November 9, 2015 Meeting of User Education Committee

Time and Location of Meeting

November 9, 201510:00 am - 11:00 am Library 428

Agenda Details

Agenda

Agenda not yet available.

Minutes Details

Attendees

Members Present: Rebecca Bryant (17), Michelle Dewy (16), Jessica Moyer (ex officio), Jameatris Rimkus (15), Crystal Sheu (ex officio), Janelle Sander (16), Sandra Wolf (16), Kirsten Feist (16), Lisa Hinchliffe (ex officio) – Chair, Susan Avery (ex officio)

Members Absent: Harriet Green (16), Scott Schwartz (17), Chris Prom (IT/Web Liaison)
Additional Attendees: Anna Lapp (Information Literacy GA)

Minutes

1.      Welcome and Introductions

Lisa welcomed the committee.

2.      Agenda Review

Committee members made no additions to the agenda.

3.      Acclamations and Accolades

Jameatris shared that the university archives dealt with a difficult situation last week that required staff response to tense phone calls and questioning. Committee members had a lengthy discussion on how to teach staff to deal with difficult situations. Lisa posed the question: “What do we need to do to collectively support our colleagues?” Jameatris questioned if a similar situation arises, “how should we alert the library?” The committee concluded that it would be prudent to go over how to deal with controversial materials in staff training.

Rebecca shared that she is working on the Illinois Research Connections. After following up on initial communications with deans, she will send the User Education committee members notes. The initial launch will only be available through campus IP addresses and the beta version will be released in a few weeks. Lisa asked if users will need to learn to manage their profiles early on. Rebecca answered that there are extensive FAQs on the website for individual and unit profiles, a training video is in progress, and there will be in-person workshops available after the launch. The public service site will be irchelp.illinois.edu

Jessica shared that her Doctoral student in Milwaukee is defending her thesis on older adult’s use of eBooks and media.

4.      Library Gateway and WordPress

ILL Website

Chris is now the official liaison for IT and the User Education committee. Though Chris was not able to attend the meeting, the committee reviewed the ILL website and compiled the following feedback:

  • Header: Though the page responsiveness to enlarging the web box is convenient, the text sizing is too large in the header in both a desktop or mobile format. The committee recommends more responsive text resizing.
  • User choices: Except for the “About” and “Contact & Staff” pages, users must choose between two users: University of Illinois or non-U of I users. Could there also be a link directly to ILLiad for those return users that know that they want to login directly to that system?
  • The Flowchart: Though the flowchart is convenient, there are two errors. First, underneath the magnifying glass, the local or I-share catalogs do not include e-journals. The flowchart needs to clarify whether or not a user is looking for a journal or a book.Second, the Login to ILLiad portion of the flowchart is a button, whereas every other icon in the chart has a blue link beneath it; it is not obvious the button is clickable. Instead, the button should be un-clickable with blue linked text beneath it, or the blue should be removed so one can see that the text is a hyperlink.Though the chart is helpful for new users, seasoned users need a place to login without going through the directions.
  • The Available for Request Boxes: The title underneath the flowchart reads “What is available for request”, but lists both what is and what is not available for request. The committee suggests a revised subheading. Additionally, the boxes for what is available and what is not available are different sizes, which does not aesthetically differentiate opposing information to the user. The committee suggests the boxes be the same size for graphical cohesion.
  • Page Mapping: The DocExpress is at the bottom of the page and if a user doesn’t already know it’s there, it is difficult to find. Subheadings for ILL and Dox Express sections are identical, which would be easy for users to mis-click. The page map is oriented right, which is unusual as orientation is usually on the left-hand side or top of page. On any page that requires a login, the “My Account” button for the library confuses the user, so an ILLiad login button needs to be boldly defined.
  • Footer: In the footer, there is an overwhelming amount of information. All of the sections have links except the “Contact Us”, yet the text is all the same color. Links should be kept consistent. The committee recommends linking the campus address to a map to ensure links are kept consistent. The “Contact Us’ also has a drop down with repetitive information (give feedback when there’s already a give feedback link under the “Feedback” section), which adds too much information to the footer.

5.      LEARN/UGL Webpages/LibGuides Content Review

Susan reported that significant progress has been made on moving pages. She noted that when she leaves, Dan Tracy and Suzanne Chapman will continue with the project.

Susan also reported that when they moved the undergrad Dewey Decimal system page, many non-students (school librarians, etc.) called about its whereabouts. The committee considered the strategic use of pages on a public engagement level and how they should be maintained.

6.      LibGuides and LibAnswers Update

Crystal reported that in order to proceed with LibAnswers, RIS is working on implementing the FAQs. For LibGuides, the Office of Information Literacy finished collecting feedback on the A-Z database list and have added the recommendations. Only 15 out of 55 departments responded, however the link is still live so feedback is welcome.

The next step in the A-Z database process is nomination for subjects. As soon as the subjects are entered, there will be a need for correlating guides to subjects from librarians or library units who support the subject.

7.      Strategic Plan

Due to time constraints, the committee did not discuss the strategic plan, however each member received a copy of the draft. Lisa informed the committee there is a library discussion on the plan at 3:00 pm, November 9th.

8.      Open Discussion/Announcements

Susan reported an accolade that a librarian from another university told her their subject guides (created by Kirsten and her GAs) were the best she had seen.

Respectfully submitted,

Anna Lapp