Animated maps of the library stacks were integrated into the catalog interface at Pratt Institute and into the EBSCO Discovery Service interface at Illinois State University. The mapping feature was developed for optimal automation of the update process to enable a range of library personnel to update maps and call-number ranges. The development…

The touch mouse is a new type of computer mouse that provides users with a new way of touch-based environment to interact with computers. For more than a decade, user experience (UX) has grown into a core concept of human-computer interaction (HCI), describing a user's perceptions and responses that result from the use of a product in a particular…

Academic libraries customize, support, and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces. The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end-user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in…

Investigates how the dimensionality of computer-generated graphs affects users' abilities to extract information from the graphs. Finds two-dimensional graphs more reliable in communicating information quickly and accurately than corresponding three-dimensional graphs. Notes that a commonly used, but technically incorrect, three-dimensional graph…

Critiques existing approaches to computerized support for browsing and describes four new types of browsers that have been implemented in the Xerox NoteCards hypertext system. These browsers support the process of pursuing and returning from digressions and facilitate the integration of diverse sets of materials that have been browsed. (16…

This paper is addressed to librarians and information managers who, as one of the many activities they routinely perform, frequently publish information in such formats as newsletters, manuals, brochures, forms, presentations, or reports. It is argued that desktop publishing--a personal computer-based software package used to generate documents of…

Presents a theoretical framework for navigation in information retrieval systems and describes a prototype retrieval system that was developed to investigate navigation. The use of a visual interface in a spatial representation scheme is described, and results of a user-based evaluation of the system are reported. User questionnaires are appended.…

Predicts that online searching in the 1990s will be characterized by end users discovering faster and easier ways to access information. Predicted trends that are discussed include databases designed for end users, pricing innovations, increased use of CD-ROM products, improved computer graphics, and the expansion of database products into the…

Two controlled experiments examined whether the animated zooming effect accompanying the opening or closing of a folder in the Apple Macintosh graphical user interface aids in the user's perception of which window corresponds to which folder. Results suggest users may become attuned to the informational content of the zooming effect with…

Describes a unitized data system for a scientific database that stores descriptions of individual experimental steps as separate text-based subunits together with appropriate linking signals. Conversion of graphics into searchable text, use of natural language, and cost effectiveness are discussed. An example using a biology research paper is…

An online library catalog was used to evaluate an interactive query expansion facility based on relevance feedback for the Okapi, probabilistic, term weighting, retrieval system. A graphical user interface allowed searchers to select candidate terms extracted from relevant retrieved items to reformulate queries. Results suggested that the…

Describes an algorithm for computer generation of hierarchical indexes for document collections. The resulting index, when presented with a graphical interface, provides users with a view of a document collection that permits general browsing and informal search activities via an access method that requires no keyboard entry or prior knowledge of…

Describes the construction and use of a microcomputer-based experimental system designed to examine the role of visual context in the analyses of data displayed in computer graphics. The responses of end users to changes in visual context of business graphics are examined, and future experiments are discussed. (Seven references) (LRW)

3D interactive virtual reality museum exhibits should be easy to use, entertaining, and informative. If the interface is intuitive, it will allow the user more time to learn the educational content of the exhibit. This research deals with interface issues concerning activating audio descriptions of images in such exhibits while the user is…

Describes the design of a database interface for infrequent users of computers which consists of a graphical display of a model of a database and a natural language query language. This interface was designed for and tested with physicians at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas. (LRW)