Heuristic Evaluation of University Libraries’ Mobile Websites in Poland

Abstract

Thesis/objective – the issue of evaluation of university mobile services has not been broadly explored, especially in Poland. Such research is worth conducting, as more and more users of library websites – students in particular – use mobile devices while searching required information. Mobile versions of university websites have not become very popular in Poland as of yet. Of the 10 largest university libraries of this kind, only 4 have a mobile version. The paper presents the evaluation of their quality and benchmarking with a view to identifying the best practices. Research method – the quality-heuristic method and benchmarking were used. The research questionnaire covered both the content as well as the functioning of the services. Results and conclusions – The service of the library of the University of Torun turned out to be the best; the remaining ones appeared to be a little less attractive mainly due to their limitations linked with information availability. None of the services, however, received the maximum score. Research results show the elements which still offer room for improvement.