I have spent a fair amount of time looking at school library websites. During a previous LIBE course I had to research and comment on two library sites that I enjoyed. I spent about four hours looking at library sites trying to find two that appealed to me. While I can't remeber the websites that I found (If I had kept my comments in a blog I would be able to find them easily) I do remember what I found makes a good website.
My top 3 website criteria
1) Layout is appealing - not too many things on the screen, use of colour schemes
2) User friendly - easy to navigate!
3) Current- updates are done on a regular basis and few broken links
These sites talks about the best practices in school library website design
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/969
http://www.alia.org.au/~rhorton/library/index.htm
I like the rules that have been listed for wesite design.
1) Content is king! (Or queen.) Without books there is no library; without content there is no website.
2)Organize your content logically, and make your visual design reflect that organization — just like the stacks in a library.
3) Provide clear and consistent navigation (like the card catalog).
4) Label everything clearly — be literal, not cute. (The Dewey Decimal System isn’t metaphorical. Don’t you be, either.)
5) Use images, audio, and animations only when necessary, and always provide alternate content.
6) Keep your design clean and simple. Use a minimum of fonts (no more than two per page) and colors. More will distract from the content.
Listing of School Library Websites
http://www.school-libraries.net/
Here is my reviews of three library websites
Scotch College Library and Information Center
Upon first glance of the Scotch College web site I was impressed. The web designer who created this webpage has spent a lot of time on its development. The main page provides links to other pages, but it is not overwhelming. It is a collage of text and clip art that allows users to quickly identify what they need. The site contains what you would expect from a library web page; links to aid research projects, links for teachers and the ability to search the school’s library collection. It also contained a link to the school library blog, which is increasingly found on school library web pages.Students visiting this site have direct links to a handful of useful websites including Ebsco Host, Britannica Online. Under the literature tab there is links that showcase the many programs and celebrations that the library hosts. Of noteworthy notice is the Scotch Literature festival that provides students with the opportunity to hear speakers who come from all walks of life on a variety of topics including this year’s workshops “Building Character” and “So this is like where English is heading.” The school also hosts a Literary and Debating group. In particular I liked the opportunities that are provided to the students. Unlike many libraries in the district that I work in where they are only used as a place to sign out books. It appears that the library at Scotch College is used as the hub of the school with various programs offered to the students to enhance their experience. I don’t feel that there is anything that I did not like as it far supersedes any other school library site that I have seen.
North Elementary School
This website is a bit overwhelming at first glance. Every link is provided on the main page and they are mainly text with no icons it is visually unappealing. Aside from the design the web page did contain some useful information. Located on the main page of the website were grade level resource tabs. Users clicking on a grade level tab are provide with a list of links and information that are specific to their age level.I was impressed by the links that were available to teachers. Under the link planning resources teachers have the ability to see links that that are available to plan unit and to see what corresponding books are available in the North Elementary School library catalog. Another link was the teaching books.net link. It provides online resources for teachers and students to learn more about authors and resources for exploring children’s literature.Suggestions that I would offer to create a more user friendly website would be to limit the amount of links that are offered on the main library web page. Instead the links could appear if a topic was highlighted. As this is an Elementary site I believe that it needs to contain more icons that help users quickly identify what they want. Icons also create a visually appealing website.
Byng Secondary Library
What can be said about this website. I spend a few minutes looking for the link to the library website and then I realized there was no link and this was the library website. For a High School Library website I would have expected a lot more. I could list everything that is missing, but there is nothing that is noteworthy and the lack of effort and maintenance on this site is clearly evident. Much limited comments equal the amount of content on the Byng Secondary Library site.
