ILS561-70
Public Libraries
Laura Grunwerg
Unit 8 Public Library Websites due November 12
· Select the five best public library websites, listing the library and the URL.
· Describe the page contents, graphics, colors, and any other features; what made you pick this site as one of the five best?
· Indicate how many sites you visited overall.
· How hooked did you get on this project?
1OO-Point Rating System
Based on the readings and my graphic training, I formulated a set of criteria and a point rating system in the following categories (listed in descending order of importance):
1. Content (community relevance • substantial enough to sustain a site • not static • well-written, grammatically correct text • global significance • does not rely on outside sites to flesh out content) 2O pts
2. Graphics (visual appeal • originality • flow • sense • consistency • vibratory colors limited) 2O pts
3. Fundamentals (mission statement • means of user feedback • identifiers such as name, city, state • URL/name of site on each page • floorplan • photo of exterior • directions • links back to homepage • short scrollable pages • last updated • number of visitors to site • site linked to other community sites like town hall, schools) 3O pts
4. Structural Hierarchy (logical and intuitive • out-of-date information removed • secondary pages link back to home page • users know where they are in site) 15 pts
5. Technical (is the web authoring software adequate for the purpose intended • is it used intelligently • do all the links work • has the site been tested with a variety of browsers and operating systems including MACs • do the graphics load quickly and are they formatted appropriately as GIF or JPEG files • is the design suitable for low screen resolution at 64O x 48O pixels and smaller 14´´ screens) 15 pts
“Best-Five” Graph
Based on the rating system, I devised a chart to depict how a best-five site scored in each category.
[Each box equals 5 points]
Content Graphic Fundamentals Hierarchy Technicala1OO pts
1 Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County [Charlotte, NC]
98
2 Boston Public Library [Boston, MA]
97
3 Tacoma Public Library [Tacoma, WA]
85
4 San Francisco Public Library [San Francisco, CA]
69
5 St. Paul Public Library [St. Paul, MN]
A recommended site for accessing US public library websites is:
http://www.publiclibraries.com/
Some of the US public library sites I viewed included:
Atlanta, GA (Atlanta-Fulton)
Austin, TX
Arlington, VA
Aspen, CO
Baltimore (Enoch Pratt)
Bangor, ME
Birmingham, AL
Boston, MA
Boulder, CO
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Columbus, OH
Coronado, CA (San Diego)
Dayton, OH
Detroit, MI
Denver, CO
Duluth, MN
Eugene, OR
Fairbanks, AL
Fort Worth, TX
Fresno, CA
Houston, TX
Jackson, MS (Jackson-Hinds)
Jackson, WY (Teton County)
Juneau, AL
Los Angeles, CA
Minneapolis, MN
Mobile, AL
New Haven, CT
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Provo City, UT
Providence, RI
Queens Borough, NY
Rapid City, SD
Richmond, VA
Roanoke, VA
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Mateo, CA
Sandusky, OH
San Jose, CA
Santa Fe, NM
Savannah, GA (Live Oak)
Seattle, WA
St. Paul, MN
Wilmington, DE
and many more!
Background
I have a graphic design background so my impressions are naturally skewed in favor of visual presentation. Many sites have well-developed home pages but fall apart graphically and contextually when linking to other pages. This lack of cohesiveness is my greatest overall complaint. A heightened graphic appeal is of particular importance when attempting to attract the attention-deficit demographic, referred to in the Winter 2OO1 issue of Library Futures Quarterly as “Generation Y” or “the Millennials”. According to LFQ, “Gen Y uses electronic media as a surrogate for just about any library function.” Maybe Gen Y was behind Library Journal’s netConnect supplement‘s decision to award the Worthington, Ohio public library site top honors in 2OO2 with a “Library Website Award.” The Worthington site utilizes Flash animations to highlight items listed on its home page. There is also an option for an animation-free standard version. I found the effects to be fun yet confusing. Clicking on the main subject headings (“My Library”, “Virtual Reference Room”) opens a brightly colored polygon containing subheads for additional links. Positioning the cursor over the trapezoidal outline to the right of the main heads pops up the same colorful polygons. When the polygons balloon out, the user tends to continue clicking on the polygonal outlines, which are now obscured. Without this Flash enhancement, the site seems rather pedestrian. Worthington did not make my top five.
