WebJunction - Virtual Library

Attached is a chapter from Building the Digital Branch: Guidelines for Transforming Your Library Website by David Lee King.

In the past fifteen years, the World Wide Web has become such a major part of the library world that most libraries now have some presence on the Web. This issue of Library Technology Reports explores the idea of the digital branch—a library website that is a vital, functional resource for patrons and enhances the library’s place within its community. The report outlines an efficient process for creating a digital branch, from the initial phases of gathering information and sketching out a design, to winning approval from management, hiring qualified IT staff, and maintaining and upgrading the site once it is built. Throughout the report, the author regularly uses his experience at his own library as an example of how the process can unfold and what pitfalls to avoid. Topics Covered in this Issue Include:

Defining the digital branch
Gathering information; understanding what your patrons and staff want from the digital branch
Planning for the digital branch
Building the digital branch
Maintaining and upgrading the branch once its built
Building community through the digital branch

Library Technology Reports is a leading publication that explores how new hardware, software and technological trends are being used in twenty-first century libraries. Published eight times annually, Library Technology Reports features industry leaders from Academic, Public and Research libraries who leverage their expertise in various areas to create studies that explore technology trends, the theories behind them, how they are being used by leading institutions, and practical principles for applying them to a new situation.

With over 1,500 subscribers and widespread circulation through institutional accounts and databases, Library Technology Reports is one of the most effective ways of reaching today's technology decision makers in the library world.