Problems using a web-OPAC: A pilot study

This paper reports from an empirical study of how end-users utilize an online bibliographic information system available on the World Wide Web. The use of a union catalog of information about the books and journals held by 70 academic libraries has been investigated. Five doctoral students were interviewed about their use of the system, and for three of them log data of their use during a 7-month period were examined. The log analysis indicated that visual cues provided by the graphical user interface - hypertext links and action buttons - appeared to encourage the user to explore the system, though most search sessions did not have explorative moves. On average the users had problems related to the user interface in about 20% of the searches initiated. Less than 30% of these problems were solved by the user. System improvements based on the problems observed are suggested. The user interface should allow users to behave according to the rules they have built through everyday practice or use of similar systems. Links and buttons should be used to help users learn new system features when problems occur. Conclusively, a full study design is presented, based on the findings in the pilot study and the experience with the methods used.