New web site on library terminology issues

[John Kupersmith]

Here's a holiday gift for all the helpful people on Web4Lib.

It's a web site with the somewhat optimistic title "Library Terms That 
Users Understand":
< http://www.jkup.net/terms.html >

To quote the introduction:
"The purpose of this site is to help library web developers decide how to 
label key resources and services in such a way that most users can 
understand them well enough to make productive choices. It serves as a 
clearinghouse of usability test data evaluating terminology used on library 
web sites, listing terms that tests show are effective or ineffective 
labels. It presents alternatives by documenting terms that are actually 
used by libraries. It also suggests 'best practices' for reducing cognitive 
barriers caused by terminology."

Basically I'm launching this site in the hope that by pooling data on what 
terms work best, libraries can move beyond rhetoric and do a better job of 
labeling resources for our users.

As such, it's intended as a participatory effort.  You're invited to 
contribute:

* data from usability studies on the effectiveness of various library terms 
(especially data on terms that users *do* understand!)

* details of testing techniques that work well to elicit this kind of 
information.

* references to useful resources that I haven't cited.


Other comments and opinions are most welcome of course.  Special thanks to 
Gerry McKiernan for advice and inspiration.

--jk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   John Kupersmith        jkup at jkup.net        http://www.jkup.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Reference Librarian                 http://www.lib.berkeley.edu
   Doe/Moffitt Libraries
   University of California, Berkeley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not speaking for UCB in this message~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~