Analysis and Evaluation of Navigation Structure of the Websites of Central Libraries of Iranian Public Universities Accredited by MSRT

The main objective of this research is to determine the status of navigation tools in the websites of central libraries of Iranian public universities accredited by the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) based on items specified in the checklist for identification of weaknesses and strengths of their webpages to improve the provision of services to remote users. This research was conducted as a descriptive survey. The statistical population included all websites of Iranian public universities. Thirty-six out of one hundred thirty nine central library websites of Iranian public universities had a separate and acceptable webpage, which were studied in this research. Out of 36 central libraries of Iranian public universities with a separate webpage, 34 libraries (94.5%) have fixed navigation tools. User navigation and ease of access to target contents on the website increase the user s stability and site visits. Therefore, designing a good navigation system is essential for users. For navigation, users can use various features on the website.