BHL-Europe
Meeting Den Haag

Aug/Sep 2011

 

 Screenshots of web presentations

of library catalogues and the BHL-Europe portal

 

Obtained in various browsers at various computers

12 Aug 2011

 

These screenshots were obtained on 12 Aug 2011 at 6 different computers in 11 different browsers (Mozilla and Internet Explorer, various versions from between 1999 and 2010). These browsers were tested (letters behind years refer to computers):
Mozilla Firefox 2006   m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px
Mozilla Firefox 2006   l     resolution 1280 x 800 px
Mozilla Firefox 2008   a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px
Mozilla Firefox 2010   c     resolution 1360 x 768 px
Mozilla Firefox 2010   s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px
Internet Explorer 5 (1999)   e     (black screen)
Internet Explorer 6 (2004)   c     resolution 1360 x 768 px
Internet Explorer 6 (2004)   l     resolution 1280 x 800 px
Internet Explorer 7 (2006)   m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px
Internet Explorer 8 (2009)   a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px
Internet Explorer 8 (2009)   s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px

Testing different browsers includes testing different screen sizes in combination with these different browsers. Also, you can select smaller or larger font size (Strg +, Strg -), which again enhances the number of possible looks to be tested. Since there are many many different browser versions on the market, in combination with screen size and font size an almost infinite number of different presentations would need to be tested. I would recommend to test a web presentation at the oldest available browsers, and a few new ones. If the old browsers display the information correctly, then the new browsers will usually also do it.

General impression of the design proposal: incredibly much space was wasted by a design bar at the top and two design bars at the left and right side. This design looks more like a designer studio's homepage than like a functional web presentation of a library consortium.

Order of screenshots:

I scaled down all screenshots to 1085 pixels with, so that they can be better compared with each other. Downloading them should produce a JPG file with the original resolution as given above.

BHL portal main page, in the logged in mode (except IE 6 (2004), where the login did not work), after query of mantid* or something:
Mozilla Firefox 2006 m
Mozilla Firefox 2006 l
Mozilla Firefox 2008 a
Mozilla Firefox 2010 c
Mozilla Firefox 2010 s
Internet Explorer 5 (1999) e - no screenshot (only black screen)
Internet Explorer 6 (2004) c
Internet Explorer 6 (2004) l
Internet Explorer 7 (2006) m
Internet Explorer 8 (2009) a
Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s

Examples for presentations of tables (I selected only 2 modern browsers):

Mozilla Firefox 2010 s 
Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s

Examples of web presentations of other library catalogues (all obtained in Mozilla Firefox 2006, computer "l"):

archive.org
BHL
BSZ (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)
COPAC (Britain)
Gallica (France)
GUK (OPAC Göttingen, Germany)
GVK (Gemeinsamer Verbundkatalog, Germany)
HBZ (Germany)
HeBiS (Hessen, Germany)
ICCU (Italy)
IDS (Basel, Switzerland)
Library of Congress (USA)
Libris (Sweden)
Nebis (Zürich, Switzerland)
Rebuin (Spain)
rero (Switzerland)
sudoc (France)
WorldCat

Examples of GVK and GUK (OPAC Göttingen) in other browsers (showing how the horizontal space is used):

Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s
Mozilla Firefox 2010 s
 

Mozilla Firefox 2006 m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px

Mozilla Firefox 2006 m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3
Waste of space (areas without real content - only the two side bars and the logo bar at the top): 46 %


Mozilla Firefox 2006 l    resolution 1280 x 800 px

Mozilla Firefox 2006 l    resolution 1280 x 800 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 1
Waste of space (areas without real content - only the two side bars and the logo bar at the top): 30 %


Mozilla Firefox 2008 a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px

Mozilla Firefox 2008 a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3
Mozilla Firefox 2010 c     resolution 1360 x 768 px

Mozilla Firefox 2010 c     resolution 1360 x 768 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3


Mozilla Firefox 2010 s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px

Mozilla Firefox 2010 s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 4 (useless bars at the top are ignored)
Waste of space (areas without real content - only the two side bars and the logo bar at the top): 52 %
Internet Explorer 5 (1999) e  - only a black screen



Internet Explorer 6 (2004) c     resolution 1360 x 768 px

Internet Explorer 6 (2004) c     resolution 1360 x 768 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 0 (1 if we ignore the error report at the top)
Internet Explorer 6 (2004) l    resolution 1280 x 800 px

Internet Explorer 6 (2004) l    resolution 1280 x 800 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 1
Internet Explorer 7 (2006) m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px

Internet Explorer 7 (2006) m     resolution 1600 x 1200 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3
Waste of space (areas without real content - only the two side bars and the logo bar at the top): 46 %


Internet Explorer 8 (2009) a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px

Internet Explorer 8 (2009) a     resolution 1280 x 1024 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3 (4 if we ignore the error report at the top)


Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px

Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s     resolution 1680 x 1050 px
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3 (4 if we ignore the error report at the top)
Waste of space (areas without real content - only the two side bars and the logo bar at the top): 52 %

Examples for presentations of tables (I selected only 2 modern browsers):

Mozilla Firefox 2010 s 


Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s

Examples of web presentations of other library catalogues (all obtained in Mozilla Firefox 2006, computer "l"):

archive.org 

archive.org (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3
Waste of space (areas without real content): 15 %

