Sample: Revising Digital Library Resource Descriptions
Sample: Revising Digital Library Resource Descriptions
User-Focused Technical Writing
Subject Matter Experts
Applied Internship
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This sample includes resources from the UNCW Randall Library digital database that I revised for accuracy and clarity.
The left depicts the original title and description of resources; the right are my revisions that were updated on Randall Library's website.
The first depicts the original title and description of resources; the second is my revisionthat were updated on the Randall Library's website.
American Environmental Photographs,
1891-1936
The American Environmental Photographs collection from the University of Chicago consists of 4,500 photographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.
American Environmental Photographs,
1891-1936
Collection of 4,500 photographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States 1891-1936. Provided by the University of Chicago.
In this resource, I ordered the most relevant information at the beginning of the description and cut text that the reader would already get from the title (the name of the organization providing the resource and title of the resource link). This is to improve "skim-ability" and create an efficient research experience for subject guide users.
Buros Institute of Mental Measurements
Information and professional assistance for users of commercially published tests from the publishers of the Mental Measurements Yearbook and Tests in Print. The site provides a test locator and a test review locator for psychological and educational tests. Articles and links to other sites of information on psychological testing are also available.
Buros Center for Testing
Resource for psychology and education research in assessment development. Provides free access to vetted testing materials and questions that can be repurposed by professionals and students for creating diagnostic or subject evaluation materials. From the publishers of the Mental Measurements Yearbook.
For this resource, I met with Meghan Smith, the psychology librarian at UNCW to discuss further what "tests" constituted in the context of this field of study. I often met with specialized librarians so that I could write descriptions that 1) were not so redudant to student and faculty researchers in the field, but also 2) were accessible enough for researchers not familiar with the field. I think this resource is an excellent example of writing for multiple audiences.
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service serves the Congress throughout the legislative process by providing comprehensive and reliable legislative research and analysis that are timely, objective, authoritative, and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature.
Congressional Research Service
Federal service which helps with the law-making process by providing comprehensive and reliable legislature analysis to members of Congress.
This resource is an example of what I came across frequently while working on this project. Often, librarians would collect resources and copy/paste descriptions directly from the website's About page. This led to many resources seeming overly corporate and bogged down by introductory language. In this resource, I cut back on that language because subject guide users would only be distracted and slowed down by that extra text.
Chronicling America - Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Page from the Library of Congress's Chronicling America project focusing on the coverage of Darwinism and the theory of evolution in America's newspapers. It contains suggestions on how to find additional articles, as well.
Chronicling America - Darwin's Theory of Evolution
This guide provides access to primary source materials related to "Darwin's Theory of Evolution" in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.
During my time working with the UNCW librarians, I had the opportunity to ask what types of resources students ask for help finding the most. I learned that most are looking for resources that suffice some description such as "primary resource," "peer-reviewed," "evidence-based," etc. I applied these keywords where appropriate to aid students in finding these types of resources, and I think this resource is an example of where I was able to improve the description for just this purpose.
More About this Project
This internship was specifically with the ITS Department under the supervision of Marcella Fredriksson. We met every week to review my descriptions and answer any questions I had about certain resources. She often referred me to other librarians who specialized and collected resources in specific subjects under the Subject Guide.
The Subject Guide is a digital catalog of thousands of collected resources that are separated and organized by subjects. For example, the English Subject Guide page includes links to the MLA International Bibliography, JSTOR, Gale Literary Resources, and other resources relevant for those studying English.
My Responsibilities
I worked primarily from an Excel document of scraped resource titles, links, proxy links, resource advisories, and description fields pulled directly from the Subject Guide of the UNCW Randall Library website. My job included reviewing these resources systematically for accurate titles, working links, and revised descriptions (and resource advisories where necessary). Marcella worked the summer of 2020 on a usability report where UNCW students were surveyed about the Subject Guides and asked to find resources within them. This report found that most students skim resource descriptions.
My job was to rewrite these descriptions for improved usability. This included cutting down unnecessary or extraneous language, standardizing voice, and ordering information such that skimming readers would find the most relevant information first. The goal is to improve research efficiency and boost Subject Guide use. I also updated the library website with these new resource titles, links, descriptions, or whatever else needed fixed or improved.