1	Death to Jargon K.G. Schneider, Fall 2007
2	What is Jargon? “A vocabulary common to a particular field of work or group of people.” In our field, also known as “Biblish”
3	Jargon is everywhere Digital camera software: “Are you sure you want to acquire the photos?” “preparing for acquisition…”
4	Why do we hate jargon? Vague sense that jargon stands between us and them Most bad customer service experiences involve jargon at some point in the transaction Jargon sucks the air out of language, making life less pleasurable
5	We know it when we see it "Leverage our leadership brands and authoritative proprietary content to deliver innovative solutions orientated products that become embedded in customers' workflows and enable Reed Elsevier to move up the value chain." Source: the 2006 Reed Elsevier Annual Review and Summary (p. 15) http://www.reed-elsevier.com/media/pdf/l/l/reed_anrev_2006_en_1.pdf
6	Translation We’ve got you where we want you. Now pay up!
7	…and see it “Coordinating and optimizing the symbiosis between the computer’s mania for detail and the human’s sense of the gestalt becomes more important every day, as more and more of the cultural record becomes digital, and yet our instruments for exploring that digital cultural record remain the blunt instruments of searching and browsing,” Unsworth said.
8	Translation We need better search engines.
9	… and SEE it With the aim of improving our service and our efficiency, the circulation area at the Main Library will be remodeled for better patron accessibility and oriented toward increased self-checkout options. To this end we’re adding two more self-checkout stations, for a total of four. … We’ll have the same number of circulation clerks …
10	Translation Soon you’ll be able to check out books twice as fast! We’re doubling the number of check-out machines. Excuse our dust while we remodel.
11	Glossaries are a bad sign If you have to explain it with a glossary, then you need to rewrite it Nobody reads help pages!
12	Academicspeak deserves special mention… Scholarly communication Electronic resource management Institutional repository No library user should ever be exposed to such gobbledygook!
13	Silence does not equal success “An outcome-oriented approach to evaluating this objective is an outcome-oriented qualitative approach to determine if awareness of lii.org services…” … I wrote this in a (winning) grant!
14	Attention spans are mercilessly short “What [users] actually do most of the time (if we’re lucky) is glance at each new page, scan some of the text, and click on the first link that catches their interest or vaguely resembles the thing they’re looking for. There are usually large parts of the page that they don’t even look at.” — Steven Krug, Don’t Make Me Think
15	We know jargon is bad
16	Obstacles Fear of stepping on toes Resistance to change (“no one has complained!”) Everyone’s busy—the value of taking more time with language may not be evident
17	Suggestions Start small Begin with yourself Demonstrate success Be gentle… communication is a sensitive area
18	1. Assume all writing is bad until proven otherwise They’re called first drafts for a reason See Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, on “s——y first drafts” (an entire chapter on this topic)
19	2. Hunt down and kill all terms users don’t understand Citation Database E-journals Finding aid Index Interlibrary Loan Online Periodical Reference Resource Serial Subject Virtual
20	The subject of subject Huge gulf between our understanding of the term and our users’ understanding of the term A major single point of failure in user searches
21	Link
22	3. Use terms your users do understand “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’” Kupersmith, 2007
23	Link
24	4. Think like a user The user is focused on action (not on tools). She wants to… Find books and articles Answer a question Sign in to see if her books are overdue Find hours, locations, and events Pay fines, renew books, place holds
25	What a user would not think “I’m going to use Boolean operators to search Widgmo for several known bibliographic items and then proceed to the circulation desk near the technical services area”
26	5. Write in an active voice It’s harder to use jargon when you write in an active voice Try rephrasing sentences and phrases in an active voice NYPL: “Find Books” SFPL: “Get a library card”
27	6. Use Questions and Orders (Interrogatives and Imperatives) Grab the reader’s brain stem—force him to respond Find... Do you...? Have you...? Renew... Harder to phrase questions and orders with jargon
28	7. Read your work out loud All Together Now: “An outcome-oriented approach to evaluating this objective is an outcome-oriented qualitative approach to determine if awareness of lii.org services…”
29	8. Avoid cliches and popular expressions Treasure-trove Goldmine
30	9. Get to the point, then stop Most library writing is bad in part because it’s so darn wordy Wordiness leaves room for jargon to sneak in! Screenwriting advice: “In late and out early” Librarian-to-librarian advice: weed your writing so the good stuff stands out Link: LibraryThing
31	10. Have noncombatants read your writing Spouses: bad Siblings: good Library frequent flyers: bad Library chippers: good Grocery clerks, gardeners, electricians: terrific
32	11. First, tell a story Sit down in a quiet room and describe what’s going on from the user’s point of view. Susan walks into the library. She wants a book. Real bad. So bad she can taste it. But she forgot her card… Link
33	12. Read! The best antidote to jargon is to read good writing. You can even listen to good writing.
34	Kupersmith Kondensed Test. Avoid terms users don’t understand. Use terms users do understand. Explain confusing terms. If you absolutely must, present an “intermediate page.” Provide many ways to do the same thing. Be consistent, especially with special terms.
35	Two Simple, Cheap Test Methods Run the content past people unfamiliar with libraries Look at your website and OPAC search logs Your OPAC probably doesn’t have search logs… one more reason OPACs suck And outside LibraryLand, don’t call it an “OPAC”
36	More Test Methods Focus Groups Live Subject Testing Card-sort Tests Any assessment is better than no assessment
37	You can fight jargon and still…. Be funny (“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”) Use special language, even made-up words (“biblioblogosphere”) Write for specialized audiences (“genealogists”)
38	Questions? To vector with the author in an optimized space-time continuum leveraging our global networked society, contact: Karen G. Schneider kgs@freerangelibrarian.com