Figure 7: Redesigned About MCL Wireframe
New Content
Books,MoviesMore
Much of the redesign involves combining content from several of the current pages. One of these new pages is the Books, Movies & More (Figure 8) category page. The page includes sub-categories from various hyperlinks or sub-categories throughout the website including “Books,” “Music,” “Movies,” “Magazines and Newspapers,”“Subject Guides,” “Bestsellers and Staff Picks,” “E-media,” “Zinio” and “ILL and Books By Mail.”
Figure 8: New Content MCL Books, Movies & More Wireframe
The new page has been simplified to include only the most valuable information from each page. Graphics of books and movies have been added to the page for visual appeal. By including these graphics, it is intended that users will be drawn to the webpage through the pictures and will be able to see visual representations reflecting their interests.
As with the other redesigned pages, this page also includes the global navigation bar, the expanded search box and the general contact information, hours, site map and various applications located at the bottom of the page.
A blueprint (see Figure 9 on the following page) illustrates how the items connected to the homepage are consistent.
Users are able to find off-site links for books, e-media, Zinio, and movies, as well as a remote page stack leading to a section of the original website dedicated to the MCL music collection. Local page stacks contain information about available subject guides, the magazine and newspaper collections, bestsellers, staff picks, reviews, and interlibrary loan.
Figure 9: New Content MCL Books, Moves & More Blueprint
All of these changes reflect an effort to organize and simplify this category page. The redesign will help guide users to the information they are seeking. It will also introduce them to new content such as new books or movies that may be of interest to them.
BorrowingatMCL
Thenew“Borrowing atMCL” contentpage(Figure10)alsoincorporatescontentfrommore thanonepage oftheoriginalwebsite.
Figure 10: New Content Borrowing at MCL Wireframe
One highlightof thispage’sredesign is theconsistencyof itsframeworkascompared toallothercontent pageswithin theredesignedsite.
Theconsistent elementsincludethetopthird of thepage,withthe“@MCL”logo,searchbox,“myaccount”and“contactus”links,graphicsbar,and globalnavigation bar.Consistencyisfurtherreinforced bythelibrarylocation andhours, information,etc.,alongwith thesocialmedialinks.
Finally,thesidebarpresentsaformatsimilartoformatswithinothercontentpages,although thecontent ofthesidebar’s“buttons”variesfrompagetopage. Rather than scrolling through all available topics, the redesign proposes a sidebar featuring links to specific task oriented or informational sections such as “Get a Library Card”, “Loan Periods”, and “Search the Catalog”. Like the global navigation bar, the user’s current selection is highlighted, and the page contains a bread crumb trail to further improve user navigation.
Ask a Librarian
The MCL does contain a simple “Ask a Librarian” application which does sufficiently guide users through the process of submitting a question to the reference librarians. However, the redesigned form (Figure 11) will improve upon the public’s ability to use the feature.
Figure 11: New Content Ask a Librarian Task-Oriented Blueprint
Many of the current application’s issues derive from users being able to submit questions with aminimum of requirements, including submitting blank questions or conflicting selections. The new application contains strict—though still simple—requirements before a submission will be successful (see Figure 12on the following page).
Figure 12: New Content Ask a Librarian Wireframe
Drop down menus for “Subject” and “I need this information for” fields will allow a greater number of options and allow librarians clearer starting point for answering patron questions.
For patrons unfamiliar with the new features, a clearly marked “help” icon will provide detailed information to guide the patron through completing the form correctly.
The newly designed application will aid both patrons and staff by giving patrons clearer direction and provided the staff with more information to better answer the patrons’ questions.
Conclusions
Although the Morris County Library website currently contains large amounts of value rich content, the weaknesses in its structure are detrimental to the information seeking needs of its users. The proposed redesign addresses the site’s major weaknesses by developing a logical hierarchy supported by an internally consistent structure and clearly defined content categories.
Controlled Vocabulary
Introduction
In our mission to improve the Morris County Library website, the design team has re-addressed three goals from our initial report: (1) to establish an organizational system for information retrieval, (2) to develop navigation tools for user inquiries, and (3) to standardize and create consistency throughout the MCL website. These have been accomplished with the creation of a metadata scheme and controlled vocabulary, illustrated below. In contrast to our redesign of the visual layout and webpage hierarchy, it should be noted that this report will focus on the back-end structure, invisible to the average user.
