When I began thinking about library websites, I immediately thought of the ones I use frequently - the Darby Public Library http://darbylibrary.net/ , Hamilton Public Library http://www.bitterrootpubliclibrary.org/ and the Missoula Public Library http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/ (none of which are schools!). I also use MontanaLibrary2go often. I find myself going to those websites frequently because of my proximity to the libraries and because the sites are easy to use. I especially appreciate the calendar that the city websites have. Reading the websites through the eye of accessibility, I understood why I appreciate the Darby website. It's extremely easy to use and understand.
Our school does not have a library website (I am not currently the librarian at the school I teach in). To look for ideas on school websites, I used Montana OPI's Library Media wiki http://opi.mt.gov/groups/mtl/wiki/40459/Montana_School_Library_Web_Sites.html. The websites that appealed the most to me had a simple layout with easy to follow links. I especially liked Lewis and Clark Elementary's website, although I might have fewer graphics or a less complicated graphic. I liked that Evergreen's library had a picture of the library on it. Whitefish High School's website was easy to follow as well. I would have liked to have seen a calendar on the webpages with the library's activity and liked the websites that had a blog or something that kept the webpage current with the happenings of the library and school.
For me, I think the top 5 things that I would like on my library webpage are are the library's mission, it's hours of operation and types of services it offers, ways to contact the librarian and school, databases and helpful online links, and an online card catalog. I probably cheated by adding the word "and" into my five things. It's difficult to narrow down the amount of information a library website can offer to five things! But it is important to keep the information accessible and easy to use. Keeping the website current and the website updated also helps make it more usable. I also liked the idea of links to teacher pages or teacher resources. I'm feeling inspired to dig in and start working on a blog type website for my classroom!
I agree that a simple layout and easy to follow links are the way to go. think about conventions -- like hyperlinked things being blue. Then, unless you have a really good reason to mix it up, follow those conventions that you know. People who are just looking for info like convention and ease of use more than they like creative aesthetics. That doesn't mean you should never be creative -- it means don't be creative all the time in all things!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these sites! They were helpful!
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