A Study of compatibility between Iranian digital libraries user interface and the elements of Ellis model of information seeking behavior

Abstract

The goal of this study is to evaluate the compatibility between Iranian digital libraries user interface and the elements of Ellis model of information seeking behavior. This study was performed using evaluation method with a checklist. This list is based on six features of Ellis model, "Starting", "Chaining", "Browsing", "Differentiating", "Monitoring" and "Extracting" and included 110 sub-components that have been developed using Delphi method. The population of this study included 5 library softwares: Azarakhsh, Simorgh, Papyrus, Payam and Parvan. Results showed that the average of scores of user interface of softwares is as follows: in Starting 99.6, Chaining 117.2, Browsing 29.6, Differentiating 53. 2, Monitoring 22.4 and Extracting 39. Among the softwares of digital libraries, according to the total score for elements of Ellis model (1080), Azarakhsh with 549 points is in the first rank and had the highest support for elements of Ellis model. It also became clear that Chaining with 586 points (%55) had the highest support in softwares of digital libraries. Also the elements of Chaining, Starting and Differentiating earned sequently the highest rank in softwares of digital libraries. Finally, testing research hypotheses with %95 confidence showed that among softwares of digital libraries there is no significant difference regarding the rate of support of elements of information seeking behavior of Ellis model.

Keywords

• Digital libraries
• User interface
• Information seeking behavior pattern
• Ellis model
• Evaluation studies
• Evaluation criteria