Database in your face?

Sarah Graham Sarah_Graham at emerson.edu
Tue Apr 16 15:37:51 EDT 2002


Our recent web site usability test is telling us loud and clear that users
(in our case students, faculty and other users of our college) do not relate
the process of finding a journal/magazine article to choosing a "database."

The question is, what do you all call your list of databases? Some libraries
call them "Electronic Resources," (or e-Resources) but I'm not sure that
this is all that clear, either. Some other libraries have opted for a link
to "Journals," but then many of our librarians rightly claim that there is
much more in our databases than just journal articles. 

Do any of you have a solution that has worked in your library?

Truth be told, part of the issue on our web page is that we have a tool for
finding out which of our databases a particular journal is available in.
We've called it "Journal Locator" - so consequently students see the word
"journal" and click on it. They eventually get to a database, but the
process is convoluted that way.

If people are interested, I will summarize the answers I receive on this
list.

Sarah
______________________________
Sarah Graham
Coordinator of Web Development/Reference Librarian
Emerson College Library

email: sarah_graham at emerson.edu
phone: (617) 824-8332
fax:   (617) 824-7811
______________________________



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