Trend in library web site design?

[Brian Warling]

At the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management, we just completed
a major redesign of our web site -- GALEN II (we actually prefer to call it
our "digital library"). You can find it at http://www.library.ucsf.edu/.
The previous incarnation of GALEN II incorporated this "tips of the
iceberg" (TOTI) approach that Eric Rumsey mentioned. I don't know if I
would call this a new trend -- I've seen it around for quite some time. For
the new GALEN II, we decided (after much discussion and debate) to abandon
this model in our home page design. We like to think that GALEN II is a
very rich information resource. We link to a great deal of vital biomedical
information resources, and we also serve up some pretty important stuff
ourselves (e.g., Tobacco Control Archives, Cigarette Papers, Investigators'
Handbook, evaluated/selected Internet resources). When we did use this TOTI
approach, we found it difficult to determine where to draw the line -- what
is "important" enough to include on the home page and what should be listed
on the page that the "more" link goes to? This was a constant struggle,
especially as more and more resources became available. We decided to opt
for a simpler home page that provided fewer links. But at the same time we
also wanted to make it as straightforward as possible to locate information
on the site. We therefore spent a great deal of time creating a site map,
redesigning the search engine, and rearchitecting the navigational
strategy. We also utilized the services of a professional graphic designer.
As the manager of the site, I was particularly interested in enhancing the
maintainability of the site. We now utilize server-side includes to serve
standard page elements. We flattened the directory structure -- there are
now fewer levels to maneuver through. This makes it easier (we hope) to use
GALEN II  -- it definitely makes it easier to manage the site, which I
believe can only improve it. How well did we succeed? So far, the response
has been positive. We are planning a more rigorous evaluation in the
future. I'm sure we can do better.

While I have everyone's ears, I'll also use this as an opportunity to
mention my library web site philosophy. If you look at GALEN II, I think
you'll notice that we have de-emphasized information on services that occur
in the library building (although it is our hope that this information can
still be easily found when desired). Our goal here is to build a digital
library that "complements" our paper library. The long term goal is that
the digital library will one day supplant the paper library in terms of
importance and access. We simply don't want our web site to replicate what
occurs in the building. GALEN II's primary mission is to link users to
actual digital information resources -- databases and databanks, expert
systems, electronic publications, and staff expertise (e.g., consulting
help, online reference questions). I think we need to broaden our view of
what a library web site is. I would hope that we all could start developing
"digital libraries" (or whatever term you prefer) and get away from
building simple "library web sites". Actually, most of us are already
creating digital libraries.

I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on this topic. Thanks for
listening. -- Brian

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| Brian Warling - Manager, Digital Library Operations
| UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management
| San Francisco, CA 94143-0840  (voice) 415-476-3308  (fax) 415-476-4653
| Email: warling at library.ucsf.edu ** WWW: http://www.library.ucsf.edu