Shih-Chuan Chen / 陳世娟 
Catalog is an important tool for patrons to inquire and utilize library resources, but search engines have become the main channel for many people to find information or resources. Discovery services help users to search the library resources, institutional repositories, open access content and the subscribed external resources at the same time within a single search box. This study evaluated the performance of undergraduate students when using a discovery system and analyzed the common problems they encountered. Participants’ opinions and suggestions regarding the discovery system were also investigated.
This study enrolled 16 undergraduate students. Their search behaviors on the discovery system were evaluated using five tasks (three known-item searches and two subject searches), which the participants completed on a laptop. Participants’ search processes were video recorded. Follow-up interviews were conducted to solicit the participants’ opinions regarding the discovery system.
Although the participants had no prior experience with the discovery system, the results revealed high completion rates in most search tasks. Participants described the discovery system as user-friendly and its refinement functions as helpful, and they expressed an intent to use the system in the future. Participants generally employed the single search box and facets during most search tasks, but they used various approaches. The main problems encountered by students were confusion regarding combined search results and ambiguous facet labels. Therefore, the library should improve the design of the interface and provide instructions and guidance on the use of the library Discovery services to attract more students to use it.
These findings may help university libraries and vendors better understand undergraduate students’ search behavior and the problems encountered by students when using the discovery system.
目錄是讀者查詢及利用圖書館資源的重要工具，對於使用者來說，資源探索系統可幫助使用者在一個介面搜索圖書館資源、機構典藏、開放近用的內容和外部訂購的資源。本研究採用觀察法及半結構深度訪談方式，研究結果發現受試者使用圖書館資源探索系統檢索之任務完成率高，顯示圖書館資源探索系統對於使用者來說是個簡單的工具。雖然大多數受試者表示圖書館資源探索系統容易使用，但研究發現受試者對檢索畫面中的名稱標示感到困惑，容易忽略某些可使用的功能，有時也無法識別書目記錄中的特定資訊。因此，圖書館資源探索系統介面應該設計得更清晰、更具親和力。同時，圖書館應該提供有關圖書館資源探索系統的使用的說明與指導，以吸引更多的學生使用。
DOI: 10.6575/JILA.202412_(105).0001
