ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 468 / C&RL News The user-friendly library guide By William J. Jackson Business-Economics Librarian University o f Houston-University Park How to reduce user frustration by making your guides more readable. W riting library guides that are friendly as well as helpful has been a continuing project of the Li­ braries of the University of Houston-University Park over the past several years. Beginning with traditional guides th at were short subject bibliog­ raphies, the staff has revised the method used to ap­ proach the information contained in the guides and, as a result, has revised the format of the guides themselves. This has resulted in search strategy guides th at are used by and are useful to large num ­ bers of students at all academic levels. Traditional library guides are, to the less enthu­ siastic library user, nothing more than the old shell game. Guessing which shell has the black bean un­ der it is no different than guessing which source in a list is the one you need for your specific type of question. Library users often do not care w hether the answer can be found in a journal or a handbook or an encyclopedia—they just w ant the informa­ tion. Rather than give them a list of journals, hand­ books, etc ., to examine, it is more helpful to say, for example: “If you w ant to find this type of informa­ tion, it is best to use handbooks. Here is how to lo­ cate appropriate handbooks.” Guides may list a few commonly used sources in the subject field being discussed, but the emphasis is on telling the reader how to find information by using standard tools, such as journal indexes and the Online and C ard Catalogs. Subject headings are suggested when possible to assist this process. The search strategy approach, which em pha­ sizes a process rather than a specific source (when­ ever possible), has advantages other than simply demystifying a particular search for information. Hopefully it teaches some readers procedures that can be used in searching for other types of informa­ tion, for which a guide does not exist. From a more practical standpoint, it also helps to prevent guides from becoming out of date so rapidly, since specific sources can be superseded, but subject headings and search processes tend to rem ain the same over long periods of time. As a result, the information gained from the guide remains useful to the reader over a longer period of time than would be true for more traditional guides in a bibliography format. While the bibliography format used in many of our early library guides is traditional in libraries and one that librarians understand w ithout diffi­ culty, the library staff at the University of Houston- University Park came to feel that growing numbers of users were neither familiar nor comfortable with such bibliographies as guidance. In particular, it was felt that the primary target audience for the guides did not see bibliographies as useful. Audience Identifying the audience was a first step in w rit­ ing more effective guides. At the University of Houston-University Park, the audience was gradu­ ally identified through a series of discussions during the late 1970’s within the User Education Commit­ tee. We concluded that our user group is not a spe­ cific category, such as “entering freshm en” or October 1984 / 469 “graduate students.” R ather, the target audience is any person, student or faculty, who has certain characteristics: • in need of information about a subject or pro­ cess; •know s th at he/she needs help; •n o t likely to ask for help; •p e rh a p s intim idated by libraries or library staff. The current use of library guides goes far beyond the type of people who fit the target profile above. Guides are used in classes to supplement or give structure to lectures. Guides are used at the refer­ ence desk as pathfinders, deflecting some potential routine business from the reference desk, which is often inundated w ith students needing help. It could even be said that guides are subtly used to raise the level of sophistication of persons posing questions at the reference desk, thus improving the morale of staff who appreciate challenging ques­ tions. W hatever the current uses, however, the pri­ mary target group remains the same. Knowing the target group better enables the writer to tackle the main problem of most library guides, which is the w riting style. Writing style Quite a few library guides are w ritten in a style th at is best understood by other librarians. The tone is frequently very formal, and the arrange­ m ent of the materials by the reference form at, such as indexes, encyclopedias, or directories, does not encourage use by the general library user. We w anted readers of our guides to think of libraries (and librarians) as interesting and helpful. Since the printed guide that they would read might be our only chance to encourage that attitude, we found it im portant to w rite in a m anner that: •w as friendly and informal; • h a d inform ation organized th e w ay users looked for it. In addition to these general precepts, it was im­ portant to w rite in a clear, concise m anner, avoid­ ing the unnecessary use of jargon wherever possi­ ble. Thus we are more likely to speak of “checking out” rather than “charging out” or “circulating” books, and we would probably never refer to a “vertical file” w ithout explaining w hat it was in commonly understood English. It is easy to forget th at much of the general public does not think of itself as a “p a tro n ” or m ay not know th a t the shelves th a t c o n ta in books are know n as th e “stacks.” The use of unknown terminology in giv­ ing directions or instruction alienates the reader. Choosing a title The title should tell the reader which type of problem the guide can solve. The title of a guide is im portant because it is often the only vehicle avail­ able to encourage use. A title th at says w hat the guide explains does not encourage use as much as a 470 / C&R L News title th at tells w hat the guide can help a reader to do. For example, a guide explaining how to use in­ dexes and abstracts might be titled “Indexes and Abstracts.” There is a fair chance that readers who are fam iliar w ith the terms “index” and “abstract” already know the basics of how to use them. The reader who is least likely to know how to use these tools also is quite unlikely to know w hat the words really mean. The title “Indexes and Abstracts” does not encourage the second type of reader to read the guide, since it is unclear how the guide will be of help. A better title, one th at clearly states w hat the guide will help to do, is “Finding Articles on Your T opic.” Variants of this more inform ative title m ight include “ F inding Jo u rn al Articles on a Topic” or “Searching for a Subject in Periodicals.” A similar user-oriented approach to the subject is needed when w riting headings for sections within a guide. Consider the contrast between “Interlibrary Loans” and “Obtaining Materials th at are not in the L ib ra ry .” The first heading, “In te rlib ra ry Loans,” is meaningful to few readers. Those who