BHL

BHL (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom and the Tab bar at the top are ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 13 %


BSZ (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

BSZ (Baden-Württemberg, Germany) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 6 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 14 %


COPAC (Britain)

COPAC (Britain) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 9 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 35 %


Gallica (France)

Gallica (France) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 2
Waste of space (areas without real content): 27 %

GUK (OPAC Göttingen, Germany)

GUK (OPAC Göttingen, Germany) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 10 (limited to 10)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 5 %

GVK (Gemeinsamer Verbundkatalog, Germany)

GVK (Gemeinsamer Verbundkatalog, Germany) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 10 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom and the Tab bar at the top are ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 11 %


HBZ (Germany)

HBZ (Germany) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 38 %


HeBiS (Hessen, Germany)

HeBiS (Hessen, Germany) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom and the Tab bar at the top are ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 10 %


ICCU (Italy)

ICCU (Italy) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 5 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 28 %


IDS (Basel, Switzerland)

IDS (Basel, Switzerland) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 10
Waste of space (areas without real content): 21 %


Library of Congress (USA)

Library of Congress (USA) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 4 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 20 %


Libris (Sweden)

Libris (Sweden) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 4 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 40 %


Nebis (Zürich, Switzerland)

Nebis (Zürich, Switzerland) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 9 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 8 %


Rebuin (Spain)

Rebuin (Spain) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 11 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 45 %


rero (Switzerland)

rero (Switzerland) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 2 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 51 %


sudoc (France)

sudoc (France) (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 8 (the horizontal search bar at the bottom is ignored in this value)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 35 %


WorldCat

WorldCat (Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 3
Waste of space (areas without real content): 24 %

 

Examples of GVK and GUK (OPAC Göttingen) in other browsers (showing how the horizontal space is used):


GVK in Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s

WorldCat (Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s   resolution 1680 x 1050 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 13
Waste of space (areas without real content): 8 %
GVK in Mozilla Firefox 2010 s

WorldCat (Mozilla Firefox 2010 s   resolution 1680 x 1050 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 14
Waste of space (areas without real content): 8 %
GUK (OPAC Göttingen) in Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s

WorldCat (Internet Explorer 8 (2009) s   resolution 1680 x 1050 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 10 (limited to 10)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 3 % (37 % space was wasted because the results shown were limited to 10)
GUK (OPAC Göttingen) in Mozilla Firefox 2010 s

WorldCat (Mozilla Firefox 2010 s   resolution 1680 x 1050 px)
Number of titles on screen before scroll-down: 10 (limited to 10)
Waste of space (areas without real content): 3 % (37 % space was wasted because the results shown were limited to 10)

Evaluation of the screenshot analyses 12 Aug 2011

Very problematic were table presentations.

Differences of the BHL-Europe web page between browsers (MF = Mozilla Firefox, IE = Internet Explorer):

- The two inside frames were not displayed next to each other but below each other: MF 2006 m, MF 2006 l, IE6 2004 c, IE6 2004 l
- Language flags were not correctly displayed (replaced by text): MF 2006 m, MF 2006 l
- PNG picture (BHL-E logo) was not displayed in correct colours: IE6 2004 c, IE6 2004 l
- Thumbnail images for titles much too big: IE6 2004 c, IE6 2004 l
- Number of titles on screen before scroll-down usually 3 in Mozilla and Internet Explorer, in big screens only slightly more

Ranking of web services in terms of number of titles on screen before scroll-down

All determined with Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px.
In this ranking we ignore to record how much information was presented along with the titles, and if this was sufficient for the user to see if the correct title was found to click on.

11 titles: Rebuin Spain
10 titles: GUK OPAC Göttingen, IDS Basel
 9 titles: COPAC, GVK, NEBIS Zürich
 8 titles: SUDOC
 6 titles: BSZ
 5 titles: ICCU Italy
 4 titles: Library of Congress, Libris Sweden
 3 titles: archive.org, BHL, HBZ, HeBiS, WorldCat, current BHL-Europe
 2 titles: Gallica, rero Switzerland

Ranking of web services in terms of waste of space

All determined with Mozilla Firefox 2006 l   resolution 1280 x 800 px.
In this ranking only areas which were not occupied with any textual information was counted. We ignore that the information might eventually be useless, for example too long citations of titles or authors, repeated links in side frames on which hardly ever one will click on. On the other hand, white space can be identified as no waste of space, for example if a title was short and the rest of the line remained white (this is not waste of space if it bears the information that the title is indeed so short).

 5 %: GUK OPAC Göttingen
 8 %: NEBIS Zürich
10 %: HeBiS
11 %: GVK
13 %: BHL
14 %: BSZ
15 %: archive.org
20 %: Library of Congress
21 %: IDS Basel
24 %: WorldCat
27 %: Gallica
28 %: ICCU Italy
30 %: current (12 Aug 2011) BHL-Europe (only side bars and logo bar)
35 %: SUDOC, COPAC
38 %: HBZ
40 %: Libris Sweden
45 %: Rebuin Spain
51 %: rero Switzerland

Some online library services show many titles, but waste a lot of space (for example Rebuin Spain, also SUDOC and COPAC). The consequence is that only little information can be shown per title, and the user may eventually be forced to get more information by clicking on all the titles. This of course, is not very efficient.

Links to AnimalBase contributions for   Meeting Berlin May 2009    Meeting Leiden Aug 2009