WWW Announcement: Northwestern U, Galter Library

[Daniel Barkey]

Press release: Northwestern’s New Electronic Library for the Health
Sciences

We are pleased to announce the newly ‘renovated’, electronic Galter
Health Sciences Library of Northwestern University.  The URL is:
http://galter.ghsl.nwu.edu.  This renovated electronic library follows
closely on the dedication ceremonies (August 29, 1996) marking the
completion of the Galter Library’s physical renovation and expansion.

The purposes for renovating the electronic library are similar to those
addressed in a physical renovation: need for more efficient use of
space, to implement the latest in current technologies, and to ‘spif up’
the ambience so as to make the electronic library more inviting for its
users.

The most prominent feature of the new web page is the use of Java
scripts to organize resources by a small number of categories with
pull-down menus for displaying individual resources.  From the home
page, users link directly to their resource of choice, thereby saving
time and avoiding convoluted menus and hierarchies.  Explanations and
background information are kept more in the background to be brought
forward by a user when needed.

Another special feature of the reorganization is the direct link to
HealthWeb, a collaborative project of the CIC health sciences
libraries.  In the old electronic library, electronic resources for
education, research and clinical care were separate categories.  In the
new version, users go directly to HealthWeb, select their subject
discipline and find the best of the web’s education, research and
clinical care resources on the discipline’s page.

A hallmark of the old, electronic Galter Library was its lack of fancy
graphics and time-consuming images.  This lack of glitz is maintained in
the new library.  Images are there for those who want to see them;
otherwise, the simplicity of the design is intended to help Northwestern
users find their needed information quickly and efficiently.

Other features include a Suggestion Box, maps of the new library, a
library tour including Quicktime VR with low resolution photographs of
the library’s new environment.  Plans for the future include: a redesign
of Dollie’s Corner, the library’s electronic leisure reading collection
named in honor of the library’s benefactor; high resolution images; and
interactive forms for requesting services.

We invite you to examine our work and tell us what you think.  We look
forward to hearing from you!

James Shedlock, Director
Dan Barkey, Head of Infomration Systems