Blog 3: media center web pages
A school library’s webpage is essential. Nearly 90% of
school libraries have websites that are maintained by the media specialist
(Jurkowski 2010). A library’s webpage is a great tool to provide vital information
about the library program. Such information might include library policies,
mission statements, access to library databases, library news, book
information, and a calendar. A library webpage might also contain spaces for
students or parents to submit input, such as book reviews. A library webpage can also provide a space
for teachers to access and share resources that correlate with curriculum
standards.
While
information that may be featured on a library website may vary, it is important
to follow some guidelines to make the webpage useable and attractive to library
users. First, you must identify your target audience and what you wish to
accomplish with your webpage. This will help you determine the type of
information you will put up on your webpage. Next, you need to make sure that
the webpage is designed in a way that will keep users interested and coming
back. You never want your webpage to be too wordy, so you need to make sure to
have information organized in short paragraphs or bulleted lists. Display
information in graphs and provide colorful, eye catching links! Use different
fonts for different information, and be bold with your design options (Warlick,
2005).
Once
you’ve spent all of your time designing a website that is both eye catching and
provides relevant information, you want to make sure you advertise. A media center
webpage should always be linked to the school webpage, and advertise on library
handouts and business cards. Ask for teachers’ help too and ask that they link
the library webpage from their own pages (Warlick, 2005).
Regardless
of what is provided on a library webpage or how it is organized, it needs to be
designed with the students in mind! I believe that a library webpage should be
interactive and incorporate student, parent, and teacher input. A library
webpage should be a place to go that provides information not only about the
library, but about books and curriculum resources, while also providing for an
opportunity to express a love a reading! Through my readings and exploration of
library webpages, I’ve compiled a quick list of “Do’s and Don’ts” for creating
a library webpage.
Definite Do’s
Do advertise your LMC website!
Do make your website eye catching!
Do provide relevant information!
Do solicit input in a variety of ways!
Do be user friendly!
Definite Don’ts
Don’t be boring and irrelevant!
Don’t be wordy!
Don’t provide links that don’t work!
Don’t have a page that is too busy!!!
Don’t provide a website that has no interaction
opportunities!
References
Jurkowski, O. L. (2010). Technology and the school
library: A comprehensive guide for media specialists and other educators.
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.
Warlick, D. (2005). Building websites that work for your
media center. Knowledge Quest, 33(3), 13-16. Retrieved from
http://medt7477fall2012.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf
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ReplyDeleteGreat summary on do's and don'ts for web pages. I especially like three of your comments.
ReplyDelete#1 - Don't be wordy. You've modeled that for us but it really is important. I am an avid reader yet I have immediately skipped over pages when one glance told me I would have to read through several paragraphs to find the important information. Imagine how much more a student, especially one with weaker reading skills, would view the page!
#2 - Make it useable and attractive. I think it would be ideal to have a general use page and then have ones that are more specific to different groups. So if it was an elementary page, make one version for younger grades and a different one for the older grades. There is a huge difference in maturity between 1st and 5th graders! Also, I think media specialists should try to offer a faculty version as well. If it can be password protected, that would be even better, but it could offer more ideas for collaboration between the media specialist and the classroom teacher.
#3 - Advertise the site. Have a link posted on the school's main website, preferably from its home page. Also, create a shortened URL using bit.ly or similar tool to make it easy for the users to navigate. (This is especially helpful if you have to be creative in the original address because other schools have a similar name to yours.) Then post that address on marketing materials. You might also consider making a QR code for your website so that users can point and click to get to the webpage.
In any kind of writing/publishing, it is always important to identify your audience. This is especially important for a library media specialist to do when creating a web page. For example, a high school library media center web page is going to be structured a little more complex along with links to research web sites and citation machines. Elementary web pages need to focus on reading for fun and showing kids safe places to surf the Internet. To me, there also needs to be a place where teachers can go and browse pathfinders, lesson plan/curriculum web pages, forums, etc.
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