Internet Resource icon: friend or foe?
The internet resource icon on WorldCat.org has been a hot topic of conversation for quite a while among our users and our user experience groups here working on worldcat.org. Originally when we put that icon on our search results and detailed records as a secondary icon, it was meant to indicate that "this item is also available online".
Much to our (and our users') dismay, we noticed the icon appearing on items that weren't actually available online...Turns out, this problem is a result of different interpretations among catalogers of what a 'version' of something actually is. So, we are working diligently on filtering our data to more accurately display the internet resource icon only when a true online version of the item exists. This change should be reflected on WorldCat.org in August or September!
But there are even more challenges with this darn little icon. The internet resource icon carries a lot of weight. Internet searchers are looking for items that they can find online, and to most of our searchers, this is the only or most visible indication we give on search results or detailed records that it is available online, even when the user is not actually authorized to view the item. Why is this? Because the internet resource icon was originally intended to just show that a 'version' of this item existed online - but it wasn't meant to indicate whether the user is authorized to view it.
We realize we have a usability challenge on our hands...
Users want to be able to tell up front what they can access online when they are searching. Unfortunately in most cases, WorldCat.org doesn’t know what users are authorized to access.
So our challenge is: would users rather see what they *might* be able to get online with the possibility of failed attempts? Or would users rather see what WorldCat.org absolutely knows they have access to online, with the possibility of missing out on other items that they are authorized to access?
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On July 24, 2008 at 6:55 PM Pam said:
Even our reference librarians didn't understand this icon at first. I would be nice if there could be an icon diffentiation between web based version of the material and web based information about the material (title page, table of contents)
On July 24, 2008 at 7:55 PM Daniel Cornwall said:
I agree with Pam's comments about full item vs. TOC.
If possible, I'd like to see the icon mean that global (i.e. free access) is possible AND perhaps a different icon denoting licensed resources.
But that might mean creating new MARC indicators or something.
Thanks for starting this conversation. I appreciate your steadfast commitment to WorldCat.org improvement.
On July 25, 2008 at 8:33 AM Christie
said:
Thanks Pam and Daniel. The change we hope to install in August or September will hopefully fix the display of the Internet Resource as a secondary icon on search results (most of the time) so that it only displays when there is a link to the item online in the record, and it will not display when the only links are to things like table of contents or publisher info. Thanks for your suggestion about different icons for freely available vs. licensed content. We're in the process of doing analysis of all of our icons, and we'll definitely investigate that idea.
On July 27, 2008 at 10:59 AM Thanks! said:
I emailed you guys about this a few months ago, so I thank you for this entry. I think it would help users to see the possibilities, even if they couldn't access it every time.
An "online copy" icon would be a nice way of showing that there was the possibility of obtaining the material online. If users have access to several libraries, they might be able to get it, or if they have friends with access. So an icon showing the possibilities would be best, I think.
On July 29, 2008 at 7:14 PM Jeffrey Beall said:
Perhaps it would be a good idea to examine the OCLC cataloging documentation to see whether it is ambiguous or lacking and is therefore a source of the problem. At least this ought to be done, I think, before asigning culpability to catalogers.
On August 6, 2008 at 5:38 AM Owen Stephens said:
We need more subtlety here - what is available, and the conditions underwhich it is available (especially 'freely available to all')
Of course, increasing the number of icons to reflect more varied information is likely to lead to more confusion.
This is a challenge for all libraries as users take more distributed routes to content - telling people what they have access to, no matter where they come across it.
It seems to me that OpenURL provides a possible solution to this, but this would require a broader adoption of the standard (outside the library community). Also, we would need some 'default' resolution for those without an OpenURL resolver (possibly a publicly accessible resolver with information about freely available resources). I think for usability we really want to present the accessibility options on the resource, not a click away, which suggests that a standard API to request information about access to a resource would be required so that data sources like WorldCat could look this up, and display the appropriate icon.
On August 19, 2008 at 1:01 PM Christie
said:
Owen: you bring up some very good points. Our biggest challenge is knowing what the user is authorized to get to. Simple problem statement with big, big implications (on our end). Our second challenge is to present that access level in a non-confusing way at the right time. But, the thing you mention (especially about APIs with OpenURL resolvers) is exactly along the lines of things we're looking at on WorldCat.org. Keep the great ideas coming!