library 404 pages

Fri Nov 9 08:50:05 EST 2012

Going off of what Anne said, I've realized that you just can't expect visitors to report missing pages.  You have to set up some logging method to keep track of 404s.  If you have server HTTP logs, you can generate a list of referring pages that led to a 404.  Or you can use something like Google Analytics, which is pretty simple to setup on any website and also tells you the page the visitor was trying to reach and where they came from (http://winkpress.zippykidcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/404_errors.png).

On our library website, I also took this one step further by creating a 404 page that uses the visitor's intended page URL as the query for a Google Custom Search so they get instant suggestions about what they might have been looking for.  I've posted about how to make this work in WordPress at http://blogs.longwood.edu/librarywerx/2012/09/14/adding-google-custom-search-to-your-wordpress-blog/ .

________________________________
Chris Harper
Library Information Systems Specialist
Longwood University
434.395.2438

From: Anne Slaughter [mailto:aslaughter at OPPL.ORG]
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 4:09 PM
Subject: Re: library 404 pages

We decided to experiment with the form to see if we'd get any feedback from it and well... we started using it a couple months ago and no one has submitted it yet. We were hoping it might at least prompt someone to say "I was trying to find the [booklist that's no longer posted]" or anything that might indicate a pattern, but so far no takers.

Anne

Anne Slaughter, Virtual Services Manager
Oak Park Public Library   |   834 Lake Street   |  Oak Park, IL 60301
aslaughter at oppl.org<mailto:aslaughter at oppl.org>   |   p 708.452.3454   |   f 708.697.6917
oppl.org<http://oppl.org/>   |   Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/oakparkpubliclibrary>   |   Twitter<http://twitter.com/oakparklibrary>   |  App<http://oppl.boopsie.com/>

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 3:00 PM, Nina Mchale <milehighbrarian at gmail.com<mailto:milehighbrarian at gmail.com>> wrote:
Anne,

Do y'all find that patrons really do report errors? And do they understand what causes broken links enough to accurately report what happened?

Thanks!

Nina

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Anne Slaughter <aslaughter at oppl.org<mailto:aslaughter at oppl.org>> wrote:
Here's ours: http://oppl.org/oh-no

Anne

Anne Slaughter, Virtual Services Manager
Oak Park Public Library   |   834 Lake Street   |  Oak Park, IL 60301
aslaughter at oppl.org<mailto:aslaughter at oppl.org>   |   p 708.452.3454<tel:708.452.3454>   |   f 708.697.6917<tel:708.697.6917>
oppl.org<http://oppl.org/>   |   Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/oakparkpubliclibrary>   |   Twitter<http://twitter.com/oakparklibrary>   |  App<http://oppl.boopsie.com/>

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 2:36 PM, Nina Mchale <milehighbrarian at gmail.com<mailto:milehighbrarian at gmail.com>> wrote:
LOL, I put, "You broke it!" on our intranet site's 404 page at my last job, and the techie humor was NOT appreciated. :D No one seemed to get past that line to see the following one, which read, "Just kidding! This is what really happened..."

Nina

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 1:31 PM, wylie ackerman <wyliea at dpls.lib.or.us<mailto:wyliea at dpls.lib.or.us>> wrote:
Not specific to libraries, but last year Slashdot had a story on creative 404 pages:  http://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/06/28/1558220/30-creative-404-error-pages.  I kind of like Blizzard's -http://us.blizzard.com/foo

Wylie Ackerman
eServices Manager
Deschutes Public Library
(541) 312-1042<tel:%28541%29%20312-1042>
http://www.deschuteslibrary.org<http://www.deschuteslibrary.org/>

Know More.

From: Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU<mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU>] On Behalf Of Nina Mchale
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 11:36 AM
To: WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU<mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU>
Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] library 404 pages

Here's a funny one from UVA:

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/libraries/

Nina
On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 12:22 PM, Roy Tennant <roytennant at gmail.com<mailto:roytennant at gmail.com>> wrote:
I'm still rather proud of this 404 page I created for the Digital Library SunSITE at UC Berkeley back in the 1990s:

<http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/404>

Roy

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 11:03 AM, Nina Mchale <milehighbrarian at gmail.com<mailto:milehighbrarian at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hey, all,

What's on your 404 page for your library's site?

I'm shooting for lighthearted, even funny, but most importantly helpful--i.e., including options to get help from librarians and staff.

TIA,

Nina

Nina McHale, MA/MSLS
ninermac.net<http://ninermac.net>
Facebook & Twitter: @ninermac
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