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

[Richard Wiggins]

Worrying about the label IS the issue. It's called user-centered design. 
It's not about our notions of what terms of art we understand; it's about 
what delivers the greatest good for the greatest number. 
 My wife and I watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the umpteenth time. 
There's a scene in it where the George Peppard character takes Holly (Audrey 
Hepburn) to the New York Public Library and shows her the card catalog and 
explains what the catalog is all about, locating the card for the book he 
wrote. (He then autographs his own book, to the immediate mortification of 
the stereotyped librarian.)
 I think since the "card catalog" went electronic the library community 
dropped the word "card" and ended up with "catalog." I don't think that term 
has the inherent meaning that people in the field think it does. A catalog 
could be something in the mail from LL Bean. What objects are in this 
catalog? Just books? Also magazines? Audio CDs? Also electronic holdings? 
Also Web-based resources? I don't think it's inherently obvious from the 
term.
 I don't think it's dumbing things down to use active verbs and nouns to 
label what someone wants to DO on a Web site, instead of trying to train 
customers as to all the many diverse objects we may cram into this abstract 
notion we call a "catalog."
 As for your question about how to phrase "Contact Us" the convention seems 
to be "Contact Us." :-) I've actually examined a large number of Web sites 
in many fields, and this seems to be the prevailing answer. (I did find a US 
government Web site that actually advised that "in order to contact us you 
should contact us." See: 
http://wigblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/you-should-contact-us-in-order-to.html )
 /rich
 PS -- If you read the ad on page 3 of The New York Times every day, you'll 
see that it's "Tiffany" not "Tiffany's" -- and you can find their online 
catalogue (sic) at:
 http://www.tiffany.com/catalogues/default.asp?cntry1=1&hppromo=sahp5&mysid1= 


 On 7/25/05, Ross Singer <ross.singer at library.gatech.edu> wrote: 
> 
> I guess my response to this is:
> What does the average user expect to find in the "catalog"?
> 
> I still have to go back to the question, in the modern library, what is
> the role of the OPAC and how does it fit in to the entirety of our
> collections?
> 
> Worrying about the label seems to be ignoring the issue.
> 
> -Ross.
> 
> Brandon Dennis wrote:
> 
> >I've only been working in the library system for a little over a year
> >here. I don't have any formal library education and I've always worked
> >for commercial high tech companies beforehand. We're in the process of
> >redesigning our web site and I would never consider naming the online
> >catalog anything other than "Catalog".
> >
> >Navigation is generally one of the more important factors on any web
> >site, and after reviewing and considering a variety of terms and links,
> >I can't imagine that "catalog" wouldn't be the best name for a variety
> >of reasons:
> >1. Dictionary.com <http://Dictionary.com> defines catalog as: "A list or 
> itemized display, as
> >of titles, course offerings, or articles for exhibition or sale, usually
> >including descriptive information or illustrations."
> >2. I just recently turned 30, so I hope I am still fairly young. Yet,
> >they were still teaching me in school how to access a card catalog and
> >library catalogs to lookup information. It may be "obsolete" in a
> >library setting (although I don't agree with that), but it's still a
> >term that's commonly linked to a list of items in the library.
> >3. Even taking some of the least educated patrons, I can't imagine what
> >else they would think "catalog" to mean. There are still catalogs for
> >stores and mail order outlets, so surely they must figure it out to be a
> >list of items.
> >4. I didn't care for "Find a Book" or "Find Materials". They were
> >either too specific or too vague. In addition, using "Find" on a web
> >site lends a lot of people to consider it as directly a search. Some
> >people may be looking for a way to BROWSE. Catalog has the ability to
> >sum up both features into a simple word.
> >
> >These views are my own, of course, primarily as a patron coming into the
> >Library system with a background in web design and development. You
> >have about 20 seconds to present a clear-cut approach to your
> >navigation, and I believe that using "catalog" includes multiple
> >possibilities and a direct approach in a single word. The problem with
> >trying to find different phrasing leads to either wording things poorly,
> >limiting what you're trying to say, or talking yourself into a
> >grammatical rubik's cube. (e.g., "Should we use contact us, e-mail us,
> >ask a librarian, talk to the library, give us your opinions, or 'click
> >on this link and you will be given the option to e-mail us, fill out a
> >form to let us know your thoughts, or ask a question through our web
> >robot'.)
> >
> >There's plenty of words that may be considered obsolete, but they're not
> >depreciated. In my opinion, the best way to create a navigation is to
> >find as few words as possible to be direct enough to lead the visitor to
> >where they want to go, but vague enough so they believe they can do what
> >they want when they're there.
> >
> >Brandon
>