Visualizations of bibliographic information: A user experience study

Abstract

Bibliographic information was presented using five different prototype systems, including four different visualizations of FRBR-based bibliographic information and one more traditional bibliographic information system. This study reports user performance and perceptions using the same tasks across the different visualizations. Users include undergraduate students of a large university in the USA. The study’s methodology is based on a continuation of a study testing the same prototype interfaces in Slovenia, with a number of modifications. The findings show visualization displays performing better on a number of measures than the traditional library catalog interface. A comparison of results highlights some of the differences in findings between the two groups of users. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications for the design of future bibliographic information interfaces.