[WEB4LIB] Library lingo

[Michael Whang]

Ranti,

I think there are a couple of ways to approach the terminology
problem. In the past, I've used cascading style sheets to create an
explanation of the term. The user simply rolls the mouse over the
term that is underlined with a dashed line. Take a look at this
implementation that I created sometime ago for a branch library of
the Hawaii State Public Library System.

http://www.state.hi.us/hsl/mpl/about/collection.htm 

Another less kinetic option is to cluster your link around text
that helps define the term that's often misunderstood. Take for
example this snippet of text that I created for our forthcoming
campuswide portal:

====
Finding Articles
Who said information wasn't at your fingertips? Search over 235
online databases for full-text articles and abstracts 24 hours a
day!
====

Although I did not use the term Journal, the descriptive text
provides contextual cues as to what Finding Articles is all about.

Michael Whang






"Live as if you were to die tomorrow... 
Learn as if you were to live forever." 
Mahatma Ghandhi

========================
Michael Whang
Head, Web and Internet Services
Western Michigan University Libraries
1903 W. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI  49008-5353
p: 269-387-5184
e: michael.whang at wmich.edu
=========================

>>> "Junus, Ranti" <junus at mail.lib.msu.edu> 8/11/2004 10:29:02 AM
>>>
A discussion in another mailing list got me to ask this question:

Does anybody has a program reaching out to faculty, students, or
general public to understand library lingo.  You know, that OPAC
(O-whaat?), Indexes (students I talked to think it's only refers to
the back of a text book), Databases (Computer Science students
scratched they heads because their understanding is about raw data,
not articles), Journal (and they think it means "diary")... stuff
like that.   Yes, I am aware of the list created by  John Kupersmith
(http://www.jkup.net/terms.html), but is there anybody willing to
share how they reach out to the people that probably never come to
the library, yet use the web site quite frequently?

thanks,
ranti.

--
Ranti Junus - Systems
 100 Main Library W441
 Michigan State University
 East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
 +1.517.432.6123 ext. 231
 +1.517.432.8374 (fax)