Metadata Scheme
The metadata scheme combines elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, as well as the Metadata Object Description Scheme (MODS). Dublin Core was developed for the “simple and precise description of web-based documents.”[1] Our group also selected this scheme for its appearance in the “Library Application Profile” developed by the Libraries Working Group.[2] MODS, derived from MARC 21, was selected for its flexibility and ability to complement other metadata formats. The elements shown reflect careful consideration of administrative and descriptive needs, while comparing existing metadata on the current MCL website. Some elements were rejected as unnecessary, but many more were added to increase findability. Examples illustrate how each element should be used.
Abstract
Name: / AbstractDefinition: / A summary of the content of the resource (source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the content of the resource. Element is roughly equivalent to MARC 21 field520.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Only one Abstract may be used per resource; however, it follows that multiple resources require multiple Abstract elements. A link may be supplied in lieu of or in addition to the content.
Examples: / <meta name=”abstract” content=”The Morris County Library provides a welcoming environment and a knowledgeable, courteous staff; opportunities for lifelong learning; and a full range of timely resources in various media to meet the varied informational, cultural, and recreational needs of our entire community, those who live and work in Morris County.”>
Contributor
Name: / ContributorDefinition: / An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies any entity which has contributed to the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content; that is, each identifiable segment may have a different Contributor, or several Contributors. Its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service.
Examples: / <meta name=”contributor” content=”Childrens Staff, Morris County Library, NJ”>
Creator
Name: / CreatorDefinition: / An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the entity which has primary responsibility for making the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content; that is, each identifiable segment may have a different Creator. Its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service.
Examples: / <meta name=”creator” content=”Reference Staff, Morris County Library, NJ”>
DateCreated
Name: / DateCreatedDefinition: / The date when a resource was first created.
Function: / Identifies the date of creation of a resource.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Only one DateCreated may be used per resource; however, it follows that multiple resources require multiple DateCreated elements. Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”datecreated” content=”01012014”>
DateUpdated
Name: / DateUpdatedDefinition: / The date a resource was updated.
Function: / Identifies the date a resource was updated.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / DateUpdated is intended to replace the former DateUpdated attached to the resource; therefore, only one DateUpdated should be used per resource. However, it is not intended to replace DateCreated. Therefore, once a resources has been updated at least once, it will ideally have both a DateCreated and a DateUpdated. Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”dateupdated”content=”02042014”>
DateValid
Name: / DateValidDefinition: / A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Tracks the contemporaneity, pertinence, or expected life of a resource.
Type: / Administrative
Use: / May be used, for instance, to tag a resource which will become available on a certain date or must be replaced when it becomes outdated; or, in other case, to set software permission expiration dates. May be repeatable. If used as a date range, must be used twice in the range (a beginning and an ending date). Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”datevalid” content=”01012000” through “01012001”>
Description
Name: / DescriptionDefinition: / Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free text account of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Guides the content that follows, depending on what is being described.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Is repeatable; may refer to or contain various kinds of information depending on the context.
Examples: / <meta name="description" content="Morris County Library Online Resources">
Format
Name: / FormatDefinition: / The file format, physical medium, or dimension of the resource. Typically, Format may include the media type or dimensions of the resource. Format may be used to determine the software, hardware or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Allows the user or software to correctly determine the format of the resource.
Type: / Administrative
Use: / May be repeatable even when describing a single resource when multiple format aspects of that resource must be described. For instance, an MP3 file may need one Format tag to describe its file type and another to describe the number of megabytes it consumes.
Examples: / <meta name=”format” content=”MP3”>
Genre
Name: / GenreDefinition: / A term(s) that designates a category characterizing a particular style, form or content. (Source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the category that content of the resource falls under.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. The terms may be from a controlled list or may be uncontrolled. If no authority is specified, it is assumed that the term is uncontrolled.
Examples: / meta name="genre" content="library, education">
Keywords
Name: / KeywordsDefinition: / Words which enable free text searching within the resource.
Function: / Allows search engine to retrieve resource according to topic.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Use five to seven keywords per web page (page resource). Separate by commas. Always used as a plural; never “keyword.”
Examples: / meta name="keywords" content="library, morris, jersey, reference">
Language
Name: / LanguageDefinition: / A language of the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the language used to create the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Generally speaking, repeatable only once per chunk of content to which it refers. However, in a bilingual website, for instance, the “language” element would recur often.
Examples: / metaname="language" content="en-us">
Publisher
Name: / PublisherDefinition: / An entity responsible for making the resource available. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the entity which published the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. As with Creator, its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service. May be used, for instance, with patron blog content or user-tagged content on a public library website, where the Creator or Contributor is not the Publisher.