The best sites also provide supplemental information that does not presume that the viewer understands electronic resources. Also welcome are mechanisms for orienting patrons who become lost when following lengthy link trails. Tacoma’s interior database pages automatically create a link path, which “pops up” at the top of each page to guide users in retracing search paths. Boston provides a site map and floor plan for its main library.
I look for sites that don’t recreate printed documents — links to pdf versions of a library’s newsletter, for example (although Weber County does this) — but rather lay out information with the web page in mind. The best sites use color thematically to distinguish between headings and body text and to identify related information.
Things I looked for:
1. Name of library or identifying logo/graphic on home page (and subsequent linked pages)
2. Graphic teaser on home page that links to specific program, news, new acquisitions, et al
3. Graphic continuity from page to page (side bar, masthead)
4. Links that work and for the most part, don’t open in separate windows that can’t link back to the previous page
5. Same logo/graphic identifier on home page found on other pages to link back
6. Color used to identify subject groups
7. If there are motion graphics they should be restrained and not distracting
8. Exterior/interior photographs of library; address, phone, last update, webmaster contact
9. Frames (if used) adjust to viewer’s aspect ratio and browser used
10. Like information is grouped together
11. Multiple ways to link to information
12. Homepage is not overly laden with information; don’t use as tell-all
13. Contact information (departments heads, phone numbers, etc.)
14. Patron guidelines and policies
15. Study aids in the form of homework help for kids, search engine resources and explanations for use
1. Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg (Charlotte, NC)
http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us/
Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County
I have been receiving the PLCMC online newsletter for several years which led me to expect that their website might be one worth visiting. Although the home page contains 30 links, it is not overwhelming and maintains a feeling of airiness (known as “white space” in the printing trade). Users who are simply looking to locate the Library’s address and phone number will find this information at the bottom of the page. The library’s mission statement is buried within the About Us link, in the Five Year Plan report.
The PLCMC home page entices the viewer with a series of motion graphics that play in a central “window”, cycling through several featured event announcements. Currently playing is a self-promotion multimedia presentation entitled “Rediscover Your Public Library: A Community Resource for 100 Years” that requires Macromedia’s Flash plug-in to view. This historic overview of Charlotte’s premier Carnegie library pays tribute to 100 years of service.
Several punchy, colorful icons located below the motion window link to special services, or in the case of ImaginOn, advertise a family theatre to be completed in the year 2OO5 — the result of a partnership between the Library and The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. Buy a Book Online — in collaboration with Amazon.com — links to a search field where books purchased through Amazon return a percentage of proceeds to the Library. There are also clickable icons for Summer Reading news and PLCMC’s @ the Library email newsletter. Some of the logos link to Flash animations that may tax the patience of viewers attempting to download using slower modems. Search fields are located in the upper lefthand and righthand corners. The Quick Jump field’s pull-down menu lists common picks: Ask a Librarian, Catalog, Employment, En Español, Library Card, Periodicals, Request Items, Renew Items, Research Help, Your Account, and many deal with account management or standard research issues. Several are repeated — Ask a Librarian, Catalog, Library Card — in the topics list to the left of the motion graphics window. At the lower left is a Systran-powered mechanism for translating the site into French, Spanish, German, or Portuguese.
The link for Online Resources allows searching in over 5O separate databases, either together or individually. The alphabetical listing — from AB/INFORM Global to WorldCat — shows icons for each resource that indicate whether a description is provided, homework help is available, and/or the database contains full text articles, is intended for in-library use, or requires a library card.
