[Web4lib] Design Considerations for Library Website

[Hogue Melanie]

I took on the recoding of our library's website in 2002, as an entry level reference professional and ended up being the chair(among other duties) of a committee of content editors and program managers who provide continual front-line input about what works and what doesn't. I cheered when I read Michael Schofield's point number 1:

		1) Most library home pages are much too dense. I have worked on a few
		sites that started as elegant designs, then became unusable as more
		committees got involved.
		
		1a) Lesson from 1: Committees are fine, but it helps to have a single
		person at the top who will guard the flame.

 . . . because we made this mistake. Our front page still contains a lot of links via javascript; but I finally convinced our directors after some years of watching the problems develop that we should not put front page content "below the fold." Now I "guard the flame!"
 
I would also add to Michael's overall coments:
 
With funding becoming a common limiter, especially in public libraries, unusual combinations of internal talent from various departments are being harnessed to come up with a process that works without maintaining a separate staff for its "virtual branch". For us, the cheapest alternative (hosted, seldom redesigned, and therefore inflexible) would never result in a particularly bountiful experience for users; but creativity and open-minded scheduling of willing and talented professionals by their supervisors and the directors can overcome mediocrity and, for us, has caused the evolution of a site that our patrons are happy to use. 
 
I heard of a book that is being written for the LITA Tech Set series about website admin and design. I hope they include lots of case-studies highlighting a number of different successful admin methods.
 
Melanie Amy Hogue
Manager of Online Resources & Reports
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library
http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov 
423-757-5114