The purpose of this site is 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 used on library web sites, listing terms that tests show are effective or ineffective labels. It presents alternatives by documenting terms that are actually used by libraries. It also suggests "best practices" for reducing cognitive barriers caused by terminology.

This is something that has interested me for a while, and not just in terms of labels on websites or OPACs. How is a student supposed to know what I mean when I tell him to go to the "circulation desk?" And what is an OPAC exactly? I even have try not to say "check out" and "check in," since so many students get them confused. This website is very helpful for identifying terms that actually communicate better with users.
10:22:42 PM     [comment []];[]

This would be great for older readers too, I think. I'd like to try something like this next year.
9:59:09 PM     [comment []];[]

This lesson on plagiarism is designed to give high school students an introduction to the issue of plagiarism, an overview of copyright laws and fair-use provisions, and a demonstration of the use of paraphrasing and quoting as methods of avoiding it. Accessing a wide variety of the Internet sites on plagiarism and copyright, the focus of this workshop is to encourage students to empathize with artists and authors whose work is "stolen" when it is plagiarized. [From Blue Web'n Update of June 27]
8:54:04 PM     [comment []];[]