Though there is a thick printed programme some activities are known only to members of the particular groups involved and it is really only possible to sample the conference. This report similarly is illustrative of a range of presentations, poster sessions, discussion groups and so on. It showed familiarity with techniques and skill levels as being more important than the actual interface, as long as support is given. Hotbot's Marketing Coordinator told of their extensive user testing, based on observation, focus groups, online questionnaires, e-mail feedback and query logs. An overview paper on methods divided them into those like usability labs, interviews and surveys which are largely retrospective, and those like transaction logs and content analysis which are more real time.
Most studies rely on the former.
A general issue that arose from the session was of privacy violation in identifying users from transaction logs. One study logged IP addresses but gave each a random number in order to track usage, but without knowing who the users were. In addition librarians should provide roving assistance. Although users may seem to be coping, they are often just reluctant to ask for help, so staff should be more proactive. The librarians who spoke on this topic were sceptical.