Verse Chorus Verse: Overview of Iterative Usability Studies for the IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana Project

Abstract

The Indiana University Digital Library Program was awarded an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant to digitize approximately 10,000 pieces of sheet music from the Indiana University Lilly Library, the Indiana State Library, the Indiana State Museum and the Indiana Historical Society. This project is known as IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana. It is a three-year project that entails the creation of a sheet music cataloging tool and a collection website among other things. Over the course of the project, various usability techniques have been identified to facilitate the design of the cataloging and end-user collection website. This talk will demonstrate how usability studies can serve as building blocks not only for software development, but also for metadata creation and usability design. I will focus on three usability studies that were completed during the project's first year to inform the design of the sheet music cataloging tool and the collection website: a logs analysis study, a card sort and task scenario study and an email content analysis study. Each of these methodologies will be summarized and assessed in terms of their respective strengths and weaknesses. I will also illustrate how these methodologies were appropriate to the corresponding stages of the project's development cycle. Lastly, I will explore data analysis techniques and challenges for each method, and conclude with an outline of usability studies to come. For more information about the IN Harmony project or to access the usability evaluation plans and final reports for the studies mentioned above, visit: http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/inharmony/.