managing academic library websites

[Sarah Hood]

Cary:

I totally agree with you that librarians should handle their own web
sites, at least for small colleges where it's more feasible. I am a
reference librarian/novice webmaster for my small, 4 year, liberal arts
women's college and I can't imagine having to relay updates, etc. to
another individual who may or may not have the library's priorities in
mind. 

One of the first things I think of when contemplating what the loss of
control of web updates and maintenance means is: DATABASES. During the
first week of January, academic libraries in the state of South Carolina
will be receiving a new 'free' (SC Lottery $$) package of databases from
a group called PASCAL. Well, the second week of January is when classes
start. I know I will need to get those databases added to my web site
very quickly. I pale at the thought of having to hand that task over to
someone else who may or may not do it in a timely manner. I'm sure your
IT folks are very prompt people, but we all know what can happen when
you have to depend on someone else for something so important. 

So, what to do? How to convince the higher ups who made this great
choice of giving control of your library's web site to someone else that
this may not be the best idea? Document, document, document. Try to come
up with concrete reasons (that you can put on paper) that you can show
these folks. In fact, maybe responses that you get from this list that
are supportive of you retaining control might be good. [After all, we -
the folks on this listserv - are professionals and know what we're
talking about....right?! :-)] 

Here at my college, we only have a small handful of graduate studcents.
But I imagine at your library, since your school is a graduate school,
you and your staff probably get some very intense, complex and
time-sensitive patron inquiries. I can definitely see how having control
over updates to the library's web site is an absolute must. 

Best of luck. 
Sarah Hood