Professional Instruction Award - Recipients
Year Three - May 2008 to April 2009
There are no Professional Instruction recipients for Year Three yet.
Year Two - May 2007 to April 2008
Recipient: Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, OH
Project Director: Karen Jones
Project Title: Face-to-Face
Amount: $1500
Phone: 440-816-4355
Description: Face-to-Face provides effective strategies for the librarian and
clinician working with terminally/critically ill patients. Just what to
say and how to say it is key to communicating with patients. Legal,
ethical and patient dilemmas are presented in exercises and role
playing will demonstate what is the most effective way to communicate.
We will also have local speakers from the hospice house to present information on their operation and care of patients.
Year One - May 2006 to April 2007
Recipient: Galter Health Sciences Library Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Project Director: Michelle Frisque
Project Title: User Center Design: Usability
Amount: $1,000
Phone: 312-503-7074
Description: Whether it is a libraries website, OPAC, digital library, Open URL
resolver, federated searching tool, etc, libraries are offering more
and more of their resources and services in the online environment. It
is no longer enough for a library to have a web presence. Instead
libraries have to find a way to combine their home grown systems with
the third party web services they are purchasing to create a web
environment that is user centered. Trying to meld the various parts
that make up a libraries website into one cohesive and usable web
presence is not easy but it can be done. By applying the principles of
user centered design and performing usability studies libraries can
begin the process of creating a usable website for their community.
Why is usability and user centered design important? As Jakob Nielson, noted Web Usability guru, states “If a website is difficult to use, people leave…If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website's information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key questions, they leave.” (1) The adage if you build it they will come is no longer relevant in today’s online environment. Building it is no longer enough. If a user can’t find what it is that want they will leave and they might not come back.
To assist libraries in creating a user centered website the Galter Health Sciences Library would like to sponsor a one day hands on workshop called “User Centered Design: Usability.” This workshop is offered from the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). LITA is the division of the American Library Association that “provides its members and the library information science community as a whole with a forum for discussion, an environment for learning, and a program for actions on the design, development, and implementation of automated and technological systems in the library and information science field.” (2)
1 Nielson, Jakob. Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. Jakob Nielson’s Alert Box. (2003) Aug 25 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html
2 What is LITA?” LITA. http://www.lita.org/ala/lita/litamembership/joinlita/joinlita.htm
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