Annual Reviews launched a new interface today. It’s a much more modern design. More details can be found on this post on the vendor’s news blog.
Year: 2017
New Interface for Online Journal Search
Today, we switched over to the new interface for the system used to locate online access for specific periodicals (the actual product is the “E-Journal Portal” from Serials Solutions, although we don’t brand it that way on our website). Typically, users will see this interface once they’ve run a search in the yellow search bar for “Journals” or for “Newspapers + Magazines.” As has been the case in the past, direct access to the interface can be also be found on the library website:
- Under the “Faculty” menu, select “Journals (online”
- On the “Help” page, there are links in the “How do I find…” section
In addition to a cleaner, more modern design, this new interface offers a number of new features.
Auto-suggest
If you start your search in the e-journal portal interface (as opposed to starting your search in the yellow search bar on the library home page), you’ll see as you type matching periodical titles:
A larger search box
A longer box to enter titles makes it much easier for the user to type and makes the interface feel less cramped.
Limiters for peer-review and for open access
On the search results page, you can refine y the results for items that are peer-reviewed or open access.
Better error messages for null search results
If the user’s query generates no hits, there is a new error message that should be more intuitive than the old one.
If you encounter any problems with this new interface, please let me or Mike Waldman know so that we can get in touch with the vendor.
Bankscope Is Now Called Orbis Bank Focus
The finance database, Bankscope, has been rebranded by the vendor as Orbis Bank Focus. Through June 2017, there will be both a listing on the A-Z databases page for “Bankscope” and for “Orbis Bank Focus.” In July, we’ll drop the listing for Bankscope.
Log In to LibGuides Using Your Baruch Username
Thanks to the help of John Bravo from BCTC, we’re now able to use our Baruch usernames and passwords to log in to LibGuides. When you bring up the login screen, by default you are asked for your LibGuides login, but there is now a link on the right that takes you to a page where you can use your Baruch username instead:
The login link can still be found on the bottom of every LibGuides page. Here’s a direct link to the page if you want to bookmark it or give it a try now:
https://baruch-cuny.libapps.com/libapps/login.php
If we hire a new staff or faculty member in the library who needs LibGuides access, I’ll still need to set up a LibGuides account for that person, but from that point on that person can also use their Baruch username to login.
The Pie Charts Are Back
The issue reported on Tuesday of missing pie charts has been resolved. The images are now visible again.
New Search Box Is Live on the Home Page
This morning, we replaced the yellow search box that’s been on the site for six years with a redesigned one. As detailed at the last Tech Sharecase meeting, the design of this new search box was driven by research into user preferences and habits. As we worked on the design, we drew on insights yielded from usability testing (three rounds), query log analyses, and website analytics. Based on observations from usability tests and usage data of the search box on interior pages and LibGuides, we have made the library home page the only place where the yellow search bar is located. This design decision also will help us as we plan a mobile friendly version of the entire library website, where there will no longer be space in the top right of interior pages for a search box.
This spring, Lucy Liu (our UX designer) and I will conduct a follow-up round of usability testing to see how things are going. Over the next year, we’ll also be looking at query logs and website analytics to assess the impact the new design is having.
If you have any feedback, please feel free to share it with Mike Waldman, Lucy Liu, or me. I should mention this project would not have been completed without the help of the two previous UX designers (Holly Dowell and Qian Chen) and current and former staff of BCTC (especially WenGuang Li, Wayne Cheng, and Patrick Ackerman).
Missing Pie Charts on the Home Page [UPDATED]
UPDATED (see below)
I’ve just submitted a request to the BCTC Help Desk to look into a new problem that appeared today: there are missing pie charts in the boxes for “Computer Lab Seat Availability” and “Study Room Availability” at the lower portion of our site. Here’s an annotated screenshot showing where the pie charts should be:
http://screencast.com/t/G9vtOG7l6
When you click on the links for the computer lab seat availability, the page it takes you to normally shows you details of available computers across campus labs. Now, the page gives a “runtime error” message.
As soon as this gets sorted out, I’ll post an update here on the blog.
UPDATE (5 Jan. 2017) The problem has been fixed.