Examples: / <meta name=”publisher” content= “Morris County Library, NJ”>
Rights
Name: / RightsDefinition: / Information about rights held in and over the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies any legal rights with regard to using, publishing, downloading, etc. the resource.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. May describe rights associated with Source of content (descriptive), or rights with an expiration date (administrative), or rights regarding a certain number of users at one time (administrative).
Examples: / <meta name=”rights” content= “copyright 2012”>
Source
Name: / SourceDefinition: / A related resource from which the described resource is derived. The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the resource which is partially or wholly the “parent” of the resource at hand.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of sourced content. Unlike Creator or Contributor, its value will be a work rather than an entity. For clear identification of the source, APA citation format should be used.
Examples: / <meta name=”source” content= “[source in APA Format]”>
Subject
Name: / SubjectDefinition: / The topic of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the focus of the resource using one word.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. Intended to be used in addition to “Title” and “Keywords.”
Examples: / <meta name=”subject” content= “introduction”>
TargetAudience
Name: / TargetAudienceDefinition: / A description of the intellectual level of the audience for which the resource is intended. (Source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the audience for which the resource is intended.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. Either a controlled list of values or free text may be used.
Examples: / <meta name=”targetaudience” content= “children, teens”>
Title
Name: / TitleDefinition: / A name given to the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Provides a succinct, often unique tag with which to identify the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content, and may have many subsections described by other elements.
Examples: / <meta name=”title” content= “borrowing at MCL”>
TitleAlternative
Name: / TitleAlternativeDefinition: / Any form of the title used as a substitute or alternative to the formal title of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Provides an alternate title with which to identify the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. Best practice is to use this element refinement for titles other than the main title including title abbreviations as well as translations.
Examples: / <meta name=”titlealternative” content= “MCL, Morris County (NJ) Library”>
Thesaurus
In order to better facilitate user searches of the Morris County Library website, the design team developed a hierarchy of subject headings based on the content of the website. The headings have been grouped based on the Educational Resources Information Center’s (ERIC) classification scheme for thesauri. Each record contains the preferred term as well as broader, narrower, and related terms where applicable. Because the terms developed use technical library phrasing, a number of variant wordings and phrasing of the preferred terms are included in each record to reflect the most common methods real-world library patrons would use to search the Morris County Library Website. A scope note follows each preferred term entry that defines the limits of each heading to prevent overlap within the hierarchy and to facilitate the addition of new terms into the index when necessary.
Morris County Library Site IndexA / B / C / D / E / F / G / H / I / J / K / L / M
N / O / P / Q / R / S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z
A
Accessibility
Accommodations
Account
Activities
ADA Compliance
Adult Fiction
Adult Fiction Books
Adult Fiction in Print
Adult Nonfiction Books
Adult Non-fiction Books
Adult Nonfiction
Adult NonFiction in Print
Adult Non-Fiction
Adult Non-Fiction in Print
Ancestry
Art Shows
Articles
Audio Books
Audiobooks
Audio Collection
Audio Materials
Author Events
B
Books
Book Clubs
Book Discussions
Book Discussion Groups
Book Orders
Book Requests
Books For the Blind
Books For the Deaf
Books For the Disabled
Books For the Handicapped
Books For the Homebound
Book Groups
Books On Tape
Books On CD
Borrowing
C
CDs
Census Data
Checking Out
Checkout
Children’s books
Children’s Books in Print
Classes
Classics
Collection
Community Groups
Community Space
Computers
Conferences
Concerts
County History
Current Events
D
Digital Audiobooks
Digital Books
Digital Collection
Digital Magazines
Digital Materials
Displays
Downloadable Audio Books
Downloadable Magazines
Downloadable Talking Books
E
E-Books
Education
Electronic Books
Electronic Collection
Electronic Materials
E-Media
Events
Exhibits
F
Family History
Family Records
Features
Fiction Best Sellers
Film Collection
Film Materials
Films
Food Cost
G
Galleries
Genealogy
H
Headlines
Historic Food Prices
Historic Menus
Historic Recipes
History
I
ILL
Interlibrary Loan
Internet
J
Journals
K
Kid’s Books
Kindle Books
L
Large Font
Large print
Large Print Books
Large Type
Library Account
Library By Mail
Library Cards
Library News
Library Polices
Library Services
Local Headlines
Local History
Local News
M
Magazines
Materials