Evaluating the usability of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology library website: a case study
| Pages | 121-136 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-08-2015-0149 |
| Date | 06 February 2017 |
| Published date | 06 February 2017 |
| Author | Arslan Sheikh |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Evaluating the usability of
COMSATS Institute of
Information Technology
library website
A case study
Arslan Sheikh
Library Information Services,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –Library websites serve as gateways to the information resources and services of their libraries. In
today’s digital age, the development of websites is inevitable for libraries as a means to provide users with
online services at their desktops. This case study reports the ndings of a usability study of an academic
library website from the user’s perspective.
Design/methodology/approach –An online survey on the efcacy of the website and statistical reports
from Google Analytics were used as tools to assess and track the use of the Commission on Science and
Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) Institute of Information Technology’s
(CIIT’s) library website resources by national and international users. A sample of 550 users was invited by
e-mail to respond to the questionnaire covering various usability features of the website.
Findings –Findings reveal that users are largely satised with the usefulness, convenience, design and
quality of CIIT library website. Moreover, the users are mostly making use of the website for accessing
research papers through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) digital library, exploring free online open
access journals, searching for e-books and examining the library collection via online public access catalog
(OPAC). This shows that the library website has a signicant role in the pedagogical activities of the CIIT
community.
Research limitations/implications –The results are limited to a case study of CIIT, Islamabad
campus library website.
Practical implications –The ndings of this study will help the library administration to overcome
existing deciencies in the CIIT library website.
Originality/value –The study is a foremost usability evaluation of CIIT, Islamabad campus library
website from the users perspective.
Keywords Pakistan, Library website, Usage statistics, Usability evaluation, Website usability,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Google Analytics, Users feedback
Paper type Case study
Introduction
The automation of libraries started in Pakistan in the mid-1980s, and the development of
library websites took place in the late 1990s. Until 2009, only a few libraries in Pakistan had
an online presence through their institutional websites. The few libraries that had websites,
either owned by their parent organizations or by themselves, generally contained insufcient
The author is grateful to Marion Kelt, Senior Librarian at Glasgow Caledonian University, for
copy-editing the initial draft of this research work.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
COMSATS
Institute of
Information
Technology
121
Received 15 August 2015
Revised 27 August 2015
15 December 2015
20 February 2016
Accepted 24 April 2016
TheElectronic Library
Vol.35 No. 1, 2017
pp.121-136
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-08-2015-0149
information and content. Moreover, Pakistani libraries were also lacking in website
development guidelines (Qutab and Mahmood, 2009). Mairaj (2013) reported that at present
more libraries are developing websites and that several university libraries have developed
their own websites. Some websites are still made up of static web pages with minimum
information about the library resources, staff and services. However, others have dynamic
web pages, with valuable information and services, such as access to their online public
access catalog (OPAC), electronic databases, peer-reviewed journals, reference services and
Higher Education Commission (HEC) digital library resources.
In recent years, the internet has gained a signicant position in the lives of many people.
It has also changed the mode of delivery for library services and resources. Now, libraries are
no longer conned to their buildings but are using the internet to offer online access to their
resources and services. Hence, the role of a website has emerged as a key element in current
library services. Given the increasing value of an effective online presence, in the summer of
2010, the library at Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in
the South (COMSATS) Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad, launched a
new dynamic version of its website. This new version was more user-oriented, enriched with
various electronic resources and compatible with Web 2.0 technologies. It was jointly
developed by the library web team in coordination with CIIT’s IT web developers. Although
the new website was designed to meet the current information needs of the users, their
opinion of its efcacy has not been explored until now. Usability testing has proved to be a
useful technique for evaluating the effectiveness of academic library websites; thus, the
researcher decided to make use of this technique for exploring the usability of the CIIT
library website from the user’s perspective. The ndings of this study will provide insight
about the performance of the CIIT library website and allow the library web team to use the
results to further improve the website.
CIIT is a Pakistani higher education institute founded in 1998. Over the years, it has
grown from a single campus to seven campuses located across the country. The HEC ranks
CIIT in the top ten higher education institutes of Pakistan. Currently, at the Islamabad
campus, over 7,000 students are enrolled in various degree programs at the BS, MS and PhD
levels. The CIIT library at the Islamabad campus was established in 2009 with the aim to
support and foster the academic and research activities of its community. The library has a
multi-story building equipped with modern information and communication technologies
(ICTs) and offering various services to its patrons. The print and electronic collection of the
library exceeds 100,000 volumes. Moreover, a number of electronic resources, including the
OPAC, union catalogue, HECdigital library, thesis repository and open access journals, are also
accessible through the library website. The library subscribes to national and international
journals, magazines and newspapers. Facilities such as Wi-Fi, study carrels, discussion rooms,
video conferencing, computer workstations, lending services, reference services, current
awareness services, interlibrary loans, scanning services, plagiarism detection, electronic
document delivery and VPN services are also part of the CIIT library services.
Review of the literature
The web has continuously been gaining importance as a platform for applications (Iqbal and
Warraich, 2012). Consequently, academic libraries have incorporated this shift by moving
from a physical presence alone to maintaining a virtual presence as well (Rempel, 2010). The
range of services offered by university libraries with an online presence have expanded well
ahead of those offered purely at an on-site facility. Off-site use has increased in pace with the
demand and availability of online journals, books, materials, search options and services
(George, 2005). Today, patrons not only visit the library physically, but also electronically
EL
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