Usability testing is a technique for identifying difficulty that individuals may have using a product. Usability tests of the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries’ online public access catalog (OPAC), Article Indexes, Full Text, More, and Other Library Catalogs sections revealed problem areas. A task force used test findings to recommend solutions that led to the participation of the working group involved in designing search screens, the libraries’ User Education Department, and Innovative Interfaces Inc., the OPAC vendor. Solutions are currently being implemented.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.