The Information Search Habits Investigated by an Eye Tracking Technique: How to Manage the Documentary Heritage of the National Library of Latvia

Abstract

The aim of the large-scale research entitled “Exploring Documentary Heritage for Building Synergies between Research and Society” is to investigate previously unexplored aspects of the documentary heritage, including the part of the legacy that has previously been subject to censorship and has therefore not been studied in depth. In order for these layers and stories to reach the public, it should initially be informed of the existence of such information, which, in turn, could create awareness and encourage action. As part of the large-scale research, the present article, using an eye tracking tool, reveals how target groups search for information on the Internet. The usability test indicates that respondents do not go to a specific information resource to search for specific information, but search is primarily started using one of the Internet search engines. The main conclusion is that, in order to ensure the availability of reliable high-quality information to the public, which is one of the key conditions for sustainable development, databases of the National Library of Latvia (NLL) should be designed in such a way that Google search engine can easily index the information contained in them.