are fam iliar w ith the term probably already know about the service. The second heading, “O btaining materials th at are not in the L ibrary,” addresses a problem th at most readers have had and alerts them to the fact th at a solution to th at problem is presented. In library guides w ritten at the University of Houston-University Park, an attem p t has been m ade to reflect a user-oriented approach in writing section headings. Two changes were made in the headings that were previously used. First, w her­ ever possible, writers have stopped using headings th at name a type of source and have begun naming the process to be accomplished or the type of infor­ mation to be found. Second, to help reflect the idea of action, (accom plishm ent of inform ation re­ trieval), most headings begin w ith an action verb. Contrast the static nature of some of the previously used headings w ith th e action in h eren t in the newer headings: Previously used headings Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Government Documents Indexes Bibliographies Books Newspapers Newer headings G etting Started Finding Government Publications Finding Articles in Journals Finding Lists of O ther Sources Finding Books Finding Newspaper Articles Finding Statistics Finding Information about Laws Once the pattern was set, new headings and sub­ headings easily came to mind. In some guides, for example, the section on “Getting Started” is subdi­ vided into “Finding Quick Facts and Basic Infor­ m ation” (encyclopedias) and “Finding Overviews of Recent Research” (annual review publications). Since the new headings were oriented to an infor­ mation need rather than to the form at in which the inform ation was presented, guides could be di­ vided into smaller segments, enabling the reader to focus more easily on the specific section th at might be of help. Support essential Support, both w ithin and outside the library, is essential to the success of library guides. Financial support must be in place for the program to begin, and it must continue to grow if quality is to be as­ sured. Quality is needed not only in the writing, but also in the manner of presentation, the physical layout of the guides. At the University of Houston- University Park, a printing budget of $8,000 dur­ ing the 1983-84 academ ic year enabled the li­ braries to produce and distribute 46,000 guides. Guides are printed on quality paper w ith colorful inks. Support has come also in the form of a library as­ sistant who formats the final copy of each guide us­ ing an Apple III computer. Use of the computer to store and print texts has led to a reduction in typo- graphical errors and a uniform quality to the visual appearance of the guides. Editing, revising, and rewriting guides has become much easier since we began using the computer, allowing us to spend more time on concepts rather than on production mechanics. Finally, support has come from outside the li­ brary. Many faculty have been enthusiastic users of the library guides, sometimes calling for bulk ship­ ments of the guides to their classes. Faculty have re­ viewed several of the guides before publication, making helpful suggestions for changes or addi­ tions. Faculty have also suggested new guides. This has been particularly true of faculty in d ep art­ ments for which guides did not exist. They appreci­ ated the value of the existing guides and w anted something similar for their students. W ithout support from both inside and outside the library, the current library guide program would not have been as successful as it is. Demand for the guides helped them to weather budget prob­ lems, and the enthusiastic feedback about the guides helped to improve their content. Teaching others to write The big push for library guides w ritten in this style began w ith a workshop for the reference de­ partm ent staff. Two guides that had already been w ritten were shown as examples to follow. The two w riters of th e guides explained how they a p ­ proached their subjects, since the approaches were different. Potential writers were encouraged to fol­ October 1984 / 471 low one of the examples in structuring new guides. A brief handout given to the writers showed con­ trasting pairs of good and bad sentences in an a t­ tem pt to illustrate a friendly, inform al w riting style. Since th at time quality has been improved by the formation of an Editorial Board. The Editorial Board provides assistance to writers and assures a uniform standard of quality in the publications. All of these changes helped to create a series of guides that are readable and useful while reinforc­ ing the image of the library as helpful. This is not to say th at the job is complete, however. Each year, as guides are considered for revision, new ways are found to im prove th eir helpfulness to readers. Those of us who w rite guides have found th at, by reading guides prepared by various staff members, we have enhanced our abilities to improve on texts w ritten in the past. W riting library guides is an art that will improve w ith practice. Library guides prepared by the University of Houston-University Park Libraries are available through the LOEX Clearinghouse. ■ ■ Fund raising by direct mail By Eileen A. Curtis Associate Director for Administration Michigan Library Consortium Some suggestions on increasing the effectiveness of your fu n d raising efforts. T he use of direct mail to raise funds has proven successful for m any organizations. L ibrarians around the country have used various forms of di­ rect mail to make patrons aw are of upcoming elec­ tions that will affect funding, to introduce new ser­ vices, and to raise additional funds. Direct mail is an approach to fund raising that must be carefully planned. A successful program is based upon many components, only one of which is the actual letter sent to a prospective donor. The use of direct mail to raise funds should be consid­ ered a part of ongoing fund-raising efforts. D ra­ matic results should not be expected immediately from a mailing, but averaged over a course of at least three years as the donor base expands. To receive a greater response to your appeal pro­ spective donors must first be made aw are of the reasons for giving to the library over other organi­ zations requesting money. D onors m ust be in ­ formed of the activities of the library and the bene­ fits that people receive before they will consider giving. Any fund raising campaign should be pre­ ceded by publicity on the organization telling why money is being raised. A donor th at is informed on the activities of the library is more inclined to give when he/she receives a request through the mail than one who is unaw are of the reasons behind the gift solicitation. The average age of a donor is declining as more discretionary income is available to younger peo­ ple. The main source of donations has been from people over the age of forty. These donors usually make larger and more frequent gifts to organiza­ tions. The library has a broad base of donors due to the diversified ages of the patrons. Donors can be segmented into groups by age, zip code area, pro­