WebJunction

I've been thinking a lot lately about public library web sites. What sort of planning process do you go through for creating and updating your web site? Has anyone used focus groups with community members to help drive content and change?

Brenda

We're in the process of re-doing ours, using internal committees. Our *big* issue is likely to be ADA compliance tamping down on what we could do.

The Santa Ana Public Library website needs a lot of work before it becomes useful and easy to use.

I've been trying to collect web development policies, but very few people have responded to my request. My guess is that most libraries don't have concrete web policies in place. Am I mistaken?

We have been trying to promote the library databases reaching out to local schools. We recently redesigned a section of the website that targets area teachers and librarians because they are more likely to have access to the Internet than our ?regular? patrons. We met with school librarians because it was an effective way to market our databases. In turn, they post flyers about our databases in their libraries.

What I?ve observed is that most people aren't learning about the databases by visiting our website; rather it?s by visiting the library and asking for newspaper and magazine articles that they find out about our electronic resources.

Elenita Tapawan

Hello, Elenita!

I hope you are well.I didn't get to see you while I was in California, but it's fun to see you in cyberspace Thanks for posting in this forum; you make two interesting (and related) points.

I think there's a lot of info out there re: how to design a web page, so it looks good, so it's usable, etc... but I would be curious to see what libraries are doing with long-range web site planning, relating the web site to the mission and services of the library, allocation of resources to train staff so they have the skills necessary to do web design & updating (an ongoing training process), etc.... Are any of the web site policies you have found available online? I'd love to see them.

I also think that a lot of libraries share your struggle with finding ways to promote the electronic subscription databases. I wish patrons knew how much the databases cost! What sorts of creative ways are people finding to make the public aware of those resources? How can libraries let the public know that they have access to these valuable resources (only through their library)?

Thanks again for posting, Elenita!

Brenda

Thank you for making me feel so welcome!

I have not come across any web policies online. I found out from the web4lib listserv about an article published in the July 2003 edition the "Journal of Academic Librarianship." It's on strategic planning for academic library web sites. It looks at some of the points you raised: creating mission and purpose statements, administering web sites, evaluation, etc.

This article complements the resources found in George's column. Thank you Chrystie for pointing me in that direction!

I find it interesting that--before I began my research on this topic--the notes I wrote down about creating a web development policy weren't too off track from what most web librarians were advocating. I thought I was way out in left field!

Best, Elenita

It will be interesting to read more about other libraries and their web sites. We decided last summer to increase awareness of our library website (www.bozemanlibrary.org) so developed a Question of the Week. Patrons would answer a specific question and each week someone would win tickets to the local theater, which donated the prizes. It was so successful we decided this fall to do that again, this time focusing on InfoTrac, one of our subscription databases. It is increasing database usage, although it does seem like a loyal group of regulars are entering each week! I can share more details if anyone wants them.

You probably have some teens around who are great a creating websites - take advantage of those volunteers! It helps if you know what you want and can get them to create it, and you can learn from them along the way. There are often community ed classes on this, too - it would be nice to have your employer pay your way, but even if they don't, it might be worhtwhile to sign up. Any more a useable website is an absolute necessity for libraries!

Pam

Thanks for sharing the Richmond site, Chrystie. It's amazing! I am especially impressed by all of the programming. I wonder if Richmond has a "plan of attack" for their web site? And what sort of staffing resources they have?

Brenda

The Richmond site is wonderfully done, and I love the idea of treating it like a branch. Would it be too presumptious to ask what kind of budget the web team is working with?

Just wondering. As the sole individual working on the web development policy at Santa Ana, the few budgeting considerations that have been made regarding developing and maintaining our site include purchasing Dreamweaver and sending me to an Infopeople workshop to learn how to use Dreamweaver.

The staff have not really looked at how much time is needed to plan, implement, and maintain the site. I'm working on my timeline now, but would love to hear more experiences and details regarding this from this forum.

On another note, I learned about another resource that may help small libraries with building websites. Carrie Bickner has writen "Web Design on a Shoestring" and a chapter of this work is viewable at: [url http://www.webreference.com/promotion/design/ ]http://www.webreference.com/promotion/design.[/url]

Elenita, good to see you back! I'm not sure about their budget, but I'll see if I can't find out. I'm talking to another person from Richmond today. In case y'all are wondering why I'm talking to them so much, I'm interviewing them for a "Library of the Month" feature on WJ. I'll come back to this topic and post when the article is up...or if I learn more!

Hi Pam,

Thank you for your response. It's exciting to hear that you're experiencing an increase in users accessing from home. Nice to know that the hard work and resources you're putting into the site are paying off!

Brenda

Check out the new Learning Center course on building library Web sites!

It's listed under the Sustainability, Advocacy, and Outreach series (near the bottom of the Online Courses page).

Hi Liz,

Welcome to the technology planning forum!

I think everyone who has a web site struggles with the same things - keeping it fresh -- keeping the balance between interesting and overwhelming.

I think it's hard to not want the site to be everything to everybody. The Internet just makes it possible to link to so much. I wonder if the key maybe, is to focus on a special feature or two -- ones that really match your community and ones that really are exciting to you, too - that get you excited about keeping up the web site.

A really cool resource is the Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries web site at [url http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/innovate.html ]http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/innovate.html.[/url] I have spent hours here - checking out the different things libraries are doing out there.

I am especially amazed by the things libraries in fairly rural areas have done -- for example, the Waterboro Pub Lib in Maine has done some extensive things with fiction.

Anyone else have suggestions and thoughts about keeping the library's web site up-to-date and interesting?

Thanks again, Liz, for re-viving this topic!

Brenda

Hello! I have a question for the group. Currently, my library website is buried within the city website. I would like to register our own domain name www.anytownlibrary.org that could be linked to through our city site, www.anytown.org or linked to directly. However, the "suits" that work for the city feel the need to retain control. Are there some good arguments for having a library-specific domain name? An obvious one is easier to find and get to. Anything else? Most of the libraries in our area have their own so there must be an advantage.

Lise

Hello,
My library is currently engaged in a website redesign. Although we did not do focus groups to plan content, we did usability studies to assess the impact of the planned changes, and also got feedback from certain user groups about the appearance of the certain sections of the website (Kids, Teens etc). Although this didn't affect our initial planning, we did make changes in response to the feedback we received.

Decisions about what to change on our site were made by a Steering Committee (of which I was a member). The planning process took about six months, during which we evaluated our existing content, decided what kinds of changes we hoped to bring about (develop sense of place, better branding, better calendar tools, emphasize certain programming & features, streamlining the editing process, etc.), and figured out basically what the new design would look like. After creating templates for the new pages, we are currently starting the process of migrating our content. There has certainly been a lot to think about.

I couldn't find a better place for this. (Several on MySpace, nada on Facebook)

So if you're thinking of linking from your website you might want to keep this in mind:

http://mbites.com/2007/08/02/eight_reasons_why_facebook_owns_your_ass

The thing is ... you give up any ownership rights. Post a picture and it's their's to use as they see fit.