[WEB4LIB] Database driven site design

[Kristin Antelman]

Marc Davis wrote:

> We are actively working on transitioning our web site from static HTML
> pages to database generated pages.  [...]

> Are there important considerations regarding
> the structure of databases to be used on websites (as opposed to other
> uses)?  Anyone have any useful advice/experiences/comments?

The main thing we discovered in doing a project like this is that there needs
to be a lot of back and forth between database design and the web display
prototyping (to get things to display the way you want on the web often means
having to tweak the database and add things).  Having the project done as part
of a site-wide redesign is helpful because it provides the context of upheaval
that allows for a lot of experimentation on both the database and web design
sides.

Other than that, I think standard navigation considerations apply.  Except
having the information database-driven really opens up new possibilities for
navigation that may have been dismissed as unfeasible before.

> I'd be particularly interested in web sites, books, articles, etc.,
> discussing this.

"Information Architecture" (Rosenfeld, Morville) is useful on navigation
topics.  "Choosing a Database for your Web Site" (Ashenfelter) is useful for
basic database design and tools.

-Kristin

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Kristin Antelman
Head, System & Networking
Arizona Health Sciences Library
The University of Arizona
1501 N. Campbell Ave.                kaa at ahsl.arizona.edu
Tucson, AZ 85724-5079                (520) 626-1004