[Web4lib] How to label the OPAC (was: Role of the OPAC)

[John Kupersmith]

At 07:22 AM 7/24/2005, Richard Wiggins wrote:
>Is there any audience, no matter how experienced, for whom "find books" 
>*doesn't* work?


None that I've seen reported.  The issues commonly raised about the "find 
books" label are:

* Scope: how to convey the fact that the catalog also covers other types of 
material.

* Inconvenience: if the link doesn't lead directly to the catalog, then 
getting there will take at least one additional click, potentially vexing 
to expert users.

* Philosophical objections from librarians who think using this kind of 
terminology is "dumbing down" the website.

IMHO, if you have a diverse user population many of whom are novices, the 
advantages of this type of label outweigh these problems.  As I mentioned 
earlier, there are ways to design around the first two issues.  I think the 
best way around the third is to have good usability data (and a little 
diplomacy!)

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