[Web4lib] Web Design and Construction for Libraries Web-based Courses

Fri Jun 20 12:11:52 EDT 2008

Designing Web Sites for Academic Libraries, Part 1

An ACRL Online Seminar
July 14 - August 8, 2008

Registration is now open!

(Registered participants, log into Moodle here. Trouble accessing 
Moodle? Contact Jon Stahler at jstahler at ala.org.)

Course Description:
This course focuses on the basics of Web site planning and design and 
content development with a concentration on academic libraries. The 
course will also examine Web standards, usability, and accessibility. 
XHTML and CSS (external) will be introduced. Students will be 
expected to be able to create a basic HTML Web page before beginning 
the course. However XHTML/HTML basics tutorials will be provided for 
those who need more practice. Students will plan and design a 
representative site during the course.

Designing Web Sites for Academic Libraries, Part 1. is a primarily 
asynchronous seminar, allowing participants to work through course 
material at times convenient to them throughout the week. 
Participants may also choose to schedule online chat time with the 
teacher, as they feel necessary. Specific material and activities are 
expected to be covered during each week of the course. Threaded 
discussion forums will be available for use in activities and other 
course-related conversations.

Weekly Schedule

         * Week 1: User Centered Design: Needs Assessment and Design Planning
         * Week 2: Review of HTML/XHTML and CSS Standards
         * Week 3: Creating Draft Organizer Page
         * Week 4: Final Project: Validating XHTML, CSS (External), 
and Accessibility Standards

This seminar will be delivered through Moodle.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, you will be able to:

     * Understand and apply Web Standards
     * Plan and design a Web site for Usability and Accessibility for 
selected users/groups.
     * Develop basic Web site contents for selected users/groups.
     * Use DreamWeaver or a text editor (MX2004 or higher preferred) 
to create usable, accessible, and interesting Web pages. You may use 
FrontPage if you already know what you are doing with it.

Participants will end the session with a completed Web site plan, 
design, and a main Web page illustrating how the design will be 
implemented and will allow for minimal usability and accessibility 
testing. These pages will also be validated XHTML with external CSS.

Course Materials:
All of the required readings and activities for the course will be 
available on-line but it will be useful to have available the 
references in the Recommended Materials listed below.

     * Graph Paper for laying out CSS design.
     * Freeman, Elizabeth and Eric (2005). * Head First HTML with CSS 
& XHTML. O'Reilly. ISBN: 0-596-10197-X
     * Niederst, Jennifer (2006). Web Design in a Nutshell , 3rd Ed. 
O'Reilly. ISBN: 0-596-00987-9
     * Meyer, Eric (2007). CSS Pocket Reference, 3rd. Ed. O'Reilly. 
ISBN 10: 0-596-51505-7 | ISBN 13:9780596515058 (9.99 list price)
     * Bickner, Carrie. (2004) Web Design on a Shoestring. New Riders 
Publishing: Boston ISBN 0-7357-1328-6
     * Donald Norman (1988). The Design of Everyday Things. Basic 
Books ISBN: 0-385-26774-6
     * Jennifer Niederst (2006). Web Design in a Nutshell , 3rd Ed. 
O'Reilly. ISBN: 0-596-00987-9

*Strongly recommended for those students who come to class with no 
HTML experience.

Audience:
Librarians and other information specialists who want to learn to 
design usable, accessible, standard Web pages that will attract the 
intended users and encourage and invite them to persist and return to 
the site.

Experience working with the academic library patrons in any subject 
area chosen is assumed. Level of instruction is intermediate in 
regard to academic library experience, beginner in regard to 
XHTML/CSS and Web design experience.

Participants must understand paths -- directories or folders and 
where files are saved -- in a Windows or Mac OS environment. FTP or 
other experience uploading Web pages to a Web server will be 
expected. Some basic assistance will be provided.

Instructor:
Diane Kovacs, Kovacs Consulting

The instructor has been teaching Web Design and related topics for 
more than 14 years including LIS590LWL Designing Web Sites for 
Organizations for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
GSLIS LEEP program. She is the author of The Kovacs Guide to 
Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject 
Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines (Neal-Schuman, 
January 2004) and The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and 
Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environments 
by Kovacs, Diane K. Neal-Schuman Publishers (2007) published 
concurrently in the United Kingdom by Facet Publishers (2007)

More information on Diane Kovacs

Course Requirements:
Your participation will require approximately three to five hours per week to:

     * Read the online seminar material
     * Post to online discussion boards
     * Complete activities, which will result in a basic draft 
academic library oriented Web site
     * Complete a seminar evaluation form

Registration
ACRL member: $150
ALA member: $195
CACUL member: Can $205 (charges will be made in U.S. dollars)
Nonmember: $205
Student: $65

or

1. Web Design & Construction for Libraries Part 1: XHTML and CSS (beginners)
Syllabus at http://kovacs.com/webdesignpart1.html

Self-paced registration http://kovacs.com/register.html Tuition $225

2. Web Design & Construction for Libraries Part 2: CSS and Javascript 
(intermediate)
Pre-Requisite Web Design & Construction Part 1: First Steps Toward 
Library 2.0 (beginners) or the consent of the Instructor. Consent of 
the instructor will require proof of a completed xhtml standard CSS 
external page with CSS and XHTML validated icons on it that work.
Syllabus at http://kovacs.com/webdesignpart1.html Self-paced 
registration http://kovacs.com/register.html Tuition $225
-- 
Diane K. Kovacs, Instructor
LIS590lwl Web Design and Construction for Organizations - UIUC GSLIS 
Summer 2008
http://courses.lis.uiuc.edu/course/view.php?id=446
diane at kovacs.com or diane.kovacs at gmail.com
AIM & Yahoo:  SaintsMrsDi - MSN - diane at kovacs.com - GTalk - 
diane.kovacs at gmail.com