Examining the Richness of Browsing in Digital Libraries & Netflix
Loading...
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2021-06
Department
University of Baltimore. Division of Science, Information Arts, and Technologies.
Program
University of Baltimore. Master of Science in Interaction Design and Information Architecture.
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by the University of Baltimore for non-commercial research and educational purposes.
This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by the University of Baltimore for non-commercial research and educational purposes.
Abstract
Search and browsing are essential to information retrieval in libraries. Digital library
users will engage in these behaviors to find books they need in any digital library’s interface.
Search is supported through the search bar, which is an incredibly powerful tool for any website
that holds vast amounts of information. The operation of search engines and the usability of
search interfaces have improved greatly over the last two decades. In contrast, the mechanisms
and tools for online browsing have not been as well developed. This paper seeks to understand
user browsing behaviors on digital libraries and whether their experience suffered if they could
not use the searching tool. This research was based heavily around Dana McKay’s guidelines for
digital browsing, and Marcia Bates’ browsing behaviors. Sixteen participants completed a survey
regarding their reading habits and library usage. They then conducted user testing with several
digital libraries and Netflix. Netflix was chosen because its users rely heavily on browsing to
find content, and Netflix supports browsing quite successfully. The digital library tasks required
users to browse for books that fit a certain criteria and books that they would personally read.
The task for Netflix required participants to find something to watch that they had never seen
before. The results suggest that although digital libraries still have room for improvement, the
gap between their browsing experiences and websites like Netflix may not be as far as initially
anticipated. This paper compares the strengths and benefits of each digital library to illuminate
some best practices for current and future digital repositories.