LS Web design tasks for today 4/17/06

Wait for responses from the Web Committee re: Eresources Pages

• Then ask what the eresources folder "index.htm" should be




• (Browse Eresources by General Subjects)


• http://library.austincc.edu/eresources/SubGen.htm


• Some new page with all the links maybe modeled off the three column student ACC page -- http://www.austincc.edu/current/


• Note: Probably should be the more graphic version of a text-based page

Figure out how to make the words on left top cell bigger on ThreeCols.htm

• Possibly use a graphic instead of words


• The problem links:




• Find Books, Course Reserves, Videos


• Find Services for Faculty & Students



• Could make the header FIND… with the links being




• Books, Course Reserves, Videos


• Articles and Research Info


• Information on the Internet


• Help and Tutorials


• Services for Faculty & Students


• Library Lending Policies

Other things to do:

1. Have all librarians look at two home page versions


2. Work on template for FAQs


3. Web Opac changes




• Change the black header nav bar on opac


• Instead of What's New >> Library Home


• Work with Eddie on Span Opac wording


• Make OpacGray the opacmenu.html

How I should have been using this blog

It occurred to me that I should have been inputting my To Do lists re: the revision of the library web site on this blog instead of just thoughtful ideas of mine or others about web sites, in general. As an aside, I think it just a matter of habit -- not used to having a public forum to record these things -- and an opinion that most bloggers are somewhat arrogant in thinking that others "really" want to know what they think.

I should be using this to document the evolution of a website redesign. I'll try to think about how I can do this so that the next time, we can avoid some of the tedious things we've tried. Since others, i.e., the Web Committee, can add to this website, they should feel free to do so. That they have not is either an indication that I was not clear about the purpose of this site in the beginning or they really don't have anything to add.

I'll try to figure out at way to include the nitty gritty of what transpire/s/d by linking to earlier documents and lists beginning now so that there is an archival record. If I can find time to think about how to do it...

Maximizing the research of library resources

We need to be looking ahead -- outside the box -- expanding our horizons.... I know we don't want to be the bleeding edge, but we also need to be more cognizant of the skills of our user base which range widely from rock and chisel to expert electronic multi-tasking. Is there a better way of providing both a learning and a research environment for our students? Can we provide... say multiple portals ... within the constraints of the ACC Web context? Will ACC Content Management be too long in development to provide us with the necessary tools to meet user wishes and needs?

Earlier in the blog article quoted below, she mentions the NCSU catalog we've mentioned before and the Primo product from Ex Libris. NCSU is an in-house product, the like of which would be possible for us with a CMS and some programmer dedicated to library resources. Can't see that happening anytime soon, can you?

From one of Lorcan Dempseys blogs...

We have been used to thinking about the catalog and the integrated library system as at the centre. But as more comes onto the network we are surrounded by many systems to help us do our research, learning and play. This is one reason why I think we have seen a gradual shift in focus over time from database to website to workflow.

And this means that it becomes more important to think about how library resource and functionality play well with the "real design center", the network, and the multiple other network systems that consume the attention of library users. This suggests that we need good ways of solving the many to many issue within the search engines (how do you connect users to resources that they are authorized to use without cluttering the user experience with resources they are not authorized to use), and we believe that the developing OpenWorldCat program is one way of doing this. And it suggests that we need to make library resources more 'service-able' in ways which facilitate their integration with user workflows and other applications.

User-Centered Design

This was part of a discussion following a webcast from Learning Communities about "User-Centered Design in Your Library." Held last week when I was away.

I particularly was caught by the statement about lessening the number of click to popular pages. Something we should know and think about but somehow don't always. I'll pursue that line of thought as we fiddle with the home page. More as I get more data... mp

Prior to the fall 2005 semester the library staff here met with the university web site designer to plan a re-design of our library home page - style and content - and to develop a style for lower level pages. The existing library page did not have any design elements similar to the overall university design which likely added to navigational issues. We conducted focus groups with students in the spring of 2005 and asked a number of questions about the library web site. The main message we heard was - make it more streamlined, reduce the number of clicks needed to get to necessary resources, and other useful feedback. We took those comments into account when re-designing the web site. We didn't do any sort of formal useability study that could have involved watching students use the old website - but that could be helpful with the new one.

Our re-designed site now has many of the same navigational features of the university website, so it's more familiar to users. We added "breadcrumb" trails through the site so students can always find their way back to the page they started from. We made the most heavily used pages (based on web stats) mostly accessible with a click. - or two. We eliminated our static news box and replaced it with an RSS feed of our library blog which can be updated more frequently and more easily. We also eliminated our "What's New" page, and now just point users to the blog site. Our news now get read more frequently - and users don't miss important announcements.

We haven't surveyed our students since the re-design but annecdotal evidence suggests they are happy with the re-designed site's enhancements.

Thank you.

Steven Bell
bells@philau.edu

About sustaining attention

From Lorcan Dempsey, 1 Feb 2006

...
In a Media 2.0 environment, production and distribution have become cheaper and attention has become scarcer. So, for example media are now available in multiple ways - single TV programs and tracks are available as downloads; we have an extraordinary range of media outlets; there is an explosion in 'prosumer' content available through blogs and so on.

These economics create competence traps for media incumbents in a 2.0 world: since attention is now relatively scarce, economic advantage flows to whichever players can allocate attention - not production - most efficiently. That is, to try and make sure, wherever possible, each viewer, listener, or reader is consuming media where, when, and how they derive the most value from doing so. [Bubblegeneration Strategy Lab]

Think about libraries. The dynamic may be different in academic and public, but there are some similarites. Think of pictures of the traditional scholarly communications chain: it shows a small number of channels by which published research reaches readers. Think of how this has changed.

Where attention is scarcer one wants to provide engaging experiences that encourage people to return, one wants to place services where they are most needed in the reader's workflow (think of the commuter interest in audio, for example, or the learner's interest in seeing library resources in the course management system), one wants to have a clear well understood offering, one wants to project custom services into specific user environments (think of placing a metasearch of subject-specific databases in a course-page)....