Pffft, who needs a website

I think an elementary school library can definitely function without a webpage. As a parent I can function the next day after pulling an all-nighter with my sick child. Of course, neither is ideal or best practice for long term health of the system. This is a digital world now, our patrons are digital natives and there should be a digital presence for the school library.

As for what I consider the most important elements of an attractive, useable school library homepage ... this is something I struggle with. I'm all about providing information and resources to support people in their learning and teaching but too much info can be worse that too little information as far as I’m concerned. Much like library shelves that are overcrowded. Books circulate better when the patrons can see them and easily navigate through the collection. Websites that are filled from edge, to edge, to edge with information, links, buttons, colours can be overwhelming and information becomes obscurred where you can't see the trees for the forest. Oh, and another thing ... while I love having a scroll mouse and look oddly at the person who does not own a scroll mouse in the year 2010, I hate scrolling, scrolling, scrolling ... raw-HIIIIDE ... *cough* er, well *ahem* ... I hate sites that are just one long page of never ending scrolling, especially the blog-style ones that require you to scroll for "pages and pages" just for one narrow 2" column. I would rather follow links to other pages than scroll through the never-ending page. Just like short articles in magazines will get read far more frequently and in greater quantity by me than one long article. Buttons, tabs, links ... I'm not picky, just give me something that I can clicky!

This leads nicely into what is my biggest struggle, which comes from the consideration of my preferences and needs versus those of the library patrons. I need a page that is clean, clear and can be navigated quickly so I can get in, get my info, get out and get on with using the information I just retrieved. I don't like sites that are solely driven by Flash media and other such busyness. For one, the flashing drives me nuts, but the practicality of it when we are using a district network that is overloaded on outdated machines, the experience can be downright painful and the source of much frustration.

For example, the McKillop Library site that is modelled after a Star Trek computer is cute and fun but would drive me around the bend with all the flashing and movement on the site. I get distracted by shiny things on a regular basis, I don't need help from a website's design where I'm trying to find information. That said, the kids would probably love it. Then again, I also think about what kind of image the library is portraying. This site doesn't present as very "businessy" or informational but rather game-like, which isn't to say that all the "right" information is there but it's just my perception. So again, I struggle with my preferences versus that of my patrons ... either that or perhaps I'm just becoming a bit curmudgeonly in my ever advancing age. Learning shouldn't, be uptight and rigid and full of bowties and calculators. It should be fun and exciting and invigorating ... but it also shouldn't be Chuck E Cheese or the County Fair all the time either. I also wonder about the upkeep on a site like this. Is there any difference than any other site? Is this a temporary theme for the library, if so, is it easily changed for the next theme? I just don't know enough about the mechanics of websites as yet. (The site: http://mckilloplibrary.edu.glogster.com/mckillop-home)

Then there is the other end of the spectrum of the sites listed, represented by something like the Cold Springs site (http://www.coldspringschool.net/Classrooms/jpedersen/Mrs.-Pedersen.html). It's organized, but BORING! (at least to look at). There is far too much text on many of the pages, especially for a K-6 school. Needs more white space, larger fonts, less text and, quite frankly, even I think it needs more fun. Then I take a closer look and see that this is obviously done on a school-wide site, possibly even district software, so there may be many limitations as to what can be put up, which provides consistency of design with the rest of the pages from the school, but can contribute to limitations due to a one size fits all design and also district policies can contribute to this.

I'm about to be learning how to do a homepage for our library using our district software. The little experience I've had with it to date has shown it to be somewhat limiting. I could not for the life of me figure out how, or get anyone to help me, put a podcast up on the website. I'd have had to link to an external site, which is apparently frowned upon (but I'll find out more about that soon).

I do thing Joyce Valenza has nailed the very basic categories that could be present, and perhaps SHOULD be present on a library website. For my small elementary school I think basic information on the home page as to the days the TL is in the building, the hours of the library, policies and such are important. Even a schedule of what classes are when so parents and students can double-check from home are important.

I think some links to wonderful web resources that our district subscribes to and other reputable resources like the local public library to aid students in their research and studies, as well as teachers for their teaching, would be useful as a one-stop source for reliable information. Of the sites that I investigated I really liked the idea of separating resources in to grade level or primary, lower intermediate, upper intermediate and professional resources using tabs or buttons. This would provide shorter lists for each group, though some of the resources would possibly repeat, especially the lower level students wouldn't need to try and wade through a longer list. For the younger grades especially, icons would be something that I'd like to see so that they can navigate visually rather than having to be able to read.

