Educating Online Catalog Users: The Protocol Assessment of Needs
Patricia Sullivan
(Doctoral Candidate in the Rhetoric Program and Instructor of Professional Writing at Carnegie‐Mellon University)
Peggy Seiden
(Educational Software Librarian, Carnegie‐Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.)
74
Abstract
Traditional methods of studying and evaluating the use of online public access catalogs (OPACs) are discussed and compared to the protocol method. Verbal protocols are spoken records of people describing their work; they uncover detailed data about what people are thinking as they attempt to solve problems. The results of the Carnegie‐Mellon University protocol study of OP AC users are discussed.
Citation
Sullivan, P. and Seiden, P. (1985), "Educating Online Catalog Users: The Protocol Assessment of Needs", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047591
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1985, MCB UP Limited