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Library Terms
That Users Understand

© 2002- John Kupersmith -- All rights reserved
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data
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SUMMARY
This site is intended to help library web developers decide how to label key resources and services in such a way that most users can understand them well enough to make productive choices. It serves as a clearinghouse of usability test data evaluating terminology on library websites, and suggests test methods and best practices for reducing cognitive barriers caused by terminology.

Key findings from the 47 usability studies examined so far:

  • The average user success rate for finding journal articles or article databases is 53% (in 19 tests at 13 libraries reporting this information). Narrative descriptions suggest that terminology is a major factor.


  • Terms most often cited as being misunderstood or not understood by users:
    Acronyms & brand names
    Database
    Library Catalog
    E-journals
    Index
    Interlibrary Loan
    Periodical or Serial
    Reference
    Resource

    Subject categories
       such as Humanities
       or Social Sciences

  • Terms most often cited as being understood well enough to foster correct choices by users:

        Find books, Find articles, and other combinations
        using natural language "target words"

        Terms accompanied by additional words or mouseovers
        that expand on their meaning.



DATA

If you have data to contribute, .

Materials based on this site

Presentation at Internet Librarian 2005

Terms that reflect usability testing

Library terms evaluated in usability tests and other studies - 6/2/06

Terms found on usability-tested library home pages - 10/22/05

Multilingual Glossary - library terms in 6 languages, compiled and tested by ACRL

Terminology test results

Card sorting exercise results - MIT Libraries (1999)
Category identification results - MIT Libraries (1999)

Website Nomenclature Test [RTF] - SUNY Buffalo (2000)

Pathfinder [catalog] user survey report - UC Berkeley (2004)
Link Choice Usability Test - UC Berkeley (2003)

Terminology test results - UC San Diego (1999)
(see links under "Test Results")

Terminology Report - University of Washington Libraries (1998)

Terms found on library web pages

Terms found on University of California library home pages - 10/22/05

Terms found on University of California library catalog interfaces - 10/22/05

[WEB4LIB] Terms actually used for "database" etc. - 8/2/00



BEST PRACTICES

The data revealed by usability studies show some definite patterns. While these don't resolve all ambiguities, they do point to some best practices in this area:
  1. Test to see what users do and don't understand, and what terms they most strongly relate to. Use test data from other libraries whose user populations resemble your own. Share your own data with others.
    » Test methods
  2. Avoid - or use with caution - terms that users often misunderstand. If you must use terms frequently cited as problematic in usability studies, such as acronyms, brand names, Catalog, or Database, expect that significant number of users will not interpret them correctly.
    » More data
  3. Use natural language equivalents on top-level pages, such as Borrowing from Other Libraries instead of Interlibrary Loan, or a Find Books option in addition to the library catalog name. Whenever possible, include "target words", such as Book or Article, that correspond to the end product the user is seeking. When needed, introduce more precise technical terms on lower-level pages.
  4. Enhance or explain potentially confusing terms. Use additional words and/or graphics to provide a meaningful context. Where appropriate, use mouseovers or ALT and TITLE attributes -- but don't count on users pausing to read them. Provide glossaries of library terms, or "What's this?" explanations of individual terms.
    » Example of annotated menu
    » More about ALT and TITLE
    » Sample glossaries
  5. Provide intermediate pages when a top-level menu choice presents ambiguities that can't be resolved in the space available. For example, have your Find Books link lead to a page offering the local catalog, system or consortium catalog, e-books, WorldCat, etc.
    » Example
  6. Provide alternative paths where users are likely to make predictable "wrong" choices. For example, put links to article databases in your online catalog and on your "Find Journals" page.
    » Example
  7. Be consistent to reduce cognitive dissonance and encourage learning through repetition. Use terms consistently throughout your website, and if possible in printed materials, signage, and the actual names of facilities and services.



TEST METHODS
Capturing terminology-related comments from focus groups
ADVANTAGES: Doesn't require a separate activity; may generate group consensus or differing opinions.
ISSUES: Not systematic; captures opinions not behavior.

Capturing terminology-related behavior and comments from user observation tests
ADVANTAGES: Doesn't require a separate activity; captures actual user behavior.
ISSUES: May be difficult to separate terminology-related problems from other design issues.

Capturing terminology from web site search logs
ADVANTAGES: Captures actual terms users have in mind when using a site.
ISSUES: Many such terms may reflect searches intended for the library catalog, article databases, etc. (which in itself tells us something significant).

Link choice survey (preference test)
Participants are given a series of task scenarios and asked which of several possible, approximately synonymous links they would choose to accomplish each task. Options include asking for their first and second choices, and asking them what they think the link names mean.
» Online survey example from West Texas A&M University
» Online survey form and results from UC Berkeley
» Paper survey form [RTF] and results from UC Berkeley (see "Data - Part 2")
ADVANTAGES: Directly addresses issues about alternative names for any given link.
ISSUES: Presents link alternatives without web page context; subject to bias based on the scenario wording and the link names currently in use.

