Blended Shelf - Human-Computer Interaction - Universität Konstanz

Abstract
Subject of this thesis is the user interface Blended Shelf, which provides a shelf browsing experience
beyond the physical location of the library. Shelf browsing offers numerous advantages and
users apply it as a research strategy in libraries. Little usable and proven applications exist to provide
shelf browsing in the digital domain, which would allow time and location independent shelf
access for the users. Therefore, the aim of this work is to develop a user interface, which offers the
experience of digital shelf browsing, without losing the essential advantages that are deeply rooted
in the physical space.
To accomplish this, the first part of the thesis constructs a collection of basic requirements that
need to be fulfilled to emulate the shelf browsing experience. The basics of these requirements are
the theoretical background of shelf browsing, as well as an analysis of library specific aspects and
user needs. The central parts of the work illustrate how the usage of the requirement collection
serves as a foundation for the concrete implementation, the set of functions and the reality-based
interaction design of Blended Shelf. Finally, an evaluation in form of a comprehensive field study
checks whether the implementation meets the requirements and if the users perceive the User
Interface as useful and usable. A description and discussion of the study design and results forms
the last third of the thesis. An outlook to and discussion of open questions and future work concludes
the thesis.
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