Prototype Notes About the Introduction screen

The screen is divided in 2 areas.

On the left:
 A list of tabs gives access to the main functions of the interface.
Results for currently selected functions are displayed on the
remainder of the screen (using HTML frames).  The tabs always present
on the left side of the screen, and color coding between the tabs on
the left and background on the right frame helps users to orient
themselves in the site. The persistence of the landmark titles and
tabs gives users the impression that they are able to browse lists of
collections, specify complex searches, and review results without ever
leaving the first page.

On the right: The introduction screen has 3 areas: 

 1- A Textual introduction
 It consists of an introduction to American Memory (1 paragaph) and to
the functions of the interfaces LC wants readers to focus their
attention to (1 paragraph).  For example the text drafted here chose
to emphasize the browse feature and the learning pages.  Experience
from other projects has shown that the features introduced in the
first text are likely to be the ones that users will try first.

 2- Samples of the collections 
 In the current version 3 samples are shown, more will appear when the
right arrow button is pressed.  Those samples should be attractive,
representative of collections and linked to their originating
collections.  We were careful to chose sample images that can be also
seen in the home page of the collection they provide continuity (of
course the samples in the collection home page should also be
selectable to link to the item descriptions)

 Samples allow people to gain some understanding of the types of
materials found in the collections without having to jump down 2 or 3
levels deep.  It will help users begin planning their search.

 In this first prototype the use of space has not been optimized and
there is too much lost space around the samples.  The short caption
should also use smaller a font. We chose 3 samples but more (e.g. 4 or
5 may be more appropriate if they can be assembled on the screen
without using too much space.

 3- Sample special presentations

This is another form of samples.  The idea is that first page should
already give representative examples of the highlights of the site.
In the case of American Memory the treasures are the items of the
collections but also the work of experts who prepared specialized
presentations to introduce collections or highlight topics of
interest.
 
 The choice of the visual samples and the special presentation titles
will have a strong impact on what users will look at when they come to
the site with no preconceived question.  They offer a chance to the
Library to focus attention to parts of the Digital library that
deserves special attention. 

IMPROVEMENTS: 

Currently the tab design is lost when users jump to the collection or
item level. Since American Memory consists of collections of items, it
is intended that a similar design would be used at the collection level,
but with the tabs customized to the collection and a different graphic
flavor to differenciate the Collection level from the American Memory

Should have less white space around the samples! 
A too large screen makes it difficult to read the text. 

ALTERNATIVES
 We first considered having the samples continously update to allow
users to preview a lot of materials without even having to touch their
mouse or keyboard.  But we finally decided a fix set of sample and
buttons to move forward and backawrd was better for the average user
you doesn't have a particularly fast connection.

Web Accessibility