Link choice test (in web page context)
Participants are given a set of task scenarios and a list or mockup showing all the links they would see on the page in question.
» Example using a list from UC San Diego (see "Final Terminology Test Instrument").
» Example using a mockup from UC Berkeley (see "Data - Part 1").
ADVANTAGES: Yields data on participants' likely link choices given the full array of options on the web page.
ISSUES: Results may be affected by whether participant is looking at a list or a mockup.

Link naming test
Participants are given a list of current or proposed link names, and asked to state their expectation for what each link would lead to. If the test is done with participants viewing the web page, they are then asked to follow the link, comment on what they find there, and suggest alternative names.
» Example [RTF] adapted with permission from Johns Hopkins University Libraries.
ADVANTAGES: Yields more in-depth data on participants' understanding of terminology.
ISSUES: Users may simply paraphrase or embellish the link name in question. Results may be affected by whether participant is looking at links with or without web page context.

Card sorting test
Participants are given cards representing all items on the page/site and asked to sort them and name the categories.
» Example from MIT
ADVANTAGES: Minimum constraints; participants can choose their own categories and labels; yields data on site structure.
ISSUES: Card set must represent all items; participants must understand the items as named/described the cards; may be difficult to get high degree of consensus; time-consuming to process results.

Category membership test
Participants are given a list of all items on the page/site and a list of the categories to be used, and asked to indicate which items should be in each category.
ADVANTAGES: More focused than the card sorting test.
ISSUES: May miss some possibilities that would surface in an unconstrained card sort; participants must understand the items as named/described the cards.


CREATIVITY TOOLS
Burned out on terminology? Try entering terms like index, database, or bibliography in:

Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus

Anagram Server

Dialectizer

You may not get a useful result, but at least you'll have some fun.



RESOURCES

Click on   Partial results available   to see selected results.

Click to see selected results from this study   Maryellen Allen, "A Case Study of the Usability Testing of the University of South Florida's Virtual Library Design," Online Information Review 26 (2002), 40-53.

Click to see selected results from this study   Susan Augustine and Courtney Greene, "Discovering How Students Search a Library Web Site: a Usability Case Study", College & Research Libraries 63 (2002), 354-365.

Click to see selected results from this study   Joseph Barker, "'Now Which Buttons Do I Press to Make These Articles Appear on the Screen?", Serials Review 25 (November 1999), 49-54.

Click to see selected results from this study   Brenda Battleson, Austin Booth, and Jane Weintrop, "Usability Testing of an Academic Library Web Site: A Case Study," Journal of Academic Librarianship 27 (May 2001), 188-198.

Click to see selected results from this study   Candice Benjes and Janis F. Brown, "Test, Revise, Retest: Usability Testing and Library Web Sites," Internet Reference Services Quarterly 5 (2001), 37-54.

Click to see selected results from this study   Jennifer Bowen et al., "Serial Failure," The Charleston Advisor 5 (2004)
"... serial failure is ... the failure of academic libraries to facilitate students’ access to articles, and it is without a doubt the most important access-related problem in academic librarianship."

Click to see selected results from this study   Abdus Sattar Chaudhry and Meng Choo, "Understanding of Library Jargon in the Information Seeking Process," Journal of Information Science 27 (2001), 343-349.
This study, conducted in Singapore, used a survey method similar to that of Naismith and Stein (below), focused on technical terms used in e-mail reference interactions. Participants chose correct definitions 76.9% of the time.

Click to see selected results from this study   Janet Chisman, Karen Diller, and Sharon Walbridge, "Usability Testing: A Case Study," College & Research Libraries 60 (November 1999), 552-69.

Click to see selected results from this study   Laura Cobus, Valeda Frances Dent, and Anita Ondrusek, "How Twenty-Eight Users Helped Redesign an Academic Library Web Site", Reference & User Services Quarterly 44 (Spring 2005), 232-46.

Click to see selected results from this study   Barbara J. Cockrell and Elaine Anderson Jayne, "How Do I Find an Article? Insights from a Web Usability Study," Journal of Academic Librarianship 28 (May 2002), 122-132.
Unusually detailed coverage of terminology issues.

Denise Troll Covey, Usage and Usability Assessment: Library Practices and Concerns (Digital Library Federation and Council on Library and Information Resources, 2002)

Click to see selected results from this study   Gwyneth H. Crowley et al., "User Perceptions of the Library's Web Pages: A Focus Group Study at Texas A&M University," Journal of Academic Librarianship 28 (July 2002), 205-210.

