TCDL 2022 Session 3E | UX for Discovery Systems & Pressing On: Planned Changes Amid Unplanned Ones
Channel: texasdigitallibrary
Date: 2022-06-20

Presentation 1 - What’s Next? UX for Discovery Systems Beyond the Initial Launch

The University of North Texas Libraries conducted user research for the redesign of the online catalog in 2020. Due to the significant changes we were able to make to the infrastructure and functionality of the interface before the initial release, we decided that regularly incorporating UX was critical for making user-centered improvements. This presentation will examine the challenges we experienced managing multiple UX projects with limited resources. I will detail the strategies we created to enhance the efficiency of our user studies and the improvements we have been able to make as a result. Finally, I will close by discussing possible next steps. This presentation is beneficial for those seeking to enhance usability and access for users of their discovery systems.

Presentation 2 - This Is Fine: Pressing On With Planned Changes Amid Ongoing Unplanned Ones!

Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) is a consortium of over 70 archives, museums, and cultural heritage centers throughout Texas that provides a mutually-supported website for member repositories to upload archival finding aids. For over two decades, TARO has served as a free and open resource visited by hundreds of thousands of researchers per year. 

However, its twenty-year-old website was long overdue for holistic redesign and enhancement. Funded by a NEH Planning Grant (2015-2016) and a subsequent NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Implementation Grant (2019-present), the project started in the Spring of 2020 with a complete overhaul of the website from the administrative aspects of accounts, security and file uploads, to the public interface and search functionalities. Upon overcoming challenges such as the global pandemic and a week long winter storm, TARO’s Steering Committee and numerous volunteers, alongside its institutional home, the University of Texas Libraries, launched the Beta administrative site in May 2021, followed by the public facing Beta website in July 2021. After months of planning, development, testing, and continued enhancements, the final website debuted in October 2021. 

This presentation is a follow-up to last year’s reports, and will document the final stages of project development and implementation, collection of stakeholder feedback, usability testing, retiring the legacy website, and project wrap up thoughts. Also included will be ongoing and potential future challenges for the TARO Consortium.