[Web4lib] re: How to label the OPAC

[Jennifer Heise]

Diane Westerfield wrote:

>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.
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*giggle* We have the opposite problem-- our faculty need hand-holding 
(but putting the word catalog in the description might be something they 
need)-- but our undergrads don't like it.

>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.
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Are you familiar with the MyLibrary library portal?
-- Jenne Heise, LTS helpdesk