Media center Websites
Do’s
*Do update
content regularly
* Do include
contact information
*Do ask for
feedback from students, parents, teachers, other media specialists, and
administrators
*Do have interactive
components
*Do take
into consideration audience and purpose
Don’ts
*Don’t leave
broken or outdated links
*Don’t make
it too cumbersome to navigate
*Don’t make
the fonts too big or too small.
*Don’t fill
it with distracting bells and whistles
*Don’t leave
out important links and information
Content that should be included
First a media
center’s website purpose is to provide a point of contact for the media center;
it should contain information that informs all stakeholders. Students and
teachers need access to online subscriptions, catalog search tools,
pathfinders, how to guides for technology, and research; assignment help tools
like MLA formatting, how to create a Prezi , and how to use Moviemaker; media
center information like rules, policies, promotion videos of past and upcoming
events; links to online grades, Cloud
storage, Moodle, Edmondo, and teacher
websites; quick links to sites that
teachers use during instruction like Quia and Maps101; online test prep sites
like USA Tetsprep and Smoop.
Should we dump the plain
old webpages?
Yes, I think that we should dump plain old webpages in favor
of a blog, wiki, or Libguide. Part of
the job of a media specialist is to promote technology. What better way to
highlight new and exciting technology that by using it to help students and
teachers navigates media center information and available resources. It also
encourages media specialists to not only keep up with new technology, but it forces
them to actively use the technology.
Inspiring Media Center Websites
I am in the process of revamping our school media center
website and was energized and encouraged after looking at many excellent examples.
I particularly like the way Creekview High School in Canton, GA uses Libguides
as a platform for all of her information and resources. I also like the interactivity
of North Elementary in Noblesville, IN; Carl Harvey utilizes symmetrical images
and limited text to efficiently navigate resources and information.
Resources
Creekview
High School Media Center (2102). Retrieved from http://www.cherokee.k12.ga.us/Schools/creekview-hs/media_center/default.aspx
Jurkowski, O. L. (2010). Technology and the school
library: A comprehensive guide for media specialists and other educators. Lanham, Maryland:
Scarecrow Press.
North
Elementary Media Center (2012).Retrieved from http://north-lmc.nes.noblesville.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/integrated_home.phtml?gid=1613599&sessionid=8bb2783ab722bf08edb7708e97e00049&t=
Media center website should not be limited to text information, but used as a teaching tool as you noted. Using the website as support and guides to help users navigate and use internet tools is a overlooked portion of school media center website. Also, include links to the local library as well, because learning is a community effort and not limited to the school. Also encourage the teachers to take part in the update, by having them create their own wiki’s or site to disseminate information to the class/parents/ students.
ReplyDeleteDenise,
ReplyDeleteThe list of do's and don'ts, I have seen on a couple of other blogs, but the best part of your post were the last 3 sections, including the list of content ideas that could be included, and those great pages at Creekview and North Elementary. I got really absorbed after linking into those...their webpages, as I think good webpages should, kept me linking around to all of the good places they had recommended.
At North, however, a lot of the information was dated 2010. This guy won Media Program of the year, as did the LMS at Creekview, and a lot of his links were dead, and stuff out dated. This should give us all hope, and remind us that we are human, life happens in the media center, and our webpages may get a little dusty from time to time, even the really good ones.
Did you see the grade level blogs? really cool. The first graders all commented on ways to make a given number. Simple, but integrating technology in an age appropriate manner.
And my goodness, that virtual tour at Creekview made me want to go up there to Canton...tomorrow. Both of these examples of great media pages were inspiring.
Thanks for pointing them out. Good blog.
Denise,
ReplyDeleteI have to say that while the pages you pointed out were inspiring, I was also inspired by your post. I think you make a brilliant point when you say that we as media specialists need to be the ones using new technology in order to promote others into using it. If we use "plain" websites, why should we expect anything more from other people in the school. By trying new and exciting things on our own sites, we can encourage other people in our schools and districts to do the same.
Denise, you did a wonderful job explaining how to create a website for the media center. I really like how you stated the do's and dont's for creating one. These are very important. Creators definitely want their website to be easy to navigate through, user friendly, and provide information that will be beneficial and not over crowd your website with pictures and irrelevant information. I also like how you recommended other websites to look at it as guides I guess you would say. You did a good job with this blog. well done!
ReplyDeleteYou made an excellent point about using feedback from students, teachers, parents, etc. I had not even though of this, but it makes so much sense. Students and teachers especially can tell you exactly what they will use or not. If students and teachers report they do not like or use an aspect of the website then why waste time updating this portion of the page? Instead spend your time wisely by creating and using aspects of the site that students and teachers will actually use. I also like your tip of not including broken links and pages. It is important to regularly visit your site and check that links are still active and working. If not, it is time to update or remove them. If a site includes many broken links it is very annoying and can lead less people to want to use the site. It also takes away from the creditability of the site. Part of maintain a webpage is regularly checking for things like broken links so that your page is always up to date.
ReplyDelete