OAC Redesign

The new OAC site is here. Start using it now! (The new OAC site was released July 1, 2009)

 

ASSESSMENT REPORTS

• First round usability testing conducted with researcher end-users [PDF]
• Second round usability testing
• Graduate students with no prior experience with OAC [PDF]
• Graduate students with prior experience with OAC  [PDF]

UPDATES

June 2009

• Redesigned OAC site released in parallel with the current OAC site. Available here: http://oac4.cdlib.org/
• Second round usability testing conducted
• Graduate students with no prior experience with OAC [PDF]
• Graduate students with prior experience with OAC  [PDF]

January 2009

• Released password-protected working "Beta" version of OAC 4.0 to OAC contributor list.  Finalized OAC logo.
• Developed, implemented, and provided password-protected access to OAC administration database to OAC contributor list.  Contributors can update institution contact and location information directly through the database.
• Ongoing work to address feedback received from contributors and from a first round of usability testing.
• OAC Working Group MARC Subcommittee developed semi-final draft specifications for incorporating (and filtering) MELVYL MARC records.  Draft available online.

September 18, 2008

• Production of HTML templates and development of functional areas of site continues.
• First round usability testing conducted with researcher end-users. [PDF]
• Release of working prototype to OAC contributor list targeted for Fall, 2008.
• OAC Working Group MARC Subcommittee developed draft specifications for incorporating (and filtering) MELVYL MARC records for archival collections and items in OAC 4.0.
• Presentation of OAC 4.0 project at Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, August, 2008. "R/Evolution of Access: The Online Archive of California Interface Redesign"
  • Mary Elings. UC Berkeley, The Bancroft Library, Archivist for Digital Collections. [PDF]
  • Rosalie Lack. CDL, Director of Digital Special Collections. [PDF]
  • Rachael Hu. CDL, User Experience Design Manager. [PDF]

April 16, 2008

• Fall, 2007, we embarked on a series of contextual interviews with OAC users- reference archivists and researchers.  The interviews formed the basis of the user research to understand the interactions and task flows that the redesigned site would have to support.
• Next, we mapped out the entire site and drafted page layouts in a detailed interaction specification document.  Intensive examination of the collection records provided background for the display of collection data in the page layouts.  This specification document serves as a guideline for visual design and OAC development.
• Investigation has begun on the feasibility of incorporating MARC collection records into the OAC.  The first pass at identifying records in Melvyl yielded over 24,000 records.
• Visual Designer is working on the new OAC logo and web site look and feel.
• Prototype is in development for early usability and data display testing.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Online Archive of California (OAC) is being completely redesigned for a planned live launch by early spring 2009.  OAC provides access to nearly 9,000 online archival finding aids and more than 170,000 digital images and documents, aggregated from more than 90 contributors from all 10 UC campuses and from cultural heritage institutions across California.  It is a vital resource for the University of California, the state of California, and researchers across the world.

The redesign will ensure that OAC not only addresses current usability issues related to the finding aid format, but also addresses future development opportunities that are now available with new technologies.

Project Goals

We have four overarching goals in this redesign project:

• To create an easy to navigate, user-centered site that supports archival research and enhances discovery;
• To explore the feasibility of integrating relevant MARC records into the OAC;
• To investigate ways that will allow users to make the research experience participatory; and
• Incorporate features and functions commonly found on the Internet in order to increase access and to meet users’ expectations.

OAC Working Group

The CDL team is being advised by a UC Heads of Special Collections (HOSC)-appointed OAC Working Group.  The members include:

Mary Elings, UCB
John L. Skarstad, UCD
Michelle Light, UCI
Genie Guerard, UCLA
Emily Lin, UCM
Eric Milenkiewicz, UCR
Josue Hurtado, UCSF
David Seubert, UCSB
Brian Tingle, CDL
Rosalie Lack, CDL
Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Northwest Digital Archives

OAC Working Group MARC Subcommittee

Terry Boom, UCB
Jain Fletcher, UCLA
Jeanne Gahagan, UCB
Ryan Hildebrand, UCI
Josue Hurtado, UCSF
David Seubert, UCSB
Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Northwest Digital Archives

Timeline

• Planning: Fall 2007
• User interface design, iterative prototype design, and user evaluation activities: January-August 2008
• Prototype release:
• September 2008 (OAC Working Group)
• November 2008 - tentative (Digital Special Collections contributing member institutions)
• Live Launch: Spring 2009

Why Now?

