Clustering of Gateway Survey 2003 Comments
December 1, 2003
(NOTE: Numbers within parentheses denote the number of the respondent who contributed comment)
Navigation
- Easier access to subject libraries (9)
- Library hours difficult to get to (34)
- Specific library departments and services (121,16)
- Easier to find subject librarians (141, 225)
- Needs to be easier to find hours and links (4)
- Staff directory buried (107)
- Better access to ILL form (148, 79)
- Better access to U World express (148)
- Storage retrieval time tables hard to find (184)
- Direct link to OCLC WorldCat on front page (175,91)
- Clearer link to ‘image collections” (50)
- Can’t find geospatial data (33)
- Give eres a link of its own on the search page (209)
- Clearer route to encyclopedias (214)
- Clearer link to Dissertations (219)
- Clearer links to off-campus resources. (225)
- Clearer link to ‘site-map’ (225)
- Study room bookings – how to find (72)
- Better navigation – wants reference tools under ‘help’ (113)
- Find copy card locations more easily (234)
- Pare down left nav bar (135)
- Information buried (3)
- More links on front page (3, 225)
- Less clutter on main gateway (182, 156)
- Decrease jargon (23, 170, 194, 225)
- Don’t need separate links for Friends of the Library and support the library (79)
- Too much information on the Gateway, the categories are confusing (175)
- More link explanations – when to use what (57)
New Features
- DOI # lookup via Gateway (15)
- Catalog search on front page (165, 175)
- User profiles showing how a typical X user might use the Gateway (40)
- “newsflash” item to highlight services, resources (175, 128, 225)
- Link to ‘Your library account’ from myUW. (171)
- All library hours’ in HTML (90)
- Notification of new issue of specified journal available (15)
- Search history (persist through research session) (39)
- Add a genealogical research feature for researching your newspaper collection (121)
- Links to downloadable software esp for molecular biology (207)
- Help options that can be selected at each level of a search (224)
- Error messages when search terms are not in the accepted format (224)
Finding databases and journals
- Problem identifying DBs – some by acronym (9)
- Assistance for choosing journals and DB (22)
- Database confusion (too many to choose from) (32, 220)
- Help choosing DB – smart pop ups that suggest alternatives (41)
- Link to ‘web-of-knowledge’ (44)
- Organize DB list into alphabetical AND by subject (45)
- DB wizard (147)
- Consolidate databases so you can search them all at the same time (204)
- Some sort of tutorial regarding how to navigate between library web sites and databases (228)
- E-journals by subject (187)
- Databases and catalogs list – too many other websites; data sources (79)
- Journals hard to navigate; too many options; hard to narrow search (60)
- Add standard deviations to e-journal search (51)
- Drop down for ‘Top 25’ list (165)
- Top 25 -> Top 50 (90)
- Top 25 DB not necessary (113)
Subject pages
- Limited utility (3)
- Get rid of infrequently updated ‘browse subjects’ (13)
- Quality is varied, some better than others (203)
Help and support
- General instructions on how to use the site (149)
- Endnote support (32)
- Improved sound for new message within live chat (96)
- More info on checking out media (60)
Collections
- More e-journals (181, 114, 89, 28, 59,54, 207, 210, 233)
- WoS from earlier (pre 1970) (181)
- Improve holdings for full text e-journals (better explanation of what is in full text) (65)
- Make sure journals stated as being available electronically actually are. (210)
- Better access to archived articles, especially online. (233)
Catalog
- Spell checker in search – found correct author name on amazon (lang=laing) (87)
- Improve keyword search (5)
- Enhance record display (5)
- Better keyword search, use of conjunctions (138)
- Title and author combination search (or message how to do so via keyword search) (28)
- Sort results by year (196)
- Limit search by media (in keyword) 130
- Video recordings as separate limit (no slides) 135
- More detailed catalog records (13)
- More information on what is in the books. (231)
- Better subject categorization of older books (133)
- Journal limit (scope) available on more pages (not just first catalog page) (90)
- Catalog gets stuck on "journal" once you choose that option, can’t return to ‘All UW’ without using refresh (105, 235)
- Make online journals searchable (i.e. search the articles for key words). (204)
- Location information on the "Journals and Databases" listing. (234)
- Ability to pull requests items from library to which they were returned, no transit
- Printer friendly list of checked out items (97)
- YLA leads to too many options, not logging in (199, 34)
- YLA requires new log in each time accessed, can’t look at book detail then return via back button (236)
- Summit button not explained anywhere (45)
- Hold process more clear (168)
Catalog new features
- Source relevancy (catalog only?)
- More web bridge sources (58)
- Stop catalogs refreshing after 10 minutes (122, 195)
- Call number hyperlink to map (187,122)
- ‘Smart’ keyword recommendations after search entered (167,159)
- “clean up the data” (113)
- Search box on the homepage for catalog keyword search (234)
Q&A
- Provide a realistic time estimate for Q&A live (136)
- Increase live online librarian hours (162)
Proxy/barcode
- Pac files conflict with other proxy (92)
- Use cookies to set password (33)
- Get rid of barcode (8, 33, 40, 71)
- Better connection from home (84)
Look and Feel
- Make it “prettier” (120)
- Look is “clunky” (158)
- Better color scheme (88, 125)
Other
- Site maintenance – no dead links, dead ends (21)
- What do k-12 users care about your mission statement? (13)
- ISI WoS -> e-journal links send to wrong place, easier to go through catalog (62)
libuse@u.washington.edu
Last modified: Wednesday December 10, 2003