Primo VE User Interface for Vanguard

Legend: NOT STARTED IN PROGRESS STALLED DECIDED

Recommendations

Test our assumptions during the Vanguard as an interim step:

• For Vanguard testing we will use “Library Search” as our Primo VE name.

• The name will be the same for every campus and the NZ.

• The colors will be customized to the local campus interface.

• For evaluating accessibility factors, consult:

  • Font contrast checker: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

  • Link contrast checker: https://webaim.org/resources/linkcontrastchecker/

Reasoning

• In our environmental scan, one library (CSUs) named their discovery tool OneSearch, while others kept it simple such as “Library Search”.

• Recommendations will provide clear guidance for many aspects of the Primo VE user interface to be the same for every campus and the NZ.

Environmental Scan

See full environmental scan report.

Environmental Scan Summary:

Our environmental scan comprised of 15 campuses representing four consortia, plus five UC campuses currently on Alma / Primo (20 total campus sites). Our scan examined search branding including service name, logo, and link URL. We also gathered information not related to branding but may be useful for future interface configuration decisions including default scope, scope labels, facet placement (left vs. right), and any other notable configuration decisions evident on the search page. Highlights:

Branding and Logo The majority of campuses brand search with their own name and campus logo; the one notable exception is the Cal State system, which has branded “OneSearch” across all campus interfaces and created a OneSearch logo that appears to allow for campus customization via color and font.

What’s it called? Usage of the word “search” within the name occurred frequently. “Library Search” was the most common name for the product (7 campuses; includes variations such as “Milner Library Search”), followed by OneSearch (3 CSU campuses), “Discover” or “Discovery” (2 campuses), no name (2 campuses), and “Library Catalog”, “Find It @ UofSC Libraries”, “NUSearch”, “Search for books, articles, media and more”, “Search Everything”, “Search” (1 campus each).

Facets Left facets were much more common (17 campuses) than right facets (3 campuses).

Default Scope IZ, NZ, CDI (“Everything”) was the most common default scope (6 campuses), followed by IZ + CDI and IZ-only (4 campuses each). One campus had a default search of “online resources”. When broken down by student population, campuses with less than 20,000 students were more likely to default to IZ, NZ, CDI (“Everything”) (4 out of 6 campuses - avg student population 18,327); campuses with more than 20,000 students were more likely to default to IZ-only (3 out of 9 campuses - avg student population 26,770) or IZ + CDI (3 out of 9 campuses - avg student population 26,397). There was only one campus that did not include an NZ search as a search scope option. This analysis excludes UC campuses as there is no NZ for UC.

Background

The SILS Working Group was charged in phase 4 to “Consider systemwide/shared branding of the SILS and when changes should be made (i.e. before or after implementation)”. The Working Group is charging the Discovery FG with Primo VE user interface branding.

Proposal: Discovery FG should make a recommendation on Primo VE user interface branding for the UC Libraries based on evidence (stakeholder interviews, etc.)

Working assumptions:

• SILS is the name of the overall service (includes Alma, Primo VE, etc.) and that doesn’t change.

• Melvyl as a name/brand should be retired. CoUL has agreed to this.

• It would be helpful to gather lessons learned from the 5 campuses who already migrated and made decisions about their Primo.

• Alma is not in scope for branding since it’s a back-end tool.

• Determining the default view (NZ view or IZ view) is not in scope for branding

Dependencies

Work with Resource Management FG

Questions to consider

• What do we call Primo VE?

• What does it look like (design, colors)?

• Will the name be the same for every campus and the NZ, or will each campus make its own decisions? 

• Will the colors be the same for every campus and the NZ, or will each campus make its own decisions? 

• Will the name/design be the same for every campus and the NZ, or will each campus make its own decisions?

• What additional branding options does Primo allow for?

• What accessibility factors should be considered, e.g., color contrast?

Action Log