Click to see selected results from this study   Ruth Dickstein and Vicki Mills, "Usability Testing at the University of Arizona Library: How to Let the Users in on the Design," Information Technology and Libraries 19 (September 2000).

Click to see selected results from this study   Vicky Duncan and Darlene Fichter, "What words and where? Applying usability testing techniques to name a new live reference service," JMLA: Journal of the Medical Library Assocation 92 (2004), 218–225.

Click to see selected results from this study   Karen Eliasen et al., "Navigating Online Menus: A Quantitative Experiment", College & Research Libraries (1997), 509-517.
"The results of the study [showed] that grouping resources and assigning concrete, descriptive labels help undergraduates, especially those with basic library instruction, to make more efficient navigation decisions. Concretely, this means that ... more descriptive text is necessary."

Pat Ensor, "Knowledge level of users and nonusers of keyword/Boolean searching on an online public access catalog", RQ 32 (Fall 1992), 60-75.

Jesse James Garrett, "The Psychology of Navigation," DigitalWeb Magazine, December 17, 2002.
"Every link makes a promise, but the creators of the link have little control over what that is. The promise exists entirely in the mind of the user. ... The most important factor in evaluating the link is its language. First and foremost, users will look for specific words that they would use to describe what they’re looking for. They aren’t mulling over interpretation and connotation. They’re looking for particular words, and finding those particular words will overwhelmingly cause them to click links. If they don’t see their own words, they’ll keep an eye out for words they would expect other people to use."

Abby A. Goodrum, "I can't tell you what I want, but I'll know it when I see it: terminological disconnects in digital image reference", Reference & User Services Quarterly 45 (Fall 2005).
"When users request an image, they tend to describe the image itself rather than the meaning or emotive content of the image; their indexing vocabulary largely reflects what they expect to see in the image. This is in contrast with image indexing vocabulary derived by a system where indexing terms are derived from text surrounding the image. ... System vocabulary may describe higher-level concepts such as industrial pollution rather than smoke or smoke stacks."

James Hom, Usability Methods Toolbox

Click to see selected results from this study   Norman B. Hutcherson, "Library Jargon: Student Recognition of Terms and Concepts Commonly Used by Librarians in the Classroom," College & Research Libraries 65 (2004), 349-354.
This study used a questionnaire to test students' understanding of "terms derived from library literature, reference desk experience, and classroom observation."

Leo Robert Klein, "The Web Is Not Your Library," Library Journal NetConnect (Winter 2001), 36-37.
Draft version: "The Utilitarian Web"

- - - - - , "The Expert User Is Dead," Library Journal NetConnect (Fall 2003).

Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Indianapolis: Que, 2000.

John Kupersmith, "Library Terms That Users Understand", presentation at Internet Librarian 2005.

Library Web Manager's Reference Center - includes sections on "Library-Specific Design" and "Usability"

Click to see selected results from this study   Thura Mack et al., "Designing for Experts: How Scholars Approach an Academic Library Web Site," Information Technology and Libraries (2004), 16-22.

Click to see selected results from this study   Louise McGillis and Elaine G. Toms, "Usability of the Academic Library Web Site: Implications for Design," College & Research Libraries (July 2001), 355-367.

Click to see selected results from this study   Susan McMullen, "Usability Testing in a Library Web Site Redesign Project," Reference Services Review 29 (2001), 7-22

Constance A. Mellon, "Library anxiety: a grounded theory and its development", College & Research Libraries 47 (1986), 160-165.
This classic study quotes a student: "When I first entered the library, I was terrified. ... It was like being in a foreign country and unable to speak the language."

Click to see selected results from this study   W. Bede Mitchell et al., "Testing the Design of a Library Information Gateway", ACRL Tenth National Conference (Denver, 2001); also published in Southeastern Librarian 49 (2001), 4-10.

Keith A. Morgan and Tripp Reade, "Competing Vocabularies and 'Research Stuff'", co-published simultaneously in Journal of Internet Cataloging 5 (2002), 81-95; and in Judith R. Ahronheim, ed., High-Level Subject Access Tools and Techniques in Internet Cataloging, Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press, 2002, pp. 81-95.

Click to see selected results from this study   Lesley Moyo and Ashley Robinson, "Library Jargon as a Factor in Information Design for Web Usability: Survey Report (Summary)," 16th Annual Computers in Libraries 2001 (Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2001), pp.157-165.

Click to see selected results from this study   Rachael Naismith and Joan Stein, "Library Jargon: Student Comprehension of Technical Language Used by Librarians," College & Research Libraries 50 (Sept. 1989), 545.
This study, done several years before the advent of the web, found that "patrons only understand 50 percent of what librarians say or write." It includes a useful analysis of "how people arrive at a definition when they do not know the term," e.g. by breaking a word into segments, "unpacking" multiword phrases and analyzing them, or thinking of contexts for the term.

