[WEB4LIB] website training and review - what works?

[Hartman, Robin]

We have the same problem with the library being hard to find from our
institution's home page for much the same reason. What we have done is to
publish the *library's* homepage every chance we get--on every handout and
bookmark, every datedue slip, every email, announcement, or blurb. I have
not done any testing to determine whether this approach has been successful
but I feel better about it.

With regard to the second problem, I am getting ready to do some usability
testing on a small part of our library site, but haven't even settled on the
approach I'm going to take yet. So I'm not much help there.

Robin

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%
Robin R. Hartman -- Associate Librarian of Systems and Technical Services
Darling Library -- Hope International University
2500 E. Nutwood Ave. -- Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 879-3901, x1212 -- FAX (714) 879-1041
rhartman at hiu.edu


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carrie Phillips [mailto:phillipsc at bluffton.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 6:34 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] website training and review - what works?
> 
> 
> Greetings, WEB4LIB,
> 
> These questions are geared to those of you in academic 
> library settings...
> 
> Here's our situation:
> 
> Our campus has recently overhauled its website design and 
> architecture, and
> I've had to redesign the library portion of the campus site to match
> visually.  We're now hearing two-fold rumors about campus 
> that students are
> having trouble finding our library home page from the campus 
> home page, and
> that once they do find us, they are having trouble knowing 
> where to go to
> find what they need (research databases, etc.).
> 
> The first part is difficult to fix:  the new site's 
> architecture was set up,
> in the mind of the design firm, to appeal to the prospective 
> student, and
> the "meat" of the library's section of the campus site *is* 
> hard to find.
> We're not able change the architecture, so we need to educate 
> our users.  If
> any of you have been in this situation, what educational 
> methods work??  How
> do we get the word out?
> 
> The second part is easy to fix, since we have complete control of the
> library portion of the website architecture (once the patron 
> finds us on the
> campus site), but we're not sure how to fix it.  We'd like to 
> form both
> student and faculty focus groups to sit down with us and tell 
> us what they
> can find on our site and what they can't.  Have any of you 
> tried this?  Is
> it a good way to work this kind of a problem out?
> 
> We have a small campus of 1100 students and several faculty 
> members who I
> think would be interested in working with us on this.  I'm 
> hoping some of
> you can tell me what your past experiences have been with this kind of
> thing.
> 
> Thanks for your time.  Please reply to phillipsc at bluffton.edu.
> 
> --
> Carrie Phillips
> Computer Technician/ILL Assistant/O-PCIRC
> Musselman Library
> Bluffton College - BLC
> 280 W. College Ave., Ste. 4
> Bluffton, OH  45817
> Ph. 419.358.3275
> Fx. 419.358.3384
> phillipsc at bluffton.edu
>