Keywords

digital collections, digitization, CONTENTdm, digital asset management systems, assessments

Abstract

COVID underscored the desire of the student population to access library and special collections materials online. After two decades of hosting BYU’s digitized content in the digital asset management system CONTENTdm, we decided in summer 2021 to evaluate its interface for ease of use and reliability. We wanted to determine how our system was performing for an undergraduate population specifically, and to understand the typical undergraduate students’ experience searching for and accessing digitized materials. Our study involved the use of Gen-Z student researchers, who observed undergraduate patrons via a Zoom screenshare. These patrons performed a variety of user tasks and were then interviewed about their experiences. We gathered a great deal of data about student online research patterns, the impact of our metadata, and the integration of CONTENTdm within the lib.byu.edu website. This presentation will share our study methodology, our data, and our initial thoughts about how to use this data to identify areas of improvement and ultimately provide our undergraduate patrons with a better digital experience.

Original Publication Citation

Memory, Lindsey, Abby Beazer, Rebecca A. Wiederhold, Brent Ellingson. “Assessing Our Digital Asset Management System (CONTENTdm) from the Undergraduate Patron Perspective.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 12, 2022.

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

2022-05-12

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/8590

Publisher

Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists

Language

English

College

Harold B. Lee Library

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

Download

Share

COinS