Anthropological motivated usability evaluation: An exploration of IREON - international relations and area studies gateway

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to evaluate the usability of the recently developed IREON – International Relations and Area Studies Gateway – with the aid of an anthropological motivated research design. Within such an approach, the work environment and subject experiences of the test subjects become a crucial part of the observation. Design/methodology/approach – The objectives are achieved by contextualisation of the digital library under examination. Furthermore, previous evaluation models of digital libraries are discussed from an anthropological point of view. As a result, a multi-method approach that is context-relative and self-reflexive is applied to assess the usability of IREON. Findings – The structural and cultural complexity of people involved in the development, operation and usage of IREON justifies a multi-method approach. Whereas information specialists and web designers tend to focus on different kind of problems, there is a high degree of common discoverability between political science students and researchers. Research limitations/implications – Because of the contingent nature of digital library usage, evaluation methods and findings have to be always reassessed. Practical implications – Anthropologically motivated usability evaluations are an inexpensive but efficient way to improve design activities. Originality/value – This paper provides librarians with basic knowledge of anthropological methods to evaluate digital library services.