National Library of Australia
Kinetica Kinetica
This page is an archive page and will no longer be updated.

Annual Users' Meeting 2000

Kinetica end use at the National Library of Australia

 

At the National Library readers have been able to use Kinetica in the Reading Rooms since Kinetica went live in early 1999. In September 1999 the number of PCs available to readers in the Reading Rooms increased to 67, providing much greater access to Kinetica.

Reference staff regularly encourage readers to use Kinetica, providing assistance in searching. Training has been given to readers who use the Petherick (Advanced Studies) Reading Room. Training material has been prepared and distributed to Petherick Readers, including a short guide and more extensive training notes. Anna Skurowski, Law Librarian, Informaiton Services provided the training, contributing her extensive experience in Kinetica Division.

In November 1999 a survey was distributed to Petherick Readers seeking information on their use of Kinetica and their opinions on searching issues. While only 7 survey forms were returned, a number of readers volunteered opinions separately. They indicated that there was very high value in being able to search a great number of Australian holdings with a single search. They also expressed interest in further training and anticipated they would increasingly use Kinetica to access the National Bibliographic Database.

The key results from the survey were:

  • 100% of respondents used Kinetica to find known items
  • 60% of respondents used Kinetica for subject searches
  • On a scale of 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent)
    - Searching by author and title was ranked at 3 or above by 80% of respondents
    - Searching by subject was ranked at 4 or above by 75% of respondents
    - 50% ranked the drop down lists at 2 (indicating it was confusing for end users)

Comments included suggestions such as:

"I would have an easily identifiable option for periodicals & publisher in the drop-down list of search options & an option for an exact title search. Also quick access to a list of meanings of NUCs" (The survey was before the link to ALG was in place)

"What about a troubleshooting dialog box or file for when you get stuck OR perhaps a "Helpful tips" pop up…"

"…find Kinetica absolutely baffling – I think because its opening faces are cryptic eg databases to select from in abbreviated form (NBD) with no explanation….but I have a friend who’s been using it with good results."

"It is just too sophisticated."

Roxanne Missingham
Director, reader Services
2 August 2000

Draft agenda Kinetica Annual Users' Meeting 2000