What’s an eLibrary? Public library websites and jargon
In 2018, almost 20% of Victorian public libraries referred to their online resources as “eResources”. Now in 2025, only 7% (that is just four library services across the state) still use this jargon word on their websites.
Although “eLibrary” is still the most commonly used term (24% of public libraries currently use it to describe their online resources), its use is declining (from 32% in 2018).
Since 2018, “Digital Library” has grown in use, from just 2% to 23% in 2025.
The shift away from e-Words sounds promising, but unfortunately this is where the good news ends. The use of jargon words on public library websites has increased.
About half of public libraries in Victoria now use the non-sense word “eAudiobooks” to describe downloadable/streaming audiobooks.
Non-sense words like “eTalking Book” have vanished, but concerningly, new jargon words such as “eAudios” and “ePress” have emerged.
What’s interesting is that while 45% of public libraries use “eMagazines” to describe their digital magazine collection, just 23% use the term “eNewspapers” to describe their digital newspaper collection.
This seemingly goes against a common rhetoric I’ve heard in favour of e-words, which is that there’s a need to distinguish between physical and digital collections. If that were true, why then aren’t the majority of libraries using “eNewspapers” to describe their digital newspaper collection?
Most often, library websites will use the phrase “eMagazines and Newspapers”. Very few library websites use “eMagazines and eNewspapers” but it’s more common than you might think.
Public library websites often use a combination of different jargon words to describe the same resource, which might be an attempt to cover all bases but is likely to be confusing the reader. For example:
EBOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS
Browse our collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks. Note, some e-Audio books are very large and may require a Wi-Fi connection to download.
A 2012 study of usability studies (linked in my previous article, below) concluded that website users only found what they were looking for half of the time.
The biggest factor that improved usability was the changing of jargon in hyperlinks to more descriptive and natural language.
Using clear and simple language improves usability.
The clearer the language, the easier it is for users to find what they need. And isn’t that what libraries are all about?
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Subscribe to my Medium for further updates on library website jargon and usability; I’ll have a couple more posts out later this month looking at naming conventions for early years programs and WCAG compliance.
