Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluations of the Singapore National Library Board's Digital Library

Abstract

As part of the Singapore National Library Board’s (NLB) on-going efforts to improve the usefulness and usability of the eLibraryHub in meeting users’ needs, this chapter reports two empirical studies – a quantitative and a qualitative study – conducted on the eLibraryHub, the NLB Digital Library. In the quantitative study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the eLibraryHub from users’ perspectives. Results show that users rated favorably their satisfaction of the overall effectiveness, usefulness and ease of use of the eLibraryHub. They also perceived it as generally quite useful and easy to use. In the qualitative study, we made use of Scenario-Based Design and Claims Analysis, to determine the usability of the eLibraryHub. Findings indicate that most usability problems occurred during the interpretation and evaluation stages of navigational actions. It concludes with recommendations on design refinement of the eLibraryHub. The chapter illustrates the rich interplay of quantitative and qualitative data crucial in helping designers/developers to better understand users, uses and usability of deployed systems, to address the dilemma of Carroll’s task-artifact cycle of changing user needs and design possibilities.