IntroductionThe Ball State University Libraries redesigned the user interface of the Digital Media Repository, or DMR, in Fall 2009. To inform redesign decisions, librarians and system administrators consulted website traffic statistics collected from 100,308 site visits that occurred during the 2008-2009 academic year.

ObjectivesGoals of interface redesign project included:1. Increased digital asset discoverability2. Intuitive site navigation

Screen ResolutionsIn order to increase the resolution of the DMR from a width of 768 pixels to 924 pixels, librarians investigated the screen resolutions of site visitors.

Flash VersionsFlash technology was implemented in the February 2010 revision to the digital library in order to accommodate two new Web 2.0 technologies. Librarians assessed the advisability of using Flash by reviewing website statistics.

100% of the 81, 525 researchers who visited the Digital Media Repository during the 2008 and 2009 academic year had a version of Flash installed.

Questions? Email Carolyn at cfrunyon@bsu.edu.

Java SupportLibrarians included a Java applet to highlight new collections, which were ranked lowest in an analysis of content popularity.

In addition to the “spotlight” feature for new collections, librarians hope to develop a latest additions RSS feed.

Referral SitesReferral sites accounted for 30% of the traffic received by the DMR in the 2008-2009 academic year. In order to increase traffic from social networking sites such as blogs and Facebook, librarians implemented a social bookmarking tool.

Site NavigationLibrarians examined content popularity to assess the site’s navigation options. An additional set of browsing options was added to the left hand side of each digital library user interface page to encourage asset discoverability.

By providing intuitive navigation options for researchers, librarians hope to increase the use of subject, location, format, and contributor browse pages.

SummaryIn addition to website traffic statistics, designers surveyed other digital library interfaces, accepted suggestions from library personnel, and reviewed anecdotal evidence collected from student and faculty researchers.

Development of a User-Focused Digital Library Interface Using Website Traffic StatisticsCarolyn F. Runyon, MLS, Archivist for Digital Development and University Records

Wikipedia Facebook Blogs MySpace Flickr0

100200300400500600700

654

262126 38 5

95%

5%

Java Support No Java Support

95%

5%

> 924 Pixels < 924 Pixels

Titles A-Z Subject & Location

Format Department0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

12755

1544 451 313