The quality of the metacommunication of the interface and search system of the CAPES Portal of e-Journals
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-02-2016-0044 |
| Published date | 05 June 2017 |
| Pages | 398-409 |
| Date | 05 June 2017 |
| Author | Gracielle Mendonça Rodrigues Gomes,Beatriz Valadares Cendon |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
The quality of the
metacommunication of the
interface and search system of
the CAPES Portal of e-Journals
Gracielle Mendonça Rodrigues Gomes and
Beatriz Valadares Cendon
School of Information Science, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais,
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Abstract
Purpose –The study aims to propose the use of the semiotics inspection method (SIM) which is an
interpretative andqualitative method from semiotics engineering (SE) for the evaluation of the communicability of
systems and to evaluate digital libraries and information retrieval systems (IRS). The paper presents the results of
the application of this method in the evaluation of the quality of the communicability of the interface and search
system of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) Portal of e-Journals, a
major scientic digital library in Brazil. There are proposed solutions to improve this system included.
Design/methodology/approach –The study used the SIM to evaluate the system. Two evaluators
inspected the system. They performed the comparison and the analysis of three types of metamessages
(metalinguistic, static and dynamic). The metamessages generated by the evaluators were contrasted to nd
inconsistencies and ambiguities in the CAPES Portal of e-Journals. Finally, the last step of the method was the
nal assessment about the inspection.
Findings –The evaluators identied 52 problems of communicability. These problems were ranked
according to severity ratings established by Nielsen (1994). They were grouped in ten types of problems
present in the interface and in the search system of the CAPES Portal of e-Journals.
Originality value –This research contributes theoretically to the eld of information retrieval and to the
area of human–computer interaction and, in particular, to the theory of SE by adapting SE methods that allow
the evaluation of communicability to the context of the scientic IRS. Results obtained through scientic
methods should contribute to development of the interface and search tools of IRS to better support query
formulation and retrieval of relevant information and more efciently satisfy the information needs of
individuals.
Keywords User interfaces, User satisfaction, Human–computer interaction,
CAPES Portal of e-Journals, Semiotics engineering, Semiotics inspection method
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Individuals who use automated information retrieval systems (IRS) wish to nd documents
and relevant information quickly and effortlessly. However, there are problems in the design
of these systems as their users report difculties when conducting their searches. To
improve an IRS, the research community in the information retrieval area undertake studies
to understand user’s information-seeking behaviour, conduct research to develop better
interfaces and create tools that facilitate the elaboration of search strategies by novice and
experienced users.
In Brazil, the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES),
an agency linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Education, created the CAPES Portal of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
35,3
398
Received 25 February 2016
Revised 2 August 2016
2 September 2016
3 October 2016
Accepted 6 November 2016
TheElectronic Library
Vol.35 No. 3, 2017
pp.398-409
©Emerald Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-02-2016-0044
To continue reading
Request your trial