[Sigia-l] List Usability?

[joe]

Hi,

I'm looking for results of research into list usaiblity. That is, how they should be ordered (yes, I know, "it depends on the context and the user"). Specifically, I'm faced with these choices:
* Alphabetic
* Ordinal (and hence positional)
* Geographic
I have regions that are numbered 1 through 17. Their names are mostly geographic, for example, states such as Oklahoma and Kentucky. Card's work indicates that alphabetic organization leads to faster access. One of my team members says that the users know the regions by the number. So, if region 12 is Alabama, long-time region 12 users still expect to see their region listed near the bottom. On the other hand, more recent users would expect (according to my interpretation of Card and Schneiderman) to see Alabama near the top.
Long-winded I know but I'm just looking for folks who can point me to research on this issue (as opposed to opinion--no offense).
TIA,

joe