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A previous article reported the usability evaluation of the information database called CUNY+ of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City, USA. This is a text‐based information system available on the wide‐area network in its various campuses for faculty, students and researchers. This present article describes the usability evaluation of this CUNY system’s Web and GUI version called the CUNY+ Web. A comparison of the results of both usability studies, and a description of the applicability of the previous usability instrument to this CUNY+ Web research is included.

This research is an examination of the perception by academic librarians of the Web version of Lexis‐Nexis academic datafile. Specifically, the investigation utilizes three parameters, namely: user‐effort, measures of effectiveness and retrieval techniques. These criteria were deemed essential when analyzing the performance of this information data source in the perspective of academic information specialists, results of which may be useful in its future redesigns and in the scrutiny of the nature and quality of reference services in a particular setting.

The City University of New York (CUNY) is a large educational system comprised of various colleges and universities in the New York metropolitan area. It serves the educational needs of the majority of its academic population. Its library system also boasts of a large collection of multi‐format materials and resources. These are currently reflected in its wide‐area‐networked database called CUNY Plus+. This is accessible by staff, faculty and students all over the CUNY school system, as well as through the Internet. This study focuses on the usability evaluation of this CUNY Plus+. A sample of students was surveyed and interviewed using the Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) criteria. Results of the study may be helpful in providing faculty and librarians feedback from students’ use of the database. It may likewise be insightful to system designers in future design updates.

The current article is a research study examining user perception of the usability of an online information system used by business administration students. The online database which it aims to examine is Business Source Premier, which is incorporated in a larger platform of databases called EBSCO. The findings of this research will help with the efficient management of this information service as well as improve the application of this database in an academic library setting.

Convenience sampling procedure was used for recruiting participants. The entire class of 22 students taught at Medgar Evers College of CUNY participated in this survey. Users evaluated this database using Oulanov's usability tool, which entails the following eight criteria: Affect, Adaptability, Control, Helpfulness, Efficiency, User Effort, Measures of Effectiveness, and Retrieval Features.

Business Source Premier was rated highest in terms of efficiency. Some improvement might be necessary to increase the helpfulness of the system. User effort is another usability criterion that scored lower than the others. Other usability components, including affect, adaptability, control, measures of effectiveness, and retrieval features, were rated highly. The overall performance of Business Source Premier is high and possible paths for improvement are likewise offered.

This case study provided usability assessment of an online business information system used by business administration students, identifying its strong and weak points. This investigation showed that Business Source Premier is efficient and effective tool for conducting research in the field of business administration.