Document Type : Articles
Authors
1 PhD Candidate in Knowledge and Information Science, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran
2 Assictant Prof. Agricultural Research, Education & Extension Organization (AREO), Tehran, Iran
3 PhD, Department of Library and Information Science, Science and research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IRAN
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the user interfaces of the most important world’s children digital libraries and consider their conformity with the experts' opinions. This is done with the aim of proposing a set of unique and applicable criteria for Iranian children digital libraries that was not provided by the previous studies. The data for this study were collected by a check list for each of 6 world's most famous children digital libraries. This study applied survey as its methodology. This study showed that the compliance of the children digital libraries with selected criteria totally was 63.43 percent. Among the analyzed criteria, the criterion of "study facilities of retrieved resources" (94.33 percent) and "options for customizing the texts" (3.33 per cent) indicated the highest and lowest level respectively. From the expert's point of view, the option of "show error messages" reached the maximum and "customizing the texts" grasped the minimum levels. Finally, based on the study outcomes, a set of criteria is proposed for children digital library user interfaces. Due to the lack of a known and complete list on the web, some important children digital libraries might be missed. Also, the proposed set of criteria only can be used to evaluate the user interfaces of children digital libraries. Applying a unique set of criteria in designing children's digital Library interfaces could increase the amount of children’s use of such libraries.
- Abbaspour, J. (2006). Evaluation the user interfaces of the dissertations abstract database of Iranian Information and Documentation center. Doctoral Dissertation, Tarbiat Modares U., Faculty of Education and Psychology Science, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian].
- Aligani, R; Mousaviyan, A; Alizadeh, F. and Karami, N. (2009). Survey and comparison of general search engines user interface 'Yahoo', ' Google' and 'AltaVista' and ' All the web'. Book Journal, 1(77), 137-158.
- Bardre, A. N. (2002). Shaping web usability: interaction design in context. Addison- Wesley, Harlow.
- Bilal, D. (2006). Measuring the usability of an international user interface: Culture and design representations . Paper presented at Human-Computer Interaction Symposium, The American Society for Information Science & Technology, Austin, TX. Retrieved from http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGHCI/papers_posters06.html.
- Bilal, D, and Bachair. I. (2006). Children`s interaction with cross-cultural and multilingual digital libraries. I. Understanding interface design representation. Information processing and Management, 43 (1), 47-64.
- Blowers, H. and Bryan R. (2004). Weaving a library Web: a guide to developing children's website. United States: American library Association.
- Borgman, C.L.; Hirsh, S.G. and Walter, V.A. (1995). Children's Searching Behavior on Browsing and Keyword, online Catalogs: the science library catalog project. Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIST), 46(9), 663-684.
- Busey, p. and Doerr, T. (1993). Kid`s Catalog: An Information Retrieval system for Children. Youth Services in Libraries, 7(1), 77-84.
- Cooper, L. (2006). Developmentally Appropriate Digital Environments for Young Children. Library Trend, 54(2), 286-302.
- Cummins, J. (2004). Accessing The International Children`s Digital Library. The horn book magazine, 80(2), 145- 147.
- Demner, D. (2001). Children on the Internet. Retrieved from http://otal.umd.edu/uupractice /children/.
- Dorner, D. G. and Curits. A. M. (2003). Comparative review of common user interface software products for libraries: Report commissioned by the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa. School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved from http://www.icesi.edu.co/biblioteca/contenido/ pdfs/CUI_report_final.pdf
- Druin, A; Bederson, B. B.; Hourcade, J. P.; Sherman, L.; Revelle, G.; Platner, M. and Weng, S. (2001). Designing a digital library for young children: an Intergenerational Partnership. Proceedings of Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL 2001). ACM Press, 398-405.
- Druin, A; Bederson, B. B.; Weeks, A.; Farber, A.; Grosjean, J.; Guha, M. L.; Hourcade, J.P.; Lee, J.; Liao,S.; Reuter, K. Rose, A.; Takayama, Y. and Zhang, L. (2003). The international children’s digital library: description and analysis of first use. First Monday. 8(5). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org.issues/issue8-5/Druin/.
- Druin, A.; Weeks, A.; Massey, S.; Bederson, B. (2007). Children`s interest and concerns when using the international children`s digital library: a four-country case study. Proceedings of Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL'2007). Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 167-176.
- Eboni Project (2002). Retrieved from http://ebooks.strath.ac.uk/eboni/guidelines/index.html.