Our district also just learned a bit about Shelfari, so that is something I could see using for new book purchases, Battle of the Books, Red Cedar or Young Readers' Choice Awards type things ... also linking to personal staff Shelfari to promote the fact that we all read and like a diverse range of material.

Blue Skunk Blog

Another post for today ...

I'm adding this one to my blogroll!

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/


From the blog:

Internet Serenity Prayer
Technologist, grant me…
the Serenity to accept that not everything can be found on the Internet…
the Courage to go to the Library…
and the Wisdom to evaluate the information I do find.

This is what I'm missing!

For my 10th and final course, the next one not this course, towards my TL diploma, THIS is what I was hoping for ... sort of. (I was really hoping for techie stuff in general not just websites, but you get the idea). Children's Lit is great stuff, but the diploma program should REQUIRE more of a foray into this techie stuff.

http://eduscapes.com/arch/index.htm

Information architecture ... it took me a long time, much longer than I thought it would, to create my digital library for my first assignment and I still wasn't happy with it. The planning for the layout of (read: ACCESS TO) the information was so time consuming and overwhelming. There were an infinite number of possibilities, there was my preference for things versus the preference of each and every user of the site, there was what I wanted versus what our district's software and policies would allow (read: frustration and LIMITING OF ACCESS).

The architecture of the school library website REQUIRES a lot of TIME.

MARC horrors

How timely and kind of cute, in a library-humour sort of way.

http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1090000309/post/100053410.html

The first bit of the video in the article transcribed.

"Deep within the bowels of systems on the Horizon,
Of systems from beyond the Millennium,
Of systems known only to small aliens as V-ger
We see the signs of MARC records --

MARC records that should not be --
MARC records with control characters in the leaders --
MARC records that require 25 characcters per tag and yet have no indicators --
MARC records that although apparently valid, have two 245 tags --
And syntaxes and obsolete fields that have not existed since time beyond memory --
Since eons beyond which were known...."

Circulating Reference books? Hmmm ...

Food for thought for the 2 day/week Teacher-Librarian.

http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/03/reference-books-to-go-liberation-of-our.html

We are breaking with our past at Thomas Ford. One thing that you could always count on was that the reference books were here on the shelves. As good as that was in the past, the problem now is that the reference books are here on the shelves, but no one is here using them. They are just sitting. So we are liberating them. We're going to let them out to anyone with a card, just like other books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs.


The one precedent here is the liberating of the magazines a couple of decades ago. We used to keep the magazines close for all the students doing reports and term papers. We now have online databases with full texts, and those days are long gone. Finally, it is time to free the reference books as well.


Our Adult Services librarians have spent several weeks preparing to let reference books circulate. With Sandy Frank's assistance (she's the head of the circulation department), we have inventoried the collection, weeded out-of-date and worn-out materials, and changed the circulation system status for each record. The work is done and we are starting a quiet launch while we prepare marketing.

Here are reasons for this new service:


Use of reference books in the library has fallen off significantly in the past several years. Librarians with access to online resources are using the print reference items less frequently. Fewer clients are spotted using reference books. We reshelve reference books less often. The reference shelves rarely need straightening.
Clients occasionally ask to borrow the reference books so they can use them at home or work.
Much of the information in the reference books is available to us though our databases. Reference librarians will still have resources to answer questions.
With less money to buy nonfiction books this year, it provides more items to loan students and other clients interested in nonfiction topics.
Other libraries have begun to loan their reference books. Meetings at the 2009 ALA Conference in Chicago and posts on the Booklist blog Points of Reference have discussed the new trend.


The primary objection I have heard is "What if a book from a set doesn't return, isn't the set ruined?" This is a possibility, maybe even a probability in time. Still having books sit idle seems a greater sorrow in a public library focused on current utility and not archival conservation. I think the greater good will be served by this service. I look froward to seeing some smiles when I let someone take a volume of Contemporary Literary Criticism or The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

We do not expect a rush of people coming for the reference books right away, but we hope for steady use. Maybe this liberation will even revive the section and make reference books worth buying again.

Boy, time flies when you're having fun!

March 7, 2010 already! Where does the time go?

The last month or so has been consumed by illness, death, Book fair, Olympics and, oh yes, a wee little digital library-MARC record project. Oy. My head continues to spin.

I think a lovely fruit basket is definitely in order for our district cataloguer.

I still don't really get the whole picture. I understand even better how to read a MARC record and can get many of the fields correct when creating one but slapping that puppy up on a website doth not an OPAC make. What is the next step? How is this data entered in to a computer database so that search terms actually work?

Oh, I also discovered that I'm no web designer either. Or maybe I just need way more time and practice.