Case study: the health SmartLibrary experiences in web personalization and customization at the Galter health sciences library, Northwestern University.
OBJECTIVE
How can the user's access to health information, especially full-text articles, be improved? The solution is building and evaluating the Health SmartLibrary (HSL).


METHODS
The setting is the Galter Health Sciences Library, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.


METHODS
The HSL was built on web-based personalization and customization tools: My E-Resources, Stay Current, Quick Search, and File Cabinet. Personalization and customization data were tracked to show user activity with these value-added, online services.


RESULTS
Registration data indicated that users were receptive to personalized resource selection and that the automated application of specialty-based, personalized HSLs was more frequently adopted than manual customization by users. Those who did customize customized My E-Resources and Stay Current more often than Quick Search and File Cabinet. Most of those who customized did so only once.


CONCLUSIONS
Users did not always take advantage of the services designed to aid their library research experiences. When personalization is available at registration, users readily accepted it. Customization tools were used less frequently; however, more research is needed to determine why this was the case.
Shedlock
James
J
Galter Health Sciences Library, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. j-shedlock@northwestern.edu
Frisque
Michelle
M
Hunt
Steve
S
Walton
Linda
L
Handler
Jonathan
J
Gillam
Michael
M
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D057386:Search Engine; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface