Hi Elizabeth,
We grappled with similar issues when we redesigned our
website a
couple of years ago.
We placed basic search functionality directly on the home
page, along
with links to more in depth searching if necessary. The link
to the
catalogue is labelled 'More options' - we avoided using the
word
'catalogue', because we felt that the word came loaded with
preconceived ideas about what's in a catalogue - i.e. owned
physical
things like books, journals and videos. When people click on
the link
they get to a broader pool of resources including databases.
We
wanted to convey to our users that "this is where you
go to get
access to everything" regardless of the actual database
it's housed
in. So I suppose our reluctance to use the word 'catalogue'
was
partly of a conceptual nature.
If you do change the word 'catalogue' to something else
expect to get
some flak from users. When we went live with the site there
was quite
a bit of angst, particularly from lecturers, who wanted to
know how
to get to the catalogue. When faced with change some users
don't
adapt very well and seem to resent having to click around
and explore
new links, so they simply won't do it. We know we still
don't have
things quite right as some users don't realise there is
additional
search functionality outside of the home page. They think
what's on
the home page is all there is and that they're being robbed
of
functionality when in reality it's the opposite. We'll be
doing more
usability testing and redesign work over the next months to
address
those issues.
Elsewhere in the website we were also conscious of avoiding
jargon,
and found the John Kupersmith website to be helpful. We also
did a
card sorting exercise which involved students and staff
creating
their own labels for different categories.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Michelle.
At 11:21 AM 1/05/2008, Suelzer, Elizabeth wrote:
>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 msoe.edu <mailto:suelzermsoe.edu>
>
>
>
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>Web4libwebjunction.org
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bjunction.org/web4lib/
Michelle Watson, Web Cataloguing Librarian, Library
+ Deakin University Geelong Victoria 3217 Australia.
( Phone: 03 5227 8220 International: +61 3 5227 8220
( Fax: 03 5227 8000 International: +61 3 5227 8000
: E-mail: michelledeakin.edu.au
: Website: http://www.deakin.edu.au
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