University students’ heuristic usability ınspection of the national library of Turkey website

Date15 January 2018
Pages66-77
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-09-2017-0216
Published date15 January 2018
AuthorYavuz Inal
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management
University studentsheuristic
usability ınspection of the national
libraryofTurkeywebsite
Yavuz Inal
Department of Information Systems Engineering, Atilim University,
Ankara, Turkey
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the National Library of Turkey website
developed for all citizens in the country to retrieve information available in a wide range of areas.
Design/methodology/approach The evaluation performed by 57 undergraduate university students
involved the identification and analysis of usability problems in the selected website. The assessment process
was mainly based on Nielsens Heuristics. The data obtained in the evaluation process were enriched using
the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to conduct a more detailed analysis.
Findings The participants identified many usability problems concerning the evaluated website and
considered it as having low usability characteristics. The most violated heuristic item was found to be
consistency and standardswhereas the least violated heuristic item was match between system and the
real world.The total number of the usability problems in heuristic evaluation correlated significantly and
negatively with the SUS and the NPS results indicating that the more participants identified usability
problems, the less they considered the website as usable and recommendable.
Research limitations/implications The participants were not usability experts, however they were
selected from among the students who received the Human Computer Interaction course to ensure that they
had sufficient information and experience concerning the evaluation of a website with heuristics. Besides,
the study was limited to a small number of university students. The implication is that results of this study
have potential to guide libraries, which plan to adapt themselves to the digital world by delivering web
services, by addressing critical points influencing userspoints of views toward library websites and their
usability evaluation result.
Practical implications Depending on the changes in user habits regarding the retrieval of information,
libraries have made considerable investments in web technologies to meet their usersdemands, and recently,
digital libraries have begun to take over physical libraries. Users always need to perform tasks efficiently,
effectively and satisfactorily when using websites. As one of the most crucial sources of digital materials,
library websites are expected to have usable characteristics that satisfactorily meet user requirements.
Therefore, the practical implication is that the findings of the study will guide designers, developers and
practitioners in the development of library websites.
Originality/value In the context of usability evaluation of digital libraries, this is the first study to analyze
effects of usability problems identified by users during the heuristic inspection on their overall evaluation
score and willingness to recommend the website to their friends or colleagues.
Keywords Digital library, Information retrieval, Information system, Library website,
Usability evaluation, Heuristic ınspection
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
For centuries,libraries have been one of the mostimportant resources in societiesfor access to
information. Nowadays, library websites have gained even greater priority as a result of the
innovative development of web technologies, widespread use of digital resources, and rise of
user demands( Joo and Lee, 2011; Iqbal andWarraich, 2012), and digital librarieshave become
primary information sources for most people (Joo and Lee, 2011). Thus, libraries now need to
adapt themselves to the digital world by delivering web services (McMullen, 2001) and
digitize their printed materials for easier access via web (Zimmerman and Paschal, 2009;
Matusiak, 2012).
Today, library websites have become virtual representations of traditional libraries, and
an essential tool for people who want to access library resources (Walia and Gupta, 2013).
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 70 No. 1, 2018
pp. 66-77
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-09-2017-0216
Received 30 September 2017
Revised 2 December 2017
Accepted 18 December 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
66
AJIM
70,1

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