Discovery updates 11/30/2018

Created by Emily Toner
Last updated: Nov 30, 2018
1 min read

On 11/20, Library Technology Development released a Blacklight update for the Library Search: see the release notes for the full details.

This fall, the core Blacklight team has also been working with Jackie Sipes and the newly created Website & Library Search User Experience Research Group to respond to some of the navigational issues reported with the Library Search, especially when moving between the catalog and articles results. The UX group designed a prototype, which included the following major changes:

  • A new navigation menu bar so that users can easily toggle between results in Books, Articles, Journals, and More search views

  • Persistence of basic queries across these search views so that the user does not have to re-execute their search query

  • Design changes to filters to provide visual cues and expanded search functionality to users

These changes have been implemented by the Blacklight dev team and can be previewed on our test site: libqa.library.temple.edu/catalog (please note that this requires a TU secure ethernet connection to access and may include other work in development). The UX group recently conducted user testing on these updates, and our current plan is to roll out these changes in production before the winter break.

We also continue to work on the other major updates/features currently in development, including the integration of the E-ZBorrow requests and the Databases A-Z list into the Library Search. We are also regularly responding to other issues reported by library staff and patrons. Library staff may continue to provide input about the Library Search via tul-web-support@temple.edu and/or our public feedback form.