Metasearching in Boston College Libraries – a case study of user reactions

As the Boston College Libraries prepared to migrate to a new release of MetaLib, a metasearch and portal tool from Ex Libris, the library conducted some informal usability studies on its existing implementation. These studies combined conversations with undergraduate and graduate students about their research style and observations of students conducting searches using MetaQuest. This article reviews the main issues culled from this, focusing on student research style, asking if MetaLib, as an example of a metasearch engine, responds to this need, reviewing the existing MetaLib design issues, and finishes with pointers on where the Boston College Libraries are headed with this product.