Student Feedback on Federated Search Use, Satisfaction, and Web Presence: Qualitative Findings of Focus Groups

Unique to our study was the finding that our participants typically use our federated search tool frequently and they use it in tandem with more traditional finding tools like Google and individual databases. Most of our participants were not choosing between federated search and other tools but were adding federated search to their research options. This seemed to be the case regardless whether the participant was an undergraduate or graduate student. Some participants do not give up on library research as quickly now. The idea that the federated search tool could be used to start research and to identify appropriate database tools that might not have otherwise been considered was common throughout our discussions. Students in our focus groups also reported that Search It helped them learn which databases covered specific subject areas. In this situation, federated search serves as an educational tool in learning about library resources. It extends beyond the benefit that Baer observed in serendipitously discovering one article among many from a multitude of databases.¹⁷ Using federated search to “broaden horizons” is how several participants described this use. This sentiment should be particularly gratifying to librarians who have promoted federated search as a first step in academic research.

Several of our participants expressed a desire to use native interfaces as a first-choice research tool rather than federated search because they are more familiar with them—they were taught in library instruction to use native interfaces, not federated search. This sentiment is consistent with several previous studies, including Lampert and Dabbour. Whether the choice of native interfaces over federated search might change if federated search techniques were more actively taught to new library users is an issue for future research but one certainly deserving of our attention. Indeed, despite having learned to use our federated search tool on their own, many of our research participants urged us to incorporate federated search in our library instruction. Again, this is consistent with findings in other studies, including Lampert and Dabbour.

Whether and how often federated search tools are used by our academic library users may be related to their placement and identification on our websites. The majority of our research participants strongly urged us to place our federated search tool in a more prominent position on our homepage and in a position equal in visibility and accessibility to our traditional catalog and databases links. As with participants in other studies (e.g., George), our research participants expressed uncertainty about the meaning of some link names and icons but were not shy about urging changes to render the federated search tool more useful. Many of our participants suggested labeling our federated search tool in a way that would garner more attention from website visitors and emphasize the usefulness of federated search as a starting tool and time-saving convenience, the same uses envisioned by early promoters of federated search, including Roy Tennant. Some of our participants expressed a desire for more information on our website about how the federated search tool works. One example would be to either identify or link to a page that identifies resources searched by our Quick Search option. This also is consistent with requests in previous studies (e.g., Tang, Hsieh-Yee, and Zhang) for more transparency in federated search interface design.

Perhaps at the heart of the issue of location and identification is whether librarians feel that federated search is a tool worthy of prominent exposure. Several authors have either expressed or hinted at this sentiment. Tang, Hsieh-Yee, and Zhang, for example, found in their research less favorable opinions of federated search among librarians than among students.¹⁸ Boock, Nichols, and Kristick write about placing a federated search tool on the library homepage as “pushing the envelope.”¹⁹ Gail Herrera, in her discussion of federated search implementation at the University of Mississippi Libraries, notes that the federated search tool on the library homepage was removed because it was creating confusion among users.²⁰ Findings from our focus groups of students support prominent placement of federated search tools. Perhaps our users would be better served if we moved the discussion away from whether federated search should be prominent to how best to identify and describe the tool front and center.

As a result of our study, Milner Library will be keeping Search It but will be maintaining direct access to its traditional resources as well (i.e., the catalog and databases). In February 2008, our Quick Search federated search tool was relocated from the side of our homepage to the center, adjacent to the five main options, as shown in figure 3. The tool has been sized larger than the other main options and has been scripted to change background color upon rollover. Of course, this change will need to be formally assessed. Nevertheless, relocation of the Quick Search box on the homepage seems to have significantly increased its use. Federated search use in spring 2008, after the relocation, was 92 percent greater than in fall 2007. Figure 4 shows the number of searches by semester.

In response to a call for training in use of Search It, the tool is now the focus of one module of an online library instruction tutorial used in our general education classes. Using Search It is a learning outcome for general education library instruction. A rather extensive Search It FAQ page is now linked from the Advanced Search page.

As a result of their examination of federated search tools on ARL member websites, Robbins and McCain identified best practices for informing users about federated searching from the librarian perspective. Our results confirm and expand on those best practices from the user perspective.

• Federated search tools should be clearly named and labeled in way that describe their function and capture attention.
• Federated search tools should be placed front and center on the library website, where they can best be located by users and used in tandem with library catalogs and subscription databases.
• Federated search tools should be incorporated with these other tools rather than separated from them on the library website.
• Federated search tools should be incorporated into other Web spaces frequently used by students, such as university Web portals, department websites, and learning management systems.
• Librarians should not assume that users will find federated search tools intuitive. Training in the use of federated search tools should be incorporated into library instruction. Federated search interfaces should be designed with transparency by providing explanatory information and FAQ pages.
• Feedback should be solicited from federated search tool users through surveys and focus groups to identify ways to make the tools more helpful to library users. Every university population is different and may have different views on how best to design federated search interfaces and incorporate federated search into the suite of library research tools.

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