[Web4lib] re: How to label the OPAC

[Diane Westerfield]

I'm sure our library is not the only academic library which serves a mix of undergrads, grads, continuing education students, professors, and alumni.   Aside from the undergrads, members of these other groups could be well over 30.  While some undergrads need a lot of help, many professors absolutely detest any perceived hand-holding.  I spend some time at the reference desk and see a broad spectrum of user skills.

And yes, I count myself as an experienced user.  I hate it when I can't find a catalog right away on an unfamiliar library web site, because the OPAC is labeled something like "Quick Search" instead of "Catalog".  

One other solution is for users to be able to customize how they view the library's web page, so that terminology is appropriate to the user level and also so users can immediately zap to the resources they use most.  Preset views could be set up for typical user groups; the default would be for beginners.  As a graduate student myself, I would love to be able to dive straight into the few resources I use the most without repeated clicking, and with labels I set up for myself.  As a ref desk worker, it would be great to have views customized for particular majors or classes.  I realize this is a pie-in-the-sky idea though.  Multiple labels on a link to the catalog, or multiple links to the catalog, would be a much easier solution.

--Diane Westerfield
(disclaimer: I'm not yet a librarian.  I'm pursuing my MLS and have spent about 12 years working in academic libraries, plus 3 years in college at the University of Chicago's main library.  I was pulling cards from the card catalog as late as 1990 or 91.  I don't miss the paper cards, but there's no denying they were a common experience for a large segment of the population.)

>Funny that a academic librarian would be talking about users over 30!
>Also, the use of icons is problematic.  If you have to label it with
>text saying "Find books and other materials" why use an icon labeled
>"Catalog?"  Experienced users may already know you use the catalog to
>find books and other materials but new users of the library may not know
>that.  These are not dumbed-down terms.  I strongly object to the idea
>that making the website easier to use by using appropriate labels is
>dumbing down! Experienced users know where to find it and new users will
f>ind it easier when it is simply labeled as some variation of "Find" or
>even "Browse."

Bill Drew

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Diane 
> Westerfield
> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 9:29 AM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org 
> Subject: [Web4lib] re: How to label the OPAC
> 
> Question - why must there be only one label for the OPAC?   
> Why not have a big icon saying "Catalog" with a text caption 
> saying something like "Find books and other materials" in our 
> collection?   Or a big icon saying "Find books and other 
> materials in our collection" with a text caption saying "Catalog". 
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