[Web4lib] Labeling on Websites (electronic resources)

[Cecily Walker]

Hi All,

We've been having a bit of discussion on a a couple of the web teams
I'm on regarding labeling and terminology on library websites.
Previously, I spent all my work time in private enterprises, so coming
back to the library space has certainly been a learning experience.

What we're dealing with now is how to label electronic resources and
research guides. We want the label to be as succinct as possible, and
ideally, it would give off enough of an information scent so that the
public would be able to tell what sorts of things they might find
after clicking that link.

At present, our website navigation includes "Research Guides &
Suggestions By Topic", as well as "Newspapers, Articles, Encyclopedias
& More". There are obvious problems with any label that includes the
word "more" because it's a very vague term. Because we're a public
library, the word 'research' doesn't test all that well with our
population because they don't always consider what they're doing to be
research. We switched from "Electronic Resources" to the new terms
because we found our patrons just didn't really understand what
electronic resources were.

So I'm curious - how do you label these items on your website? I know
that this is one of those things for which there is no perfect answer,
but curiosity has gotten the better of me.

Thanks,

Cecily  Walker, MLIS
Web Services Librarian
Vancouver Public Library
cecily.walker at gmail.com (personal)
cecily.walker at vpl.ca (work)