BHL’s Feedback Tools and User Surveys: Investigating User Needs for Data in Digital Libraries
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2017-08-03
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Sheffield C, McClanahan P (2017) BHL’s Feedback Tools and User Surveys: Investigating User Needs for Data in Digital Libraries. Proceedings of TDWG 1: e20003. https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20003
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Abstract
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a digital library dedicated to improving research efficiency through open access to biodiversity literature as part of a global biodiversity community. BHL currently makes over 52 million pages of biodiversity literature freely available and drew over 1 million visitors in 2016. Additionally, over 4 million API calls were made to extract data from the site last year. To meet the needs of these users and continuously improve research efficiency, BHL has relied on feedback submitted through issue reporting tools on the website and through direct engagement with users. With support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, BHL is also currently hosting five residents through a National Digital Stewardship Residency (NDSR) project, entitled Foundations to Actions, to methodically gather input on best practices in digital libraries; recommendations for crowdsourcing transcriptions for improved data access; strategies for enhancing image access; analysis of collection strengths and gaps; and overall user needs. This session will highlight initial results from a user survey designed to identify and prioritize recommended improvements and new features for accessing the data in BHL.