"Naming Conventions", article in LISWiki.

National Cancer Institute, Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines

Jakob Nielsen, "Outliers and Luck in User Performance," Alertbox, March 6, 2006.
"Users can waste significant time scouring a site for a term that the site doesn't use and doesn't cross-reference to its own preferred term."

- - - - - , "Use Old Words When Writing for Findability," Alertbox, August 28, 2006.
"'Speak the user's language' has been a primary usability guideline for more than 20 years. The fact that the Web is a linguistic environment further increases the importance of using the right vocabulary. ... Call a spade a spade, not a digging implement. Certainly not an excavation solution."

Kimberly Parker and Daniel Dollar, "E-Terminology: Why Do I Need to Know What You Mean?," portal: Libraries and the Academy 5 (2005), 421-426.
Deals mainly with librarians' need to communicate clearly among themselves about electronic subscriptions, aggregators, bundles, etc., noting that "Our profession needs to strike a balance between what we know versus what readers need to know -- the goal being to provide just what is absolutely necessary for readers to navigate successfully."

Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005.

Plain Language Action & Information Network - U.S. government site with guidelines and examples for writing plain English prose.

Click to see selected results from this study   Brenda Reeb and Susan Gibbons, "Students, Librarians, and Subject Guides: Improving a Poor Rate of Return," portal: Libraries and the Academy 4 (2004), 123-130.

Click to see selected results from this study   Joan Roca and Roland Nord, "Usability Study of the MnLINK Gateway," OCLC Systems & Services 17 (2001), 26-33.

Louis Rosenfeld, "Is Less Really More? [designing tables of contents for websites]," webreview.com (October 2, 1998).

Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Sebastopol CA: O'Reilly, 1998, pp. 72-98.

Karen Schneider, "Death to Library Jargon", OPAL online program, October 11, 2007. Streaming audio and PowerPoint slides are available on OPAL's archive page.

Irene Sever, "Electronic Information Retrieval as Culture Shock: An Anthropological Exploration," RQ 33 (Spring 1994): 336-41.
"Today's library, and even more that of tomorrow, has many characteristics of an exotic, alien environment: its language is unfamiliar and specialized and evokes incorrect associations. ... An electronic library cannot be 'learned' through instant coaching on which keys to press or even through the diligent perusal of a manual. What is necessary is to grow into an electronic library environment gradually through socialization as well as through education."

Click to see selected results from this study   Mark A. Spivey, "The Vocabulary of Library Home Pages: An Influence on Diverse and Remote End-Users," Information Technology and Libraries 19 (September 2000), 152-156.

Mark Stover and Steven D. Zink, "World Wide Web Home Page Design: Patterns and Anomalies of Higher Education Library Home Pages," Reference Services Review 24 (Fall 1996), 7-20.

Steve Toub, Evaluating Information Architecture: A Practical Guide to Assessing Web Site Organization, [Ann Arbor]: Argus Associates, 2000, pp. 18-23.

Click to see selected results from this study   Tiffini Anne Travis and Elaina Norlin, "Testing the Competition: Usability of Commercial Information Sites Compared with Academic Library Web Sites," College & Research Libraries 63 (2002), 433-448.

Click to see selected results from this study   University of California, San Diego Libraries. About This Site: Usability Testing.

Usability Research Lab, D.H. Hill Library, North Carolina State University, Usability testing of library websites: Selected resources

Click to see selected results from this study   Debbie Vaughn and Burton Callicott, "Broccoli Librarianship and Google-Bred Patrons, or What's Wrong with Usability Testing?", College & Undergraduate Libraries 10 (2003), 1-18.

Jerilyn R. Veldof, Michael J. Prasse, and Victoria A. Mills, "Chauffeured by the User: Usability in the Electronic Library," Journal of Library Administration 26 (1999), 115-140.

Günter Waibel, "Letting Users Show the Way", RLG Focus, Issue 64, October 2003.
Reports on usability testing for RLG systems including RedLightGreen.
"After trying hard to meet the undergraduates on their own turf, we were astonished by how many disconnects we still uncovered in terminology. An option to limit searches to maps was perceived as a possible link to online roadmaps; a reference to scores found the students thinking about sports rather than music; [we had to explain] language such as "most widely held" or "edition" ... . And since the user is always right, we'll try to find clearer words."

[WEB4LIB] "Database in your face" thread - 4/02

Lesley Williams, "Making 'E' Visible", Library Journal, June 15, 2006.

Carol A. Wright, "The Academic Library as a Gateway to the Internet: An Analysis of the Extent and Nature of Search Engine Access from Academic Library Home Pages," College & Research Libraries 65 (2004), 276-286.



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Law Library Resource Xchange
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