WebJunction

The last five years have been eventful for WebJunction, and the next five (and beyond!) promise to be even more exciting. Starting today and over the coming months we will share more information about the changes coming to WebJunction—a new site, great new features, and better resources and experiences all around. You'll find the same great WebJunction social mission of helping libraries thrive, but with better tools to make that happen.

To keep up on all the latest, watch this page, subscribe to WebJunction's newsletter Crossroads, read BlogJunction, or meet up with us at ALA Annual 2008 in Anaheim this summer.

Alright...So what's changing?

First: Our logo

The beloved signpost logo is at long last being retired in favor of a new, clean, simplified logo and overall look and feel for everything from our website to our PowerPoint presentations. What exactly is that logo, you might ask? It's a stylized bird's eye view of a street intersection (continuing our "junction" theme)...or it could be four letter J's stuck together to play off our name. Depends on who you ask. Either way, we think it will look fantastic when paired with the new site coming later this summer.

In the next few months you'll see the WebJunction team use this new logo more and more as we apply it to everything we create. The logo will finally come into permanent usage when the new site launches, so you have a bit of time yet for waxing nostalgic about the signposts.

No official word yet on the fate of Library Gal, but we'll keep you posted.

Second: Our site

WebJunction.org and our many partner sites are undergoing a major update that goes significantly deeper than mere design, layout, or even features. Coming late this summer we will re-launch on an entirely new technology platform loaded with new features, a dramatically different design, and extensive improvements to all aspects of the community and learning experiences our member and partner communities have come to depend on.

Our design goals for this next version of the site included:

• Deliver improved and easier-to-use experiences for both our members and partners, based on extensive feedback from many voices in the community.
• Develop a site and technology platform that will be a solid foundation for the future.
• Take advantage of many developments in learning, community, and social technologies from the past few years to create the premier online learning community site for library staff.

The end result will create better ways for both library staff and the organizations that support them to connect, create, and learn:

Connect

• Personalization - Updates, news, activities, events. A range of new features to make WebJunction feel like home.
• Social Tools - Use powerful new social features to find and connect with colleagues from across the library community to share ideas, insights, recommendations, and common interests.
• Content-Centric - Collaborate and build your own communities around discussion topics, articles, courses, and more.

Create

• Member Contributed Content - New tools make it easier than ever to make your name shine while contributing your knowledge and insights to the broader library community.
• Common Interest Groups - Members will be able to create their own small communities on the topics that interest them, and invite their friends and colleagues to collaborate.
• Courses - Organizations can use the customizable course catalog to add their own courses and share with their members or the library community as a whole.

Learn

• Learning Management and Tracking - Organizations can plan, manage, and track member progress against learning plans and goals using tools previously affordable only to the corporate world.
• Improved Course Selection - We're building up our course catalog with new, more relevant, and more flexible courses to help you develop the skills you need to thrive.
• Blended Learning - Pair our new collaboration tools with Web conferencing to deliver on a true blended learning experience.

Great, so when can you see it?

Soon! We are busy putting the finishing touches on the new WebJunction and will showcase early looks starting at ALA Annual 2008 in late June. If you won't be attending the conference, watch this space or follow BlogJunction or Crossroads for information on Webinars, screenshots, and share your thoughts in this discussion space.