Evaluation of a Digital Library: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The development of digital libraries has changed the handling and access to information. Using such a library involves a computer-human interface as well as commands and search strategies to retrieve information. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a digital library in an institution of higher education that serves approximately 75,000 students. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a total of 206 participants (structured interviews, popup questionnaires and transactional log analysis). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used for quantitative and qualitative data. Online journals were the most commonly used resources while reference resources were least used. The usability and information retrieval capacity of the library was good. However, there was a need to improve the user interface of the digital library, create more awareness and subscribe to more online journals to meet the information requirements of the users.