Design and evaluation of a task‐based digital library for the academic community
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410410548162 |
| Pages | 449-475 |
| Published date | 01 August 2004 |
| Date | 01 August 2004 |
| Author | N. Meyyappan,Schubert Foo,G.G. Chowdhury |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Design and evaluation of a
task-based digital library for the
academic community
N. Meyyappan and Schubert Foo
Division of Information Studies, School of Communication and Information,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and
G.G. Chowdhury
Graduate School of Informatics, Department of Computer and Information
Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Keywords Digital libraries, Information management, Information retrieval,
Information searches
Abstract The paper discusses the design, development and evaluation of a task-based digital
library, the Digital Work Environment (DWE), for the academic community of higher education
institutions (HEI) with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, as a test case. Three
different information organisation approaches (alphabetical, subject category and task-based)
were used to organise the wide range of heterogeneous information resources that were interfaced
to DWE. A user evaluation study using a series of task scenarios was carried out to gauge the
effectiveness and usefulness of DWE and these information organisation approaches. The time
taken by respondents to identify and access the relevant information resources for individual tasks
was also measured. The findings show that the task-based approach took the least time in
identifying information resources. Regression analysis of information resource location time with
gender, age, computer experience and digital resource experience of the participants are also
reported.
1. Introduction
Many questions still remain unanswered in digital library (DL) research, especially in
the areas of collection management, information organisation, and information
retrieval. Information resources are organised in many different ways in different
digital libraries. Users wish to access information in digital libraries with minimal cost,
time and effort. Such factors are important design and evaluation parameters to
determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the library in meeting user needs. This
paper traces the design and development of a user-centered digital library for higher
education institutions (HEIs). We propose an interface system that acts as a one-stop
window for users to get access to all kinds of digital information sources and services
– be they available thro ugh the library, university and departmental intranets, or the
Internet. We call this a Digital Work Environment (DWE). The Division of Information
Studies (DIS) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was chosen as a test
case to build a prototype for this research. Details of the design and architecture of
DWE have appeared elsewhere (Meyyappan et al., 2000b, 2001a). However, we have
provided a brief overview of DWE later in this paper in order to facilitate our
discussion of its evaluation.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
Task-based
digital library
449
Received 3 November 2003
Revised 5 March 2004
Accepted 24 March 2004
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 60 No. 4, 2004
pp. 449-475
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/00220410410548162
Three different approaches to information organisation are supported by DWE:
(1) The task-based approach;
(2) The alphabetical list approach.
(3) The subject-based approach.
This paper reports the main findings of the user evaluation studies carried out on DWE
to gauge the usefulness and effectiveness of these different approaches to information
organisation. In particular, it aims to compare how the proposed task-based approach
performs against other approaches in terms of ease of use, time taken to locate the
information resources needed, and user effort through the number of mouse clicks
required to complete a set of prescribed information-seeking tasks.
2. Review of related works
The spread of interest in DL has not only ensured the rapid growth of the field, but has
also introduced differing contexts, approaches, emphases, practices and views. A
number of publications reporting on completed and ongoing digital library projects are
now available (see for example, DLI2[1]; Fox, 1999; eLib[2]; ERCIM[3]; Fox and Urs,
2002). The rapid growth of DLs, together with professional publications and the
popular press, have created a lot of hope as well as myths about digital libraries.
2.1 Problems of DL users in HEIs
The academic community is possibly the largest and most important user group of
digital libraries. Users’ requirements of a digital library are influenced by the nature of
their work, affiliation, educational background, accessibility to technology, and so on.
Apart from the various information resources that are currently managed, provided
and accessed by digital libraries, there is a variety of other information that is needed
by users in an academic community. However, such information is currently either not
available at all or is partially available to only a certain section of the user community.
A review of 20 working digital libraries from different parts of the world, representing
academic, special and public libraries, revealed the diversified collection of information
resources (Meyyappan et al., 2000a). The various information resources accessible to
users include full-text journal articles, proceedings papers, technical reports, theses
and dissertations, patents, e-journals, e-books, examination papers, photographs,
images of historic buildings, maps, audio, video, multimedia databases, collections of
manuscripts, sound recordings, music collections, OPACs, Union Catalogues, CD-ROM
databases, online databases, local publication databases, locally produced theses and
dissertations, etc. However, information resources such as course calendars, university
statutes, various course handbooks, course registration information, thesis and
dissertation guidelines, style guides, laboratory facilities, availability of software,
hardware and laboratory equipments, course materials, handouts, etc., are not usually
managed by DLs, although they are quite frequently required and used by the
academic community. These resources are available at different locations , on different
servers in different formats and with different access means and restrictions. Some of
these resources are available in academic (institutional or departmental) Intranets.
Currently, digital libraries do not manage or provide access to these diverse yet
extremely useful collections of information.
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