user interface – Knowledge Base

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Knowledge Base > user interface

Order and arrangement of the ‘Refine Results’ sidebar filters

Posted on April 21, 2022April 21, 2022 by Kathryn Brew

Observation: Some opinions about the arrangement of the sidebar so far include:

Location should be near the top. Staffers using the platform often need to search for materials within the building as a patron wants to walk away with a book today, and it is awkward to try to limit by location.
Location should be organized alphabetically.
Format should be organized alphabetically.

Reported: 12/2/2021, updated 4/21/2022

Status: Mid-Hudson is working on customizing the interface to rearrange the sidebar. Please let us know if you have opinions about the order, language/labels, or any other features of the sidebar by emailing techsupport@midhudson.org or filling out the feedback form.

Resolution: If changes can be made by MHLS, we will update soon.

Format and Locations currently ordered by most results

Confusion around terminology

Posted on April 12, 2022April 14, 2022 by Kathryn Brew

Observation: “Concepts” and “Persons” may be confusing to average patrons. This is especially so with “persons,” which includes many entities that are not people such as Hoopla, OverDrive, Scholastic, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Topics” and “Contributors” are also used, and it is unclear how they relate to concepts and persons.

Another suggestion is to change the heading “Reader reviews” to “User reviews” since books are not the only items in the card catalog. The same problem also applies to “Reading History.”

Reported: 12/13/2021, updated 4/12/2022

Status: Many of these labels are customizable. MHLS will work on developing more user-friendly labels for various sections of the catalog. Please let us know if you have opinions about language/labels, or any other features of the sidebar by emailing techsupport@midhudson.org or filling out the feedback form.

Resolution: TBD.

Confusion around layout of resource pages

Posted on December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 by Kathryn Brew

Observation: Staff have reported difficulty understanding where certain information is located within a resource page. This includes the content of the two Related and Details tabs and the order of that content. For example, author information and a list of their other books are located at the bottom of the Details tab. A reviewer has expressed that they would like this section to be more prominent. “You May Also Like” and “More in this Series” also appear under Details although they would seemingly make more sense under Related.

The author, illustrator, and other contributors appear part-way down the Related tab, although they could reasonably be considered part of the details of a particular work. Similarly, a list of topics appear under Related, even though they could be details.

Reported: 11/04/2021

Status: MHLS will look into configuring pages further and working with how information is integrated, such as through Syndetics Unbound.

Resolution: TBD.

Call numbers difficult to find

Posted on December 2, 2021December 10, 2021 by Kathryn Brew

Observation: Knowing where to look for call numbers/self locations and having to click through and scroll to find that information seems like too many steps.

Reported: 12/2/2021

Status: Currently, the call number can be viewed in two ways: 1.) by clicking on a location name or 2.) by expanding the Edition Information, then expanding one of the editions. See the images below for a visual aid.

Resolution: MHLS can make changes to the text to make the next step more obvious, such as “On shelf at one or more locations – select a library from the list below to get shelf location information“. This will be updated soon.