Subscribe for Free |   View PDF  |  Send to a Friend |   Library Connect News  |   | 

search this site search web

Arjan Huisman of Elsevier’s Customer Service Focus Project reports from Amsterdam

Q: What 2.0 tools provide support to Scopus users?

A: As we gravitate towards the realm of Web 2.0, users are looking for more ways for online interaction and sharing. At Elsevier, we offer 2.0 support to Scopus users by providing them with three basic and useful tools. Our RSS feed, HTML feed and API (application programming interface) offer fast access to relevant search results and ways for librarians and users to share information with others.

Scopus RSS feeds allow users to receive updates of their favorite search results. Users can choose the type of feed they want including document searches, citation searches and shared references. The feeds automatically download the latest published articles in Scopus that match the users' search criteria. Not only does this tool support Scopus users by saving them time, it’s also a convenient way for them to stay informed about the latest developments in their fields.

If you want to offer your researchers more peer-to-peer interaction, another useful 2.0 tool is the Scopus HTML Feed. Via this feed, a Scopus RSS feed is converted into HTML code — facilitating sharing the RSS search results. This code can be placed into your website, and the resulting HTML feed can be customized to complement the page. The Scopus HTML Feed allows quicker access to information for users visiting your site and provides a link to Scopus from the titles listed in the feed.

Our Scopus API enables you to select Scopus data elements to create your own mashups. The API returns Scopus data in a format that is easily integrated into an application on your website.

Find these user tools on the Scopus Info site under “Set Up Scopus: Scopus Tools.”

http://info.scopus.com/setup/promo/usertools

Tom Noonan of Elsevier’s User Centered Design Group answers your usability questions

Q: Will “Web 2.0” changes to my library site improve its usability and usefulness?

A: Web 2.0 refers to a convergence of technologies, some new, some old, which are changing the way we experience what we’ve come to know as the Internet. With Web 2.0, the potential variety and richness of the user experience have grown substantially.

For website managers, the challenge is how to harness these technologies to provide a useful and usable experience for our users. For example, could your library users benefit from library-provided social networking, tag-based folksonomies, blogs or wikis? Will some sort of Rich Internet Application (RIA) simplify browsing or searching for sources on your library website? Or would an RIA distract and confuse your site’s users?

One thing that won’t change is that a product will fail if it is difficult to use or if it uses a technology in a way that doesn’t provide a useful experience. Users will find another way to accomplish what they need or they will just go away. If our usability testing demonstrates anything, it’s that users are impatient and won’t tolerate something designed without their needs in mind.

To be sure, some websites effectively use Web 2.0 technologies. But the popularity of these sites is due to the effective ways they utilize the technologies to provide value to users, and not due to the technologies in and of themselves. Useful and usable are still non-negotiable qualities. Just as it was in Web 1.0 or back in the days before the Internet, understanding users’ needs remains critical to designing useful and usable ways to meet those needs.