In 2006, CDL launched Calisphere, which best serves general users and K-12 audiences. This frees the OAC to focus on being purely a site for researchers.  In addition, over the past five years, we have gained a good understanding of the OAC site’s strengths and weaknesses, and the specific needs of users and archivists.  These concerns, harnessed to new technologies, provide a unique opportunity to redesign CDL’s flagship site.

New Technology Solutions

The new OAC will take advantage of new technology solutions, and will allow us to address future development issues.  The half-decade since OAC was first launched has seen many technological advances — in particular, a new set of features broadly grouped under the rubric of Web 2.0.  The redesigned site will:

• Incorporate features such as commenting, making the archival and research experience collaborative and participatory.
• Develop new interface display options that seamlessly show and hide complex information structures and functionality.
• Incorporate common web features, such as maps to help users quickly find institutions and visually convey the size and scope of OAC.

Positive User Experience

The redesigned site will provide a positive user experience for the increasing numbers and types of people using online finding aids.  Today’s users include academics with extensive knowledge of archival practices, academics with little or no previous knowledge of archival practices, and non-academics.  In an unmediated online environment, it is more important than ever that the finding aids be self-explanatory and encourage users to explore on their own.

OAC will be a “walk up and use” site for all researchers, whether they are UC faculty, student researchers, or the general public.  The organization, functionality, and presentation of the OAC site will be re-envisioned to allow users to:

• Discover relevant collections and identify needed items;
• Understand better how a finding aid can help them in their research;
• Comprehend the nature of a collection or part of a collection as necessary to satisfy their research needs; and
• Browse related collections and utilize access points effectively.

Serving Archivists

Archivists will also be a primary audience of the redesigned OAC site, and the finding aids will continue to serve as both collection documentation and management functions.  For example, OAC will:

• Authenticate and document archival collections by representing the physical order of a collection, showing the interrelationship of materials with the same provenance, explaining the context of the collection’s creation, and communicating any actions taken upon the collection; and
• Serve as a collection management tool by recording administrative information, such as the date of acquisition or the terms of access.

We are also exploring the possibility of including a PDF version of the finding aid that closely replicates the print versions of finding aids, providing both archivists and researchers with more legible guides for use in reading rooms.

Bibliography

Anne Gilliland-Swetland, "Popularizing the Finding Aid: Exploiting EAD to Enhance Online Discovery and Retrieval in Archival Information Systems by Diverse User Groups," Journal of Internet Cataloging, 4 nos.3/4 (2001):199-225.

Michael Fox, “Structure and Meaning in Tools for Resource Discovery Paper for the International Council of Archives Committee on Descriptive Standards by– Minnesota Historical Society.”  Available online at: http://www.aa.gov.au/recordkeeping/rkpubs/fora/ICA_Oct03/resource_discovery.pdf

Peter Van Garderen, Archival Finding Aids meet Web 2.0, Thursday, June 1st, 2006.  Available online at: http://archivemati.ca/2006/06/01/archival-finding-aids-meet-web-20/

Derina McLaughlin, “Because That’s the Sort of Thing That Users Do: A Paper on Rules for Successful Online Access Systems.”  Paper for the International Council of Archives Committee on Descriptive Standards.  Available online at: http://www.aa.gov.au/recordkeeping/rkpubs/fora/ICA_Oct03/what_users_do.pdf

Christopher J. Prom. “User Interactions with Electronic Finding Aids in a Controlled Setting,” American Archivists 67: 2 (Fall/Winter 2004): 234-268.

Wendy Scheir, "First Entry Report on a Qualitative Exploratory Study of Novice User Experience with Online Finding Aids."  Journal of Archival Organization, 3, No. 4 (2006): 49-85.

Elizabeth Yakel, Seth Shaw, and Polly Reynolds, “Creating the Next Generation of Archival Finding Aids”, D-lib Magazine 13: 5/6, (May/June 2007).  Available online at: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may07/yakel/05yakel.html