USABILITY EVALUATION OF LIBRARY WEBSITES THROUGH CONTENT AND AESTHETIC QUALITIES IN SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

The library website is a task-oriented webpage(s) that requires regular evaluation. However, analyzing the content and aesthetic qualities of a library website is an essential ingredient for its usability testing. Hence, this study evaluated the content qualities and aesthetic features of university library websites in Southwest Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The unit of analysis comprises undergraduate students from the six selected universities in southwest Nigeria, and their population stood at 99, 939. The study used a simple random sampling technique to select its samples and the sample size for the study is 398. A checklist and questionnaire were used as instruments for data collection. Collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS) version 21. The result of findings indicated that premium is placed more on aesthetic features than content quality and none of the understudy library websites has features for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), list of the new arrivals and space for advert placement. Based on the study analysis, the Kenneth Dike Library website of the University of Ibadan and Covenant University Resource Centre is better in terms of content quality than other university library websites in Southwest Nigeria. Library websites were found to be useful and yet not optimally utilized by the users due to the absence of some content and aesthetic features that tend to improve the usability of the library website. Consequently, the university library needs to prioritize its presence online and as well add features that will engage and elicit feedback from users. They also need to publicize among the users the use of library websites as veritable sources of scholarly information and communication.