Kazalo.pmd

Knjižnica 52(2008)2 – 3, 71 – 93 72 topi k iskanju informacij in hemisferičnost. V povezavi z dimenzijami individualnih značilnosti so se izrazile različne zaznave uporabnikov. Ker so bile nekatere od teh dimenzij povezane tudi s stroko raziskovancev, študija utemeljuje, da imajo uporabni- ki iz različnih strok različne preference in zaznave uporabniške prijaznosti. Rezultati so relevantni za področje načrtovanja uporabniških vmesnikov disciplinarnih siste- mov za poizvedovanje, kot tudi za izobraževanje, nabavno politiko in oglaševanje. Ključne besede: uporabniški vmesniki, sistemi za poizvedovanje, načrtovanje, upo- rabniška prijaznost, zaznavanje, individualne značilnosti, stili mišljenja pri iskanju informacij, pristopi k iskanju informacij, hemisferičnost, stroka Original scientific article UDC 004.5 UDC 025.4.03 Abstract The paper presents one part of a wider study, performed at the Department of LIS&BS at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. The study investigated the perceptions of user friend- liness of information retrieval systems’ (IRS) interfaces and the role of individual char- acteristics of users in these perceptions. A user study with 61 postgraduate students of the University of Ljubljana was performed. Three interfaces were studied: Science Direct, Proquest Direct and Ebsco Host. Questionnaires and observation were used for data collection. The users’ perceptions of importance of auxiliary functions, inter- face preference and perceptions of user friendliness of certain interface elements were investigated. Also, the connections between these perceptions and the users’ individ- ual characteristics were identified. Three sets of individual characteristics were in- cluded: approaches to studying, thinking styles and hemisphere leanings. In connec- tion with the dimensions of individual characteristics very different user perceptions were expressed. Some dimensions of individual characteristics were also found to be connected to the users’ academic areas. It is shown that the participants from differ- ent academic areas have different requirements and perceptions of user friendliness. The results of the study are relevant for the design of the user interfaces of discipli- nary IRS. They also have implications for other areas, e.g. user education and train- ing, acquisition and marketing. Key words: user interfaces, IR systems, design, evaluation, user friendliness, percep- tions, individual characteristics, information seeking thinking styles, approaches to information seeking, hemisphere leanings, academic area