"Aiming to fill a need for books on usability written for professionals who design and provide online information services, this is a clear and accessible guide to examining information needs and developing effective user studies to assess online information services.  G.G. and Sudatta Chowdhury approach their topic from a library and information science perspective, giving the reader basic skills that can be used to design, conduct, analyze, and apply usability research when developing online information services. 

VERDICT: Highly recommended for libraries and library professionals providing resources via the Internet."
- LIBRARY JOURNAL

Information users and usability constitute the main building blocks of today's electronic information world. This important new text is the first to give a holistic overview of all of the necessary issues relating to information users and the usability of information services in the digital world, including user-centred design, and the characteristics and behaviour of information users.

This book helps readers understand why information users and the usability of information services are important and equips them to play a proper role in designing user-centred information systems and services and to properly exploit information services for the maximum benefit of users. It covers all of the major issues, the current situation and what the various research studies from around the world show. The chapters are:

• information users
• human information behaviour
• usability of information systems and services
• usability: internet and web information services
• usability: digital libraries and information services
• barriers to information access and usability
• the digital divide and social inclusion
• the digital divide and usability of digital information services: the global perspectives
• current issues and trends.

Readership: Researchers and practitioners interested in the design and evaluation of digital information systems and services and students on library, information, and digital library courses.

2011; 304pp; paperback; 978-1-85604-597-1; £49.95

Look inside this book

• Chapter 1

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Information users
Users in the web environment
User studies
Human information behaviour
The usability and evaluation of information services
So, what’s the problem?
About this book
Summary
References

2. Information needs and user studies
Introduction
Information needs
Analysis of information needs
User studies
Factors affecting information needs
User study methods
Qualitative vs quantitative research in user studies
Methods of data collection
Summary
References

3. Human information behaviour studies and models
Introduction
Human information behaviour
Information seeking and retrieval
Models in human information behaviour and information seeking
and retrieval
Information seeking on the web
Some new information seeking behaviour models
Summary
References

4. Usability study basics
Introduction
Usability
How to conduct a usability study
Summary
References

5. Usability study participants
Introduction
Selection of study participants
Challenges when selecting study participants
Summary
References

6. Usability data analysis
Introduction
Data types
Independent vs dependent variables
Nominal vs ordinal data
Descriptive vs inferential statistics
Parametric vs non-parametric tests
Comparing means: t-tests vs ANOVA tests
Correlation analysis
Chi square tests
Qualitative analysis
Summary
References

7. Web usability
Introduction
What are the challenges?
Which method?
User-centred design and accessibility issues
Web usability and accessibility
Usability metrics and heuristic evaluation
Summary
References

8. The usability of digital libraries
Introduction
Approaches to digital library usability studies
Usability factors in digital libraries
Digital library usability study models and techniques
Usability studies conducted by members of the Digital Library
Federation
Usability studies of Europeana Digital Library
MEDLIS: a digital library usability model
Summary
References

9. The digital divide, digital natives and usability
Introduction
Connotations of the digital divide
Indicators of digital divide
Digital divide indicators and usability
The digital divide and digital natives
Information skills and usability
Context and the digital divide
Summary
References

10. Issues and trends in usability research
Introduction
Usability methods and techniques
External factors affecting usability
Emerging technologies for access to digital content
Usability of e-books
Emerging access and business models
Social challenges: the digital divide and information skills
Conclusion
References