[Web4lib] Friendly language

[Marc Davis]

Probably one place to start is with actual student language.

For example: "course."  I don't hear students talk about "skipping course" but they do say "skipping class" . . . frequently.  On midwestern campuses, anyway, "class" is a much more common term that "courses."

When looking for reserves they come to the desk telling us "I need the readings for my biology class." Other frequently used terms include "articles, books, assignments"  or some combination like "assigned reading."  I don't recall ever being asked for "materials."

So, I'd keep track for a while at the Reserves desk of what students are actually saying.  At one library we ended up with "Assigned Class Readings."

FWIW.

Marc Davis 
Systems Associate 
Cowles Library, Drake University 
2507 University Avenue 
Des Moines, IA 50311  USA 
515-271-1934 


----- Original Message -----
From: "Coral Sheldon-Hess" <coral.hess at gmail.com>
To: "web4lib" <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 8:48:57 PM
Subject: [Web4lib] Friendly language

Hello!

My library (or, well, our Web Team) has started talking about using
"friendlier" terms on our website. Most immediately, we'd like to find
a more intuitive name for "Course Reserves." None of our students seem
to know what that term means, so, of course, it gets very little use.
I know a number of libraries have looked into de-jargonizing (how's
that for a word) their websites, lately, though I don't know whether
they've had good results or not. I'd love to hear from any librarians
working on that kind of project!

To the crowd at large, though, do you have any thoughts on what else
to call "Course Reserves"? The best we've got, now, is "Course
Materials." Do you have--or have you seen--any really good examples of
"friendly" academic library website language?

Thanks in advance!

-- 
Coral Sheldon-Hess
Web Services Librarian
UAA/APU Consortium Library

"... the library is not a place but a service." --Allen B. Veaner


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