Building Better Help: User Characteristics’ Effect on Library Help Design

Author

Tao Zhang, Purdue UniversityFollow
Ilana Stonebraker, Purdue UniversityFollow
Marlen Promann, Purdue UniversityFollow

Abstract

The goal of this study is to examine the effect of user help seeking characteristics on their perception of library help design principles, formats and tools. Structural equation modeling (SEM) of a questionnaire survey results showed a number of significant regression relationships. Analysis of open-ended survey questions revealed existing user behaviors such as preferred help formats and gave insights into the likelihood of using a help system.

Comments

This is the publisher’s PDF version of Zhang, T., Barnes, I. R., & Promann, M. (2014). Building Better Help: User Characteristics' Effect on Library Help Design. Communication Design Quarterly, 2(2), 21-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2597469.2597473. This article was first published by Communication Design Quarterly and can be viewed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2597469.2597473.

Keywords

Library Help, user characteristics, help design, help documentation

Date of this Version

2014

DOI

10.1145/2597469.2597473

Recommended Citation

Zhang, Tao; Stonebraker, Ilana; and Promann, Marlen, "Building Better Help: User Characteristics’ Effect on Library Help Design" (2014). Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research. Paper 110.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2597469.2597473