Finding Articles and Journals via Google Scholar, Journal Portals,and Link Resolvers: Usability Study Results

摘要

Finding journal titles and finding articles by citation will remain challenging tasks for users. The principle of least effort, also known as Zipf's law, suggests that individuals "will adopt a course of action that will expend the probable least average of their work."40 Librarians can change the information architecture of their homepages to respond to this principle and to make the pathways more intuitive. They may also be able to make some customizations in third-party software, such as journal portals and link resolver forms. In addition, librarians should remain open-minded toward commercial tools, like GS, that have the potential to increase success and save time for users. Subject experts should use GS when searching within their discipline until they have an intuitive sense of whether it is a good option for users. Finally, librarians need to remember that many users do not begin their search on the library website. If the top tools offered on the library website are user-friendly and effective rather than frustrating and time-consuming, users will have a reason to begin their search there.