[WEB4LIB] Database in your face?

[Mary Beth Faccioli]

>consequently students see the word "journal" and
click on it

I think you answered your own question.  Librarians
who know that your databases have more than just
journals are not your primary users.  Unless the
majority of your users are looking for that "other
stuff," I believe you/we are making things much more
difficult by not labeling content in language your/our
users understand.  

Mary Beth Faccioli
Library Associate
Georgia State University Pullen Library

--- Sarah Graham <Sarah_Graham at emerson.edu> wrote:
> 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
> ______________________________
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax
http://taxes.yahoo.com/