ALA | Designing for Experts: How Scholars Approach an Academic Library Web Site

Sent this link by a colleague at work:
ALA | Designing for Experts: How Scholars Approach an Academic Library Web Site

It's an interesting look at how information experts search for data.

"There is further evidence of a strong correlation between frequent access to the library Web site and success in locating information and services online."

"The subjects in this study were persistent as they attempted to complete each task. The somewhat artificial nature of the test may have motivated them to continue searching longer than they normally might. The less-experienced searchers had a tendency to continue further down a wrong path, doggedly looking for clues. More-experienced searchers were likely to refine their searches, backtrack when lost, or try multiple searches to complete the task."

It is interesting to see how experts handle searching, but it would also be rewarding to set the same tasks for users that aren't subject and information specialists. This way it would be easier to see the different requirements in terms of OPACS and resource discovery portals for academic institutions versus public libraries.