Internal Home Pages

[Andrew Mutch]

Daniel,

I think John's info. on the web provides a good overview of what libraries provide
on their internal pages.  I've been a fan of the internal pages and have advocated
for them in past discussions here. I believe that it is impossible for a "home"
page to be all things to all people. So why try to do it? Instead, create distinct
pages for the audience you are serving.

On our in-house Internet page, you'll find these links that are not on our
"external" home page:

* Popular search engines and directories
* Free e-mail services
* A help page explaining how to configure the browser to display foreign character
sets
* Local news and weather resources

These items were included based on our patrons use of the Internet workstations.
Our "portal" page helps guide patrons to those resources that they use most often.

On our home page, you'll find these items that are not on our portal page:

* Library Catalog (not needed on an internal page as we have many dedicated OPACs
available for that use)
* Remote Access to online databases (databases are available on other workstations
in the library)
* Highlights of current library programs and events (sometimes these get on the
portal page too but the focus is for external visitors)
* Library address and phone number (if you're there, do you really need to see it?)

If we had tried to provide all of these items on a single page, the final product
probably wouldn't have fully met the needs of anyone.  We either would have had to
leave out some important element or overwhelmed the patron with a lot of
unnecessary information.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI


Daniel Messer wrote:

> John Kupersmith wrote:
>
> > I agree with Daniel that balance is important and functionality comes
> > first, but I also think images on a library's home page can be more than
> > just PR fluff.  A photo of people interacting with the library in a
> > positive way - especially if it's well coordinated with the other content
> > of the page - can help to model behavior, reduce anxiety, and encourage
> > return visits.  Given the state of signage on some campuses, I suppose even
> > a photo of the building could serve a purpose in helping people find it!
>
>     I completely agree, and that serves well my aforementioned balance of good
> looks and functionality. A photo of people interacting in the library would be
> great PR. More useful would be your suggestion of a picture of the building
> because signage on many campuses is woefully lacking. To many, even the
> academics, the library is just another building. A special one perhaps, but
> *they* know where it is so *everybody* should know where it is. If they wanted
> to get the best of both worlds, and have a little fun, they could install a
> live webcam with a caption something like "What the library looks like right
> now!" :)
>
> > For what it's worth, a study of 29 academic library home pages in November
> > 2000 showed that 19 of them (66%) were using some kind of photo on the
> > page.  The photo subjects were: 11 buildings; 2 landscapes; 2
> > building/people/computers; 1 people; 1 people/books/computers; 1
> > computer/book; and 1 photo related to a news item.
> >
> > Oddly (IMHO), out of 22 public library home pages, only 8 (36%) had
> > photos.  The subject were: 5 buildings; 2 people/building; 1 people/books.
>
>     That makes some sense. I've noticed that universities are always willing to
> put pictures of happy and studious students (say that five times fast) anywhere
> they can on their pages. And that's fine. Like you said, it's a good idea to
> put a picture of the building on the page, not just for aesthetic purposes, but
> because someone might need to know what the heck it looks like so they can find
> it!
>     The discrepancy between public and academic library pages and their use of
> pictures surprises me. We have pictures of our libraries on our web page, but
> you have to dig for them a little. We did this so folks knew what the library
> looked like and because we're proud of our buildings. Granted, we don't have
> buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright or anything, but they're nice. I seem
> to remember public libraries having some difficulties with displaying pictures
> of people on the web. Usually it had something to do with the people in the
> pics not wanting to be displayed on the web.
>
> > In both groups of libraries, photos were much less common on home pages
> > used for in-house public Internet stations (academic 35%, public 6%) and
> > for staff computers (academic 40%, public 8%).
>
>     This is something I've never thought of. How many libraries use a separate
> page for their Internet terminals and PCs? We have it set up that, when a
> patron sits down to the Internet, the first thing they see is our home page. No
> differences at all.
> What do libraries put on these separate pages?
>
> --
> Mondai wa
> The subject in question...
> -------
> Daniel Messer, Technology Instructor
> Yakima Valley Regional Library
> 102 N 3rd St Yakima, WA 98901
> (509) 452-8541 x712
> dmesser at yvrls.lib.wa.us
> -------
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
>                      -Hunter S. Thompson