- Entezaryan, N. and Fattahi, R. (2009). The study of user`s understanding of the interface environment of database on the basis of Nilson models. Library and Information Science, 47(3), 43- 64. [in Persian]
- Hourcade, J. P.; Bederson, B. B.; Druin, A.; Rose, A.; Farber, A. and Takayama, Y. (2003) The international children's digital library: viewing digital books online, Interacting with Computers, 15, 151-167. Retrieved from http://hcil.cs.umd.edu/trs/2003-17/2003-17.pdf.
- Hutchinson, H.; Druin, A. and Bederson, B. B., (2007). Supporting elementary-age children's searching and browsing: design and evaluation using the international children's digital library. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 58(11), 1618-1630.
- Kragler, S. and Nolley, C. (1996). Student choices: book selection strategies of fourth graders. Reading Horizons, 36 (4), 354-365.
- Large, A. (2004). Criteria for Children`s Web ports: A Comparison of Two Studies. The Canadian Journal of Information and Library science, 28(4), 45-72.
- Large, A.; Tedd, A. and Hartley, R. J. (1999). Information seeking in the online age principles and practice. Bowker Saur, 34(1), 128-129.
- Mehrad, J. and Asari Shahri, R. (2007). Measuring satisfaction of Shiraz university students with Pars Azarakhsh (OFOGH) user interface and analysis of some of its significant design elements. Information Science & Technology, 23 (1 & 2), 1- 22.
- Mehrad, J. and Zahedi, Z. (2006). The Comparison of two interface of internal host, regional Information center for science and technology and database of Iranian information and documentation center with Ebsco, Emerald Elsevier, ProQuest. Library and information journal, 10(3), 107-124.
- Moore, P. and Gorge, St. A. (1991). Children as information seekers: the cognitive demand of books and library systems. School Library Media Quarterly, 19(3), 161 -68.
- Najafinia, Sh. (2007). Approach to adaptive Children's digital library. Electronic magazine of Scientific Information and Documentation Center (Nama), 7(3). Retrieved from http://dbase.irandoc.ac.ir/data/e_j/vol7/najafinia.htm.
- Namazi, A (2003). Defining parameters in the design of digital libraries. Master`s thesis, Tarbiat Modares U., Faculty of Engineering, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian]
- Nielsen, J. and Norman, D. (2004). Website usability: Usability on the web isn’t a luxury. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/773/web.htm.
- Nilson, J. (2006). Kid's corner: website usability for children. Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/children.html.
- Norouzi, Y. (2009). Evaluating the user interfaces in the Iranian digital libraries and presenting a sample criteria. Doctoral dissertation, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Humanities Faculty, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian].
- Ohishi, K, and Nonogaki, H. (1999). Guidelines' for designing human interfaces for children and their application to the koron-net communication system. Fujitsu sci Tech J., 35(2), 149-157.
- Rao, S. (2001). Familiarization of electronic books. The Electronic Library, 19(4).247-256. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.
- Reuter, k. and Druin, A. (2004). Bringing together children and books: an initial descriptive study of children's book searching and selection behavior in a Digital Library. Processing of American Society for Information Science and Technology Conference (ASIST), 41(1), 339-348.
- Salman, A. (2002). Graphic application user interfaces. Retrieved from http://mercury.tvu. ae.uk/gpa-11.html.
- Theng, Y.; Norliza M. N. and Harold ,T. (2007). Children as Design Partners and Tester for a Children's Digital Library. Springer-Verlag: London, 249-258.
- Trenner, L. (1989). A Comparative survey of the friendliness of online 'help' in interactive systems. Information processing and management, 25(2), 119-136.
- Wendelin, K.H. and Zinck, R. (1983). How students make book choices. Reading Horizons, 23(2), 84-88.
- Zaker Shahrak, M. (2007). Evaluation of making features of children`s digital library in Iran. Journal of Children's Literature, 45-46:191-194. [In Persian].
- Zavaraqi, R. (2005). Presenting a model for display and user interface specifications of web based OPACs on the basis of available universal standards and experts views in order to compare the Iranian library and Information Center OPACs. Master`s thesis, Shahid Chamran University, Faculty of education and psychology, Ahvaz, Iran. [In Persian].
- Zerehsaz, M. and Fattahi, R. (2006). Basic consideration in designing the user interface of database and computer systems . Book journal, 9 (34), 251-268. [In Persian].
- Zerehsaz, M.; Fattahi, R. and Davarpanah, M.R. (2006). Survey and analysis of elements and characteristics in Simorq software user interface and appointing users' satisfaction measures. Library and Information Journal, 9(36), 127-150. [In Persian].