Creating a school library web page may seem like a
challenging task for some. According to Warlick the first question you should
ask yourself is “why?”. After you have answered this question you should have a
goal in mind. When creating a school library web page you should keep your goal
front and center while designing. Walbert says to make sure that you think of
your webpage as an extension on your physical media center. Also make sure that
you have a target audience in mind. You want this website to help you do your
job, your target audience is who will help you do your job.
Next you should being researching. Take some time to explorer
other school web pages and find what you like and what you don’t like about it.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Talk to other media specialists and ask
how they got started and what worked for them. You might even want to send out
a quick survey to the teachers and maybe the students in your school to see
what they would like in a school media page.
Tips on what you may want to include on your page
Some things that you may want to include are:
·
Online catalogs
·
Reference resources
·
Curriculum connections
·
Literacy connections
·
General information such as hours and policies
of your LMC
·
Links to other areas of your school
·
Recommended reading list
·
Study skills
·
Curriculum map or Pacing guide
·
Check out the link to this article
for a complete checklist
Do’s and Don’ts
Dos
·
Use friendly layout
·
Use fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes
·
Keep it simple
·
Indent content
·
Use bullets
·
Add graphics when appropriate
·
Advertise your site: put on newsletters, school
website, business cards, etc.
Don’ts
·
Don’t overcrowd or overwhelm
·
Don’t have everything on one page- use tabs at
the top or along the left hand side
·
Don’t make it difficult to find what you are
looking for
·
Don’t make it a book….
Sources:
Baumbach, D., Brewer, S., Renfroe,
M. (2004, September). What should be on a school library
webpage?. Retrieved
from http://motherofgeeks.com/SLMC
website article.pdf
Walbert, D. (n.d.). Best practices in
school library website design. Retrieved from
Warlick, D. (2005, January/February).
Building website that work for your media center. Retrieved from
I agreed with your do's and don'ts. I think one of the most important thing to remember when designing a webpage it to make sure it's a simple/friendly layout. If I go to a webpage and feel immediately overwhelmed and bombarded with information-I am inclined to go back to Google and choose the next page! Also, when you do link users to something, it is very important to "not make it a book"! It reminds me of the presentation I have seen in the past called "Don't Kill Me With Your Powerpoint". It basically tells students that if they give the reader too much information all at once you will lose them. Good post to the blog!
ReplyDeleteI think that web page is one of the simplest things on the LMS's plate. There are so many examples to look at, and go from there. In the day of Facebook, there really shouldn't be too much difficulty, unless you're one of these "retro" seniors who is scared of basically every technology. But it really isn't an option to not have a decent media center webpage.
ReplyDeleteYour list provides a good reference checklist, though. I do hate an over-crowded page, though, or PowerPoint either, for that matter. Yes, tabs are a good thing.
Thanks for the additional links and references! I agree that a media center webpage can be great if a clear goal is in mind. Our school media center does not have a webpage...just a link to the Destiny catalog. Students and parents could get a lot more out of our MC if we did have one. We also have several new library club programs as well as recently kicked off our first school-wide Battle of the Books. A webpage would be a great way to display photos and information for these events.
ReplyDeleteI really like the dos and don’ts that you listed. These are great suggestions. It is so important to remember who the user of this website is going to be. This should guide the information that is listed on the page. My schools current website does not have much information on it due to the fact that most of our students do not have access to the internet at home. I think it is important for the media specialist to remember that students are not the only ones who will be using this website. This can still be a great resource for teachers when they are working from home.
ReplyDelete“Use tabs at the top or along the left hand side.” I remember when this would have been very challenging. Several years ago I learned to write in HTML in order to help a friend create a website for his home-based business. The task of creating, uploading, maintaining, and hosting multiple pages was huge in comparison with the ease that we can do the same using today’s technology. For example, Weebly will allow you to make multiple pages with tabs by simply clicking a few buttons. Other programs will do the same if you like their interface better.
ReplyDeleteAlso by using these tabs, you can avoid your other don’ts. These tabes will make the page less crowded, more easily navigable, and generally more user friendly. They will also help you keep your information to a minimum and organized according to the tab in which you place it.
I really liked your dos and don’ts list. When looking at a web page, the most important thing to me is organization. I don’t like feeling overwhelmed by the information. Using tabs really helps with this. I also think the media specialists needs to come back and try the links occasionally. It is really frustrating to me to click on a link and find a bunch of pages that aren’t available anymore. That is a waste of space on the web page, and it is a waste of time for whoever is trying to click on the links. No one likes to feel like they are wasting their time. Finally, I like the idea of not reinventing the wheel. Checking out other school media center web pages is a great way to get new ideas, and find possible solutions to problems with your own site.
ReplyDeleteSurfing media center web pages has become one of my favorite past times. At the start of my teaching career, I was fascinated with the different technologies that can be used in the classroom and have since become even more amazed by the opportunities web pages provide to media specialists. I often visit different web pages and bookmark my favorites (because I honestly can’t remember all of the sites!). I enjoy looking at the different resources and styles on every web page. I love your dos and don’ts and I think they should be a must when anyone develops a web page, media center, or not. Some web pages are extremely busy and over-crowded. When a web page is not user friendly, it discourages activity for both students and teachers. I agree that web pages should be clean, simple, and inviting. I also love the list of ideas you provided for media web pages. I never thought about including a recommended reading list for students (by grade-level or reading-level?), but I love it! Maybe you could even link a specific page (like a blog) where students can comment about books they’ve read, like a review!
ReplyDeleteWell done, Jennifer! Your blog was very well stated. I have seen several websites that committed a few of your don'ts. One of the worst had paragraphs on a white back ground with a colorful border. The paragraphs were just too much to read!
ReplyDeleteThe colors you choose for your website should complement each other and not clash. It would be terrible to have a wonderful layout and fabulous content if the colors offended the reader's eyes. I like the sites that use earth tones like muted blues, browns and reds.
Many of the sites I have explored so far have used school colors. This works well because usually the colors are complementary such as purple and yellow or blue and orange. Other sites have one main color paired with a neutral color such as white, brown or gray.
The other thing I liked about the sites I saw was the space. The more space between links and pictures, the more uncluttered the page felt. The space also made it easier to read the links to other pages.
I'm afraid that when I try my hand at creating a site, I'll forget all these wonderful tips trying to get as much info as possible on the page. We'll see soon enough!
Jennifer, you have some great recommendations for the web page. I think it is particularly important that the LMC web page have something that can be useful to the teacher or the student at home, such as links to research sites for the students and links to pathfinders for the teachers. I do not think that the site should just have the basic rules and procedures on the media center. It should serve the students and teachers by providing directed access to services.
ReplyDelete