[Web4lib] Website redesign--RFP dateline extended to December 15

[Claudia Lascar]

Biomedical and Life Sciences Division, Special Libraries Association (SLA) Web Site Redesign

The Biomedical and Life Sciences Division (DBIO) requests proposals for the revision and redesign of their existing website located at http://units.sla.org/division/dbio/. 

Please submit your proposal no later than December 15, 2006.

Website redesign project must be completed by June 30, 2007.

Our goals for the new web site redesign are to promote the Division’s image and services; increase membership; facilitate two way communication; encourage initial and return visits through improved usability and appeal; and capture the interest of our members and potential members by its format, ease of use, attractiveness, color, and identifiable logos. It is expected that the redesign will create an infrastructure that makes the site easier to maintain, to add new content and to make future improvements. The DBIO website is hosted by SLA, our parent organization.

With this website we wish to communicate that DBIO is part of SLA, the leading global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners.  DBIO supports information professionals who are working or interested in the life sciences and related disciplines, through education, advocacy and networking. DBIO Division needs to have its own identity separate from our parent organization (www.sla.org) while still maintaining a synergy in look and feel between the two.  The Medical Section serves as a forum for our members who are engaged or interested in health care. We want to personalize the Medical Section with a separate logo, and offer web content specific to this segment attributes, while maintaining consistency in “look and feel” throughout the entire DBIO site. 

Under the guidance of the DBIO Website redesign committee, the successful candidate will perform the following activities: 

Website redesign:

Designing the overall message and the appropriate “look and feel” to communicate visually with members and potential members:
•	Logos. Design two interconnected logos: the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division (DBIO) logo and the Medical Section logo with a relatively minimalist design, to indicate that the Medical Section is part of the DBIO.  These logos need to look professional, unique and appealing in conveying the slightly different subject focus, such as life sciences and medicine respectively of DBIO and the Medical Section. Also these logos need to be compatible with the SLA visual identity logo 
•	Layout. Enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of the existing content by creating a layout that will communicate our brand and purpose. The layout and overall design of the page should help the user to spot the various elements of the page intuitively.
•	Web interface aspects. Design a website that is not graphics-intensive that contains quick-loading, easily accessible pages, and is consistent throughout in font colors, terminology, layout, navigation and appearance.
•	Color. Use high-contrast text color combinations, high contrast panel color combinations, and plenty of white space to enhance readability in order to convey a professional and prestigious look to the website.
Functional Design: 
•	Navigation. Web site navigation should be apparent through each page by the use of a clear and intuitive menu system. Improve information architecture, categorization and labeling to achieve shorter, simpler tasks and greater cross-site consistency.
•	Interactivity.  Each web page should display a permanent menu that contains the following subject headings: DBIO Home, Medical Section Home, SLA Home, Contact Us, Join, and Feedback. Feedback is a form/ pop up menu which users can use to respond to a poll (How would you rate this page? or anything else we might need to know). This permanent menu also should include a full-text search feature with relevancy sorting, and a site map with auto-change indexing/ updating.
Standards and Guidelines:
•	All web pages will comply with SLA guidelines and standards. The SLA Web Site Style Guide will be provided upon request. All web pages will comply also to web accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with exceptions where it would be cost –prohibitive. 
Web Programming and Scripting Languages:
•	Design templates, interactive forms, and CGI files as needed.  It is mandatory to code in one of two the programming languages ASP or Cold Fusion. 
•	Make it dramatically easier for us to add pages and manage page content using the web authoring tool Macromedia Dreamweaver (highly recommended but not mandatory). You will be assigned a password-protected space on the network.
Testing and Validation:
•	Develop and test prototypes with multiple graphical browsers, and on different platforms (Mac, PC, and UNIX).  Ensure accurate HTML code. 

Required Qualifications:

1.	Knowledge in site design, architecture, good navigation methodologies, search engine optimization and maintenance.
2.	Demonstrated initiative and creativity in planning and facilitating projects
3.	Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Send proposals, including: a cover letter addressing the required qualifications as well as what the applicant can do to enhance the DBIO Web site; a resume/ portfolio demonstrating the applicant's Web publishing abilities; a list of references from most recent projects, and a bid for services to be provided.  Send Proposals via e-mail (attachments are acceptable) with the Subject line: DBIO WEB SITE REDESIGN APPLICATION to Claudia Lascar at clascar at ccny.cuny.edu, no later than December 15, 2006. You will be notified of our decision in January, 2006. 

PLEASE NOTE: Dependent on caliber of design offered, budgetary constraints of the organization restrict the DBIO Web site redesign bid range to $1,000 to $5,000 U.S. dollars for the one-time 2007 redesign.

For more information about the DBIO Web site or the application process, please contact 

Claudia Lascar, MPA, MSLIS, AHIP 
Assistant Professor/ Reference Librarian 
City College of New York 
Science-Engineering Library 
Marshak Building, Room J29 
138th Street at Convent Avenue 
New York, NY 10031 
Voice:  212 650-6826 
Fax:    212 650-7626 
E-mail: clascar at ccny.cuny.edu

Rev. November 5, 2006,