikipedia
Expectation Set: I just have to find one; that leads to more
3
Worry,
anxietyPresearch:
Presearch:
Wikipedia
Then,
“Serious
Research”
*Allison Head PhD & Project Information Literacy, 2013
Accessing Library Resources
Open Web Complete; Now “Serious Research”
SAME SEARCH
USE CONCEPTS FROM THE OPEN WEB
QUICK OVERVIEW
SKIMMING AND SCANNING
FILTERS MIGHT HELP…
• Decisions made in seconds,
not minutes
• Page 1 matters most
• The Search Results page is
no longer a pass-through; it
is a destination all its own.
• Searching is an emotional
process
Search Results:
“The New Black”
LIBRARY-ESE.”
“I DON’T
SPEAK
Key Findings “Library-Ese”
Researcher: Khalilah Gambrell
• 60% are “intermediate researchers”, 33% “novice researchers”• First step – to search & gather information; next: to narrow topic• Greatest influence = professors; who do I turn to = friend/peer(guided self-serve)• 65% received information literacy instruction prior to university• The library website – 40% find it moderately to very challenging, 15% have never used it• Majority are conducting basic searches (71%) – advanced search is considered a method for increased relevance, currency, combinations (Boolean)• 88% don’t know what the term “Boolean” means
208 US students: 57% public/30% private/13% community college
Key Findings “Library-Ese”
Researcher: Khalilah Gambrell
208 US students: 57% public/30% private/13% community college
Well-Understood Terms Less-Understood Terms
Interlibrary Loan
Publication Type
Abstract
PDF Full Text
Peer Reviewed
Primary Source
Boolean
Catalog
HTML Full Text
ePub
eBook Full Text
Database
Trade Publications
• Students navigate both physical and online environments with a focus on immediate
goals, there is limited to no exploration
• Key messages about information literacy only communicated once (“one-shot”
approach) are quickly forgotten
• Pre-survey showed top areas students need help:
Using databases to find articles
Getting better search results
Getting to the Full Text from off-campus
2015 Oxford Brookes Study UK* Hazel Rothera
*Rothera H. Picking up the cool tools: Working with strategic students to get bite-sized information literacy tutorials created, promoted, embedded, remembered and
used. Journal Of Information Literacy [serial online]. December 1, 2015
• Without frequent reminders of library tools, students devise their own workarounds, with
varying degrees of success. Examples of creative workarounds:
Due to limited success searching keywords in the library catalog, students reported
they go to Google Books or Amazon and do the search, then return to the catalog to
find the identified known-item
Catalog search > Shelfmark location > Shelf browsing to find 1 relevant item > back to
catalog with items from that bibliography
Failure to find leads them back to Google or Google Scholar.
Failure to find full-text leads them again, back to Google. They may not find it in full, but
find enough to piece it together.
Students are searching with an end-goal in mind, looking for resources to back up their
decision/theory.
2015 Oxford Brookes Study UK* Hazel Rothera
*Rothera H. Picking up the cool tools: Working with strategic students to get bite-sized information literacy tutorials created, promoted, embedded, remembered and
used. Journal Of Information Literacy [serial online]. December 1, 2015
Influencing the Student Research Process: Recent Findings
dormancy
PRESEARCH;SIZING & SCOPING
“I work better under pressure.”
Initial Assignment(anxiety spikes)
Research phase
US STUDENT RESEARCH MICROBURSTS
one
two
CHINESE STUDENT RESEARCH EPISODIC
• Consult with professor initially, then again throughout the process
• No access to Google (but Baidu), yet similar anxieties
• Chinese students persist through the initial challenges
• Back and forth between search engines and scholarly sources
Researcher: Lin Lin
INGESTED INTO THEIR ECOSYSTEM
UP NEXT:
FACULTY CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
EBOOK RESEARCH
Faculty and student referrals needed
Contact [email protected]
How To Partner With Us
Be a partner in an EBSCO research studyWe partner with you to take a deeper look at a particular audience or question. Whether it’s co-developing a survey or engaging as a contextual inquiry institution, there are many opportunities.
Collaborate on a custom research project with usWe’ve worked with individual institutions to conduct user testing on their EDS implementation, resulting in a set of findings that helped optimize usability. We can conduct a survey together. We can conduct in-person or remote webinars. Customized to suit your needs.
Let us help with your library website redesignWe’ve learned how students are navigating library websites. We can help as you undertake changes to yours.We will use usertesting.com and share best practices based on similar institutions.
Let us provide you with dataLet us provide you with information about your EBSCO product usage, including search terms, key usage stats and more. Secondary research reports also available.
Contact [email protected]!
