What's in a Name? Using Card Sorting to Evaluate Branding in an Academic Library's Web Site

Libraries are pressed to effectively promote use of the tools they provide users as well as their role in creating, selecting, and purchasing them. Applying “brand names” generated within the library is one promotional strategy. Usability testing at one academic library demonstrated how the card sorting technique can be used to evaluate branding efforts. The study found that library users do not recognize or comprehend library brand names in the absence of a consistent approach to branding even if they do use the services that have been branded.