card sorting: a data collection method

Posted on June 12, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

Two very recent articles* mention card sorting as a technique for getting library web site users to determine categories of information. The process typically uses index cards that already have some information provided, and the user puts the cards into piles that make sense to them. Then the user gives piles headings. This is a technique for getting users to help you think about how to construct the categories of information on your website.

There’s a web tool for this, if your users prefer using the web to sorting physical index cards: WebSort (http://websort.net) (mentioned in Cassi Pretlow’s article, “10 web tools to create user-friendly sites,” Computers in Libraries, June 2008, 28(6):14.)

You may like to read more on ways to systematically gather data from your users. Consider reading this slim book for essential how-to information: Systematic Data Collection By Susan C. Weller, Antone Kimball Romney.

*

  1. Peter Hepburn and Krystal M. Lewis. 2008. “What’s in a Name? Using Card Sorting to Evaluate Branding in an Academic Library’s Web Site.,” College & Research Libraries, 69(3).
  2. 2008. “The secret to patron-centered web design: cheap, easy, and powerful usability techniques,” Computers in Libraries, 28(6):6.

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volunteering pays

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

to follow up on the blog post about becoming a manuscript reviewer for a journal i asked a couple of colleagues how they got to be reviewers: they volunteered!  granted, the people i asked are smartypants and have had their own articles published in popular journals, but they also took the steps to find a journal they liked and sought out the position of reviewer instead of waiting to be asked.

hmmmm-i-disagrees-with-your-theories.jpg
more cat pictures

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Creative Commons in flickr

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

when you search the image site flickr under the groups tab for ‘creative commons’ you will get a results set with a lot of group pools with a specific focus.

how to search flickr for groups

my quick search retrieved

  • insects in creative commons
  • flowers in creative commons
  • nature in creative commons
  • architecture in creative commons

why do you care?

at some point you’ve worked on a powerpoint presentation and have looked to insert some images to jazz it up. flickr may be a good resource for this. the images that are in the “creative commons” pools are put there by photographers that want you to use their images. by looking in the ‘flowers in creative commons’ pool, for example, you will only find pictures of flowers, and only pictures with creative commons licenses.

when you find an image you like, scroll to the bottom right of the page to look at the license. here’s a screen shot of what it looks like:
creative commons screenshot
when you click your mouse on the ‘some rights reserved’ text you will be whisked to the creative commons website, which tells you what the restrictions on the image’s reuse are. in this case the photographer permits you to reuse the image as long as you credit him as the author. easy enough! please note that not all photographers permit you to reuse their images, and those images will have this text for their license:

all rights reserved

experiment with this now so the next time you’re preparing a presentation you’ll already know what kinds of images are in the creative commons pools, making your preparation that much easier.

Posted in images, OA | 2 Comments

to read: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Posted on June 10, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

my library has recently been discussing the wealth of social technology possibilities, wondering how to effectively use them to communicate with our users. i’m pleased to be part of an organization that is thinking about this and have been doing some reading to find cases of successful implementation. i came across this quote from a blog post by a museum employee that is thinking about similar things:

Put simply, if you do engage, you[r] organisation will change. If you engage strategically then this change can be managed and paced appropriately.

the blog mentions a book that i will look into to think more about managing and pacing engagement:
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

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Nutrition Cafe

Posted on June 10, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

the website of the pacific science center has three nutrition games in their nutrition cafe: nutrition sleuth, grab a grape, have-a-bite cafe

the main site is flash-based (and means that i can’t provide you with direct links to the individual games), but a non-flash version is also available.

thanks to hippocratech for pointing me to nutrition sleuth.

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how do you become a reviewer for a journal?

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Marie Kennedy

somebody asked me recently how one gets to be a reviewer for a library-related journal. here’s how you can do it:

  • to be a reviewer you have to have a publishing track record. what topics in librarianship do you care most about?  start writing about them and show your writing to as many people as can stand to look at it. this informal review process does great things for the quality of your manuscripts and also makes others aware of what you care about.  people remember these things.
  • be an expert on a topic. it doesn’t matter what it is, but if you know a lot about x and have written about it, journal editors will think of you when they get a manuscript on that topic.
  • find journals you care about. if you always dogear articles in a particular journal to read or think about later, this is a good sign.  do you agree with the journal’s mission?  as a reviewer you will be charged to evaluate manuscripts with that mission in mind, so it should jive with what you think is important.
  • read up on who is on the editorial board for your favorite journals. do you know any of the members of the board? drop them a line and let them know you’d like to be considered as a reviewer, and specify in which areas you are competent.

the idea behind peer review is that your skill set or knowledge of a topic is broad enough that you can comment with ease on ideas broached in a manuscript.  it means that you keep up with literature in the area of your interest and will be able to discern high quality from low quality in this area.  the goal of the peer review process is to be able to further the body of literature in an area.

leave a comment if you’ve got other suggestions to share about how to position yourself to become a reviewer.

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