[Web4lib] city swallows library website

Wed May 2 20:36:10 EDT 2007

However you sort out the city Web presence versus the library's, fight for a
usable domain and URL regimen.

Under the administration of the previous government of Michigan,

1) The Library of Michigan was placed into a new department of History,
Arts, and Libraries.

2) The state Web presence was outsourced to IBM, which then
hosted Michigan state government content in Colorado.

3) IBM consultants chose a content management system (Vignette I believe),
and all state agencies were folded into a Michigan.gov domain, with URLs
generated by the CMS...

The CMS, at least as implemented in this case, generates HORRIBLE URLs.  The
URL for the home page for the Library of Michigan, comes up as this:

http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19270---,00.html

That's the URL for the *home page* of the Library of Michigan.  Try giving
that out on the radio or on a business card.

Here is the memorable, hardly-radio-friendly, and utterly indistinguishable
by human eyes, URL for the news from the State Librarian:

http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19270_29769---,00.html

Michigan and the Midwest face a pest, the Emerald Ash Borer, that threatens
to kill all our ash trees.   An official brochure from the state Dept of
Agriculture advised people to go to Michigan.gov and search for that pest by
name.  Why?  Because the URL would not have fit in the brochure, and no
human could transcribe it into the address bar.

Whatever you fight for in terms of content control, fight for citable URLs.
Why not libraryofmichigan.org?

/rich

On 5/2/07, Houghton-Jan, Sarah <houghton-jan at smcl.org> wrote:
> You may also want to check out my article, unfortunately not available
> online for free, "I've Been Framed! Designing a Library Web Site Within
> a Government Frame" in Computers in Libraries  25(6)(June 2005): 6-8,
> 48.  It discusses strategies when you're put in this unenviable
> situation, as I was in my last position.
>
> Best,
> Sarah Houghton-Jan
> LibrarianInBlack.net
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Louise Alcorn
> Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 3:21 PM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: RE: [Web4lib] city swallows library website
>
> Hi Michele. In response to your email below:
>
> Our (public, municipal) library had a website before the City did.  When
> the City decided to launch something, I made sure the library (me, as it
> happens) was involved fully at every step, including a major redesign a
> couple of years later.
>
> That said, when recently we were offered money by our Friends (who were
> looking for a project to fund) to revamp our Library website, we jumped
> at the chance.  With some limitations - we immediately spoke to our city
> manager, who is very tech-hungry and hates to pass up free money to
> enhance the city.  He agreed that we could go ahead with a new 'look and
> feel' for the library as long as 1) it continued to link back to the
> City's website(s), so it was still clear the library was a city dept and
> 2) when the city found money to revamp, we'd share the design specs and
> thus be the 'cart that drove the horse'.  Our design is finished, though
> not yet 'live' (about 2 weeks, I hope!).  If you go to our website -
> www.wdmlibrary.org - you can see a 'teaser' of the new site in an image
> on the front page.  The city is already moving toward a (probably
> simpler) version of our design, working with the same web design company
> (we've been working with them since 1999).
>
> Another note:  You do NOT have to give up your library.org domain, even
> if you merge with the city site.  There is NO reason the domain can't
> point to a Library *section* of a larger City site - push for a separate
> section that can be managed independently.  Get other city departments
> (who want the same thing) on your side.  You still have to explain to
> the Power that Be why the library is important (something we all
> struggle with every day), and in particular why a library Web presence
> is so essential (information provision is our business, we are a
> community info hub, etc.).
>
> Be present at EVERY meeting related to website design.  If there's a
> committee created in the city, be on it!  I ended up -running- the
> committee during the last major redesign, and was just in a meeting on
> Monday where another dept asked my help, **as an information
> professional** on ideas for their new website design.  Get your
> name/face/professional expertise out there, and the library can benefit.
>
>
> Those are my general thoughts from both past and VERY present
> experience.  I'm happy to share more off-list if it would help you.
>
> Best,
> Louise
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> Louise E. Alcorn
> Reference Technology Librarian
> West Des Moines Public Library
> 4000 Mills Civic Pkwy
> West Des Moines IA 50265
> (515) 222-3573      louise.alcorn at wdm-ia.com
> http://www.wdmlibrary.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Michele Hampshire
> Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 12:33 PM
> To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: RE: [Web4lib] city swallows library website
>
> I appreciate all the comments; thanks. I do think that when a city
> redesigns its website and incorporates the library site into that, there
> are ways to make it work.  I can see that one way to approach it is to
> ensure that the Library content is prominent; I wonder, though, if there
> are any public librarians on this list who have been involved in such a
> process and could offer some practical advice.
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