2003-2004 Progress Report: Use Cases

Three use cases for the American West collection were developed based on the user needs assessment. See the assessment report: [PDF]

See the complete progress report submitted to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: [PDF]

Use Case #1: A Reference Collection

The American West collection will evolve as a large virtual collection comprising openly accessible digital information bearing on the history and ecology of the American West. Users will be able to access the collection in two ways:

• Search interface: A simple, Google-like search interface will support keyword searches across the entire corpus.
• Browsable views: A series of browsable views will focus on a pre-selected set of materials organized by chronological period, geographic region, or topic. A brief narrative will explain the significance of the topic or theme and the types of materials that are available.

Use Case #2: An Interactive and Creative Experience

The American West collection will come equipped with a suite of tools that enhance and enrich the user experience. The tool suite will enable the following functions:

• Selection: This feature is similar to the “shopping-baskets” that are common in e-commerce. With it, users will be able to build and save their own collections by selecting items individually or in sets and saving their collections so they can be used at a later time.
• Presentation: This feature will enable libraries to customize collections so they have a distinctive look, feel, and functionality.
• Export: This feature will enable users to export personal collections so they may be saved locally and used in other software.

Use Case #3: Tools For Developing Digital Library Services

The American West project was initiated to develop the tools that libraries and other information organizations need to build and manage digital libraries with distributed online information sources. It is anticipated that libraries and other organizations will also use the tools in a variety of ways to assist their development of a wide range of digital library services.