A road trip and first round feedback sessions

Wow - it has been a busy last month for SRMO.Sam and I have been visiting lots of libraries to present SRMO with some very early screen designs (drawn up in powerpoint - eek!). We were after feedback on the product concept and features, and also business models - with so many library budgets in such a difficult situation at the moment it was a real pleasure to be able to visit so many libraries in the UK, US and Canada to discuss this new venture - thank you everyone!I thought you might like to read some of the feedback. Here are some of the main points that came up a few times in the discussions we have had:- filter options on SRMOThere were many conversations about whether we should offer options filter search results by content type (dictionary, encyclopedia, books, journals, multimedia) or by level of complexity of the text (e.g. concise, complex). Which would provide the most value for the researchers using the tool? We are leaning towards the content type filters.- html display of book chaptersWe had alot of positive feedback in our display of books in HTML rather than PDF frames, this will mean that each chapter we display will be on a single HTML page, similar to the online display of XML journal articles- DRMThe feedback was overwhelming in the response that we should not put any strong DRM on the files, and that we should make chapters available to print or download.- Methods CollectionsLots of positive responses to this feature that will allow users to create reading lists / playlists of content and make them publically available for anyone using the search to find e.g. teachers could create reading lists that students could find, download and access content.- "find this book in print" optionsThere was an acknowlegement that whilst SRMO will be a great tool for searching and browsing material, researchers may still want to find the print, so we are looking at options to link to the print titles in the library catalogues (if they are available), and then also to link to the print title to purchase.- space to dedicate purchase of product to an individualThis was an interesting request: given the concerns over library budgets we have had a request to make an area of the site available for dedications to individuals who may purchase the product for an institution in an endowment.If you have any further thoughts on some of the areas described above, please do leave a comment with your feedback.Don't forget to join our group too - http://www.methodspace.com/group/sageresearchmethodsonline