Useful Web Sites are recommended by category: Business & Tax Resources, Career & Jobs, Children’s Links, Consumer Information, Education, Email, Genealogy, Government, Health & Medical, Home & Garden — and include a smattering of links to search engines like Yahoo and Google to help the user get started. Programs and Events listings are also grouped by topic and referenced by branch location. The Beyond Books section encompasses an extensive grouping of services and their various links, including — “Quotes from the Columns” — which lists over one hundred quotes and quips that have appeared on banners hung from the columns surrounding the main library:
Technology Services: Virtual Village Communication Center • Virtual Village Communication Center • Adaptive and Assistive Technologies • System-wide Resources
Outreach Services: Adult Outreach Services • Youth Services Department • Spanish Outreach • Library by Mail
Business & Career Services: Small Business Information Center • ThinkCollege & Career Center • Career Links • International Business Library • Business Programs • BizLink
Homework Assistance: brarydog.net • Research Support • At the Branches • Computer Access in Neighborhoods (CAN)
Publication Services: Novello Festival Press • Clubs & Organizations Directory
Literacy Related Programs:
Programs for Birth to 3 Years — Reach Out and Read, Ready to Learn, Books and Babies
Programs for Preschoolers 3 to 5 Years Old — Bright Beginnings, Latino Storyteller Program, Family Independence Initiative/Even Start, Head Start
Programs for School-Age Children 6 to 18 Years Old — Right Moves for Youth, Communities in Schools, School Literary Facilitators, Summer Reading Program, Central Piedmont Community College
Adult Programs — Central Piedmont Community College, International House, Gaston Literacy Council, Inc., Literacy Council of Union Co., Cabarrus Literacy Council
Adaptive & Assistive Services: Large Print Books • Audiotape Books • Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped • Interlibrary Loan • Virtual Village Communication Center
Readers' Advisory Services:
For Adults and Teens — Reader’s Club, Novelist, Book Clubs and Library Programs, What Do I Read Next?
For Children — BookHive, Novelist
Genealogy / Local History Services: Robinson Spangler Carolina Room • The Charlotte-Mecklengburg Story • Genealogy Sites • The Family Research Communication Center • Workshops and Programs • Vignette, Your Historical Scene • Genealogy and Local History Specialists
Quotes from the Columns
Another series of links — to websites — are located to the right of the central graphic on the home page. Billed as the “PLCMC Family of Websites”, they include: BizLink, BookHive, brarydog.net, The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story, Hands On Crafts, HealthLink Plus, NOVELLO, Reader’s Club, and StoryPlace. Each opens in a separate window which must be closed in order to return to the previous page — a minor inconvenience that may be a matter of expedience in that satellite sites help keep the size and maintenance of the parent site manageable.
A remarkable case for library/non-library partnerships originated with the library’s innovative Novello Festival of Reading, which gave rise to The Novello Festival Press —the nation’s only library-sponsored publishing imprint. Titles are distributed nationally in association with John F. Blair, Publisher:
Founded in 2000 and named for the library's innovative reading festival, the Novello Festival Press garnered national attention with its premiere publication, Novello: Ten Years of Great American Writing. The anthology, which features 25 short works from such renowned writers as Pat Conroy, Tom Wolfe and others who have appeared at the festival, received a prestigious Independent Publisher Book Award in 2001.
The Novello Festival Press is committed to community outreach and sponsors writing workshops in fiction, non-fiction and poetry led by some of the nation's most accomplished authors. Each year, NFP also presents the Novello Literary Award, which is given to a Carolina writer for a full-length work of literary fiction or non-fiction.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s children’s resources are considerable. The For Kids link includes For Fun, Homework Help, Reading & Books, and For Parents. One of my favorites is StoryPlace: The Children’s Digital Library where kids can create personalized stories by choosing names for characters. There is also a home page link For Teens that includes a Tycoon Platoon icon for junior entrepreneurs and:
Homework Help: Live Homework Help (Sun - Thurs, 3pm - 10pm) • Brarydog: Homework Help and Web Companion • Online Resources • Homework Links • Ask a Librarian • Research Support and Homework Assistance
College and Career: Commerce Connection • ThinkCOLLEGE & Career Center • Career & Education Links
Books and Reading: Reader's Club (Young Adult Pages) • Young Adult Authors • Novelist
Just For Fun: Library Programs
Teens Succeed
Summary
Charlotte-Mecklenburg is an award-winning library housed in a classic Carnegie building that won honors as "Library of the Year" and "Library of the Future" in the 1990s — with 23 branches, 1.6 million volumes, and 28,000 videos, DVDs, and compact disks. This masterfully managed website is so thoughtfully constructed that the user never feels stranded or confused, although occasionally sites labeled as part of the PLCMC family of websites open in their own windows without the possibility for backward navigation. Options exist for reaching links from a number of different constructs and viewers are able to participate in one of five languages. Intelligently conceived and constructed, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg site edged out Boston because of its versatility, superb graphic treatment for events and services, and its in-depth community and global resources.