Making Unmediated Access to E-Resources a Reality

Abstract

During fiscal year 2006, the University of Connecticut Libraries spent almost two-thirds of its collection budget on electronic resources, making it essential that students, faculty, and staff can find and access these resources without assistance from librarians. To address ease-of-use issues, a cross-functional task team spent a year assessing the libraries’ database locator and worked to create a more functional system. This iterative process of usability testing and design included three sets of usability tests, several design sessions, and revision of database descriptions. The new design now enables users to successfully and quickly find databases without mediation.