We need to keep tabs on how the service is being used, and see how that service is meeting our original goals and expectations. I tend to divide digital reference evaluation into the three basic categories listed on slide 9. All too often we get caught up in the design of a new service such as this, and forget the user s perspective. We make decisions based on knowledge and experience that the user doesn t possess. Evaluating user satisfaction involves assessing the user s perspective on the usefulness of the service.
Librarians often have a library-centric view of the information universe.
That s natural, since we are immersed in the workings of libraries. People know where physical libraries are, and so we just assume they know to come to the library for certain types of information. We can t make the same assumption in the digital world. We can t just put up a service and assume people will use it too much competition in the digital world. The major factor to consider when evaluating visibility is to think about putting links to the service in places where the user is likely to find them.