[Web4lib] What to call the links

[Sutherland, Michael]

Elizabeth, 

A lot of research has been directed at examining just what you are
asking.  For example,

McGillis, L. & Toms, E.G. (2001). Usability of the Academic Library Web
Site: implications for design. College and Research Libraries. 62(4),
355-67.

Abstract: McGillis and Toms conducted a study that assessed the
usability of an academic library web site in order to understand how
typical users, defined as students and faculty, completed typical tasks.
They discovered that patrons experienced difficulty understanding where
to begin to seek resolution to information queries because the library
web site reflected traditional library structures. As a result, McGillis
and Toms concluded that the library web site failed because the site's
design did not account for how typical users approach information
problems; although students and faculty using the site completed
seventy-five percent of typical tasks within an acceptable time frame.
In order for the site to help users complete their information tasks
more successfully, the pair recommended employing a systematic,
user-centered approach to web development. The authors also note that
library users are completing many personal activities online and
transferring those experiences onto the library web site with the
consequence that users come to have similar expectations of the library
web site.

You also might find this web site useful, if you haven't found it
already - http://www.jkup.net/terms.html by John Kupersmith, which has
some information and resources regarding the wording we librarians use
on our websites.

I personally like the University of California at Berkeley Library Web
site http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ - a great example of attempting to
move away from traditional library structures and use more natural
language vocabulary to describe information resources and services
offered on the library web site. 

I think that anything you can do to help students more easily find
information and complete information seeking tasks will be helpful.
Another suggestion - recently at Computers in Libraries, Pinky Lush and
another librarian from Penn State spoke about how they built another web
page using widgets specifically targeted for freshman users because they
discovered that their main page was built more for advanced information
seekers.  This is an intriguing idea - building pages aimed at a target
audience.

I hope you find this useful, 

Michael Sutherland

------------------------------------- 
Michael Sutherland 
Web Services Librarian/Assistant Professor
Montana State University Libraries 
P.O. Box 173320 
Bozeman, MT, USA 59717-3320 
Ph: (406) 994-6429 
msutherland at montana.edu    

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Suelzer, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 7:22 PM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] What to call the links

The library I work at is undergoing a site redesign. In the hopes of
making the site more user friendly, we want to get away from using
library terminology (when appropriate) and use terms that are more
intuitive to our students. An example of this would be labeling the link
to the catalog as "search for books" instead of "catalog," or saying
"borrow from other libraries" rather that "interlibrary loan."  

 

In your opinions, would this be helpful for college students, or do you
feel that the term "catalog" is intuitive enough.  Will I be dumbing
down our site, or will I make it easier to use? Also, do you have
examples of how you have changed the language on your site to make it
less librarianese and more consumer friendly?


Thank you.

 


Elizabeth Suelzer
suelzer at msoe.edu <mailto:suelzer at msoe.edu>  

 

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