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1.1. The Knowledge Book UX Project

Last Updated 08/27/2025

Testing the Knowledge Books for Usability

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Searching the OPAC catalog is similar to a keyword search in the staff client. Patrons can search the catalog by selectingt he field they wish to search, limiting by format, scoping to their library, and entering search terms.

Over the course of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the NC Cardinal team engaged in a series of Usability Tests to determine what changes need to be made to the Knowledge Books to make them more user-friendly.

Background

The NC Cardinal Knowledge Books offer documentation of the Evergreen ILS, with information about functions and instructions for using the software. Additionally, policies specific to NC Cardinal, such as cataloging standards and information about Resource Sharing, are included in the books. At the time the tests were conducted, there were a total of 14 individual books, divided into 73 total chapters. Topics covered included:

• About NC Cardinal
• Circulation in Evergreen
• Cataloging in NC Cardinal
• Administration Manual for Libraries
• Reports in Evergreen
• Resource Sharing
• Student Access Initiative
• Acquisitions in Evergreen
• Serials in Evergreen
• Offline Transactions
• Evergreen Upgrades
• Libraries Migrating into NC Cardinal
• Summon Documentation
• Troubleshooting in Evergreen

Our goal was to discover whether users find the knowledge book content useful, and identify any impediments to accessing the content.

Methodology

We invited 16 volunteers to review the existing books through a series of tests. These included:

• Paraphrase Testing: We asked staff to read sections of the Knowledge Books that were unrelated to their main role and summarize the information contained in that section. This test sought to check for the clarity of the text and the completeness of the content.
• Task Based Testing: We asked staff to locate instructions to complete specific tasks in the books. We were looking to see both how they attempted to locate the information needed to complete the task, and whether or not they were successful in finding that information.
• Card Sorting: We created virtual "cards" with topics and existing chapters from current books and asked participants to sort them into the categories that made the most sense. We were hoping to determine the best way to organize topics and suggestions of helpful naming conventions.

Key Findings

Issues with the Search Function

The search function was rarely accurate when participants attempted to use it. Further feedback from the Annual Staff Survey reinforced this finding. 

Text Heavy/Density of Content

Some chapters and pages have too much information to easily parse. This makes it difficult to find the content needed, and,in some cases, hard to understand the instructions once located.

Difficult to Browse

Some books are too big and include too many disparate topics. This makes it difficult to know which book to go to when looking for information for the first time.

Recommendations

1. Continue to explore ways to improve the search function. At this time, we have not found a solution, but it remains on our radar.
2. Re-word pages to follow these guidelines:
   1. All processes should be laid out in numbered instruction lists.
   2. Each page should have a summary at the top explaining the page's content.
   3. Avoid jargon. Where jargon is unavoidable, include a glossary of terms.
   4. Add screenshots when possible to illustrate functions or processes.
3. Re-organize content to be more topic- and workflow-focused:
   1. Large books should be broken up into 2 or more smaller books (for example, chapters on patron account management should be in their own book, instead of in the Circulation Book).
   2. Pages with multiple functions or sets of instructions should be divided into multiple pages, each devoted to only one function or instruction.
   3. Pages should include direct links to other relevant pages.