{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T04:16:58Z","timestamp":1777609018881,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,5]],"date-time":"2022-12-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1670198400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EL"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study aims to evaluate the usability and information architecture of the digital library (DL) website of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This applied study used an exploratory mixed method, card sorting. Data were collected by interviewing, observation, usability test and card sorting. By interviewing users about problems of the DL, eight tasks were predefined and users\u2019 problems in the path were identified. Their satisfaction of the tasks and the usability rates were measured via a questionnaire. Card sorting was done to inform on the information organization of the website elements. The study population included all users of the DL of the NLAI in two groups: ten initiator users (public users) and ten expert users (librarians). SPSS was used for analysing the usability test quantitative data. MaxQda was applied for analysing interview-driven qualitative data. Qualitative content analysis, categorization (data organization and grouping) and determining main and secondary codes were applied as well. The sort optimal application was used for analysing card sorting data in the form of similarity matrix and dendrogram. For validating qualitative findings, triangulation was used. The internal reliability of the used questionnaire amounted to <jats:italic>a<\/jats:italic> = 0.87<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Regarding the assigned tasks, new initiator users by consuming 367.67\u2009s for registering and new expert users by consuming 403\u2009s spent the most time. Task 2 ranked first in being incomplete among 40% of initiator users and Task 3 ranked first by 30% of incompleteness. Expert users had more unsuccessful attempts. Task 5 with the mean rate of 3.35 and Task 8 with the mean rate of 2.25 were the most difficult and the easiest tasks, respectively. Some usability components were rated lower than the moderate point. Only 30% of initiator users and 10% of expert users were satisfied with the website. A total of 12 categories and 452 codes were identified as main problems of the DL. The problems related to a vague perception of concepts and labels with 90 repetitions and digital source display with six repetitions ranked as the first and the last problems in working with the DL, respectively. The sort optimal package produced the card sorting results as a matrix similarity and a dendrogram. Card sorting reflected some changes in organizing information items. Interviews after card sorting emerged some new groups to be included, such as links to other digital libraries, shared databases in the organization and frequently asked questions.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The library\u2019s website should be designed in a manner so that it can satisfy users with different traits. As the information technologies are increasingly developing, the importance of such a design increases for better service provision and effective competition.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/el-07-2022-0172","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,2]],"date-time":"2022-12-02T06:58:53Z","timestamp":1669964333000},"page":"30-44","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["User experience and information architecture of the National Digital Library and archives of Iran: a usability investigation and card sorting"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Azam","family":"Najafgholinejad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref001","first-page":"299","article-title":"Assessing the usability of the Saudi digital library from the perspective of Saudi scholarship students","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence","year":"2019"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref002","unstructured":"Ali, M.U. and Aasim, M. (2009), \u201cUsability evaluation of digital library BTH: a case study\u201d, Dissertation presented to the School of Computing, Blekinge Institute of Technology for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science."},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref003","unstructured":"Alshaheen, R.I. (2018), \u201cUser experience and information architecture of national library websites\u201d, Dissertation presented to the faculty of Simmons University, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy."},{"issue":"2","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref004","first-page":"501","article-title":"User experience in the website of the national library and archive of Iran","volume":"36","year":"2020","journal-title":"Iranian Journal of Information Processing and Management[in Persian]"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.4018\/978-1-7998-7848-3.ch003","article-title":"Accessibility and usability evaluation of digital library article pages","volume-title":"App and Website Accessibility Developments and Compliance Strategies","year":"2022"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref006","first-page":"144","article-title":"Usability testing at the university of Arizona library: how to let the users in on the design","volume":"19","year":"2000","journal-title":"Information Technology and Libraries"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref007","first-page":"179","article-title":"Evaluation of user website interface of national library of Iran","volume":"26","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Studies in Library and Information Science"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref008","first-page":"370","article-title":"User-centered information architecture of university library website","volume-title":"The 3rd International Conference on Computer Research and Development","year":"2011"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref009","first-page":"1","article-title":"Usability evaluation for digital library: a case study of library websites, mikroskil","volume-title":"The Fourth International Conference on Informatics and Computing (ICIC \u201819)","year":"2019"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref010","unstructured":"ISO\/TS 20282-2 (2013), \u201cUsability of consumer products and products for public use\u201d, available at: www.iso.org\/obp\/ui\/#iso:std:iso:ts:20282:\u22122:ed-2:v1:en (accessed 29 August 2021)."},{"issue":"1","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1177\/0961000618773133","article-title":"Usability evaluation of a library website with different end user groups","volume":"52","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Librarianship and Information Science"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref012","first-page":"109","article-title":"Comparative evaluation of the usability of the websites of the national library of Iran and its neighbors","volume":"17","year":"2010","journal-title":"Library and Information Science Studies[in Persian]"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref013","unstructured":"Optimal Workshop (2022), \u201cUnderstand the similarity matrix\u201d, available at: https:\/\/support.optimalworkshop.com\/en\/articles\/2626857-understand-the-similarity-matrix (accessed 5 April 2022)."},{"issue":"3","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref014","first-page":"87","article-title":"Analyzing card-sorting data using graph visualization","volume":"9","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Usability Studies"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref015","unstructured":"Rajabali Beglou, R. (2015), \u201cCognitive mapping and value creation research among users, librarians and digital library software designers in Iran based on device-objective theory\u201d, [in Persian], PhD Thesis in Knowledge and Information Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences."},{"issue":"3","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref016","first-page":"69","article-title":"Card sort analysis best practices","volume":"8","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Usability Studies"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1108\/10650750910982584","article-title":"Usability analysis of a Caribbean academic library website: a case study","volume":"25","year":"2009","journal-title":"OCLC Systems and Services: International Digital Library Perspectives"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref018","volume-title":"Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond","year":"2015"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref019","first-page":"30027","article-title":"Information architecture design for travel website using top-down approach on card sorting method","volume-title":"AIP Conference Proceedings","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-408138-3.00006-6","article-title":"Information Architecture and Web Navigation","volume-title":"Eye Tracking in User Experience Design","year":"2014"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref021","unstructured":"Sherwin, K. (2018), \u201cCard sorting: uncover users\u2019 mental models for better information architecture\u201d, Nielsen Norman Group: UX Training, Consulting, and Research, available at: www.nngroup.com\/articles\/card-sorting-definition\/ (accessed 17 April 2022)."},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref022","volume-title":"Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories","year":"2009"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1080\/19322909.2018.1544873","article-title":"Informing website navigation design with team-based card sorting","volume":"13","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Web Librarianship"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref024","volume-title":"Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design","year":"2010"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref025","article-title":"How many users are enough for a card-sorting study?","volume-title":"7-11 June","year":"2004"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmedinf.2015.12.003","article-title":"Card sorting to evaluate the robustness of the information architecture of a protocol website","volume":"86","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Medical Informatics"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2023032812275771200_ref027","first-page":"1","article-title":"Card sorting: current practices and beyond","volume":"4","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Usability Studies"},{"key":"key2023032812275771200_ref028","volume-title":"Information Architecture for Information Professionals[in Persian]","year":"2010"}],"container-title":["The Electronic Library"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-07-2022-0172\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/EL-07-2022-0172\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T01:07:44Z","timestamp":1753405664000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/el\/article\/41\/1\/30-44\/36423"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,5]]},"references-count":28,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/EL-07-2022-0172"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/el-07-2022-0172","relation":{},"ISSN":["0264-0473","0264-0473"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0264-0473","type":"print"},{"value":"0264-0473","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,5]]}}}