David Lee King

social media | emerging trends | libraries

Sweet Staff Intranet

By

Check out this nice-looking staff intranet – for a library. It’s very nicely done! Some features (from the flickr set):

  • blog posts with RSS feeds and comments
  • major links via tabs at the top
  • more links on the left and right
  • a shared calendar
  • it is searchable
  • They’ve included some wiki functionality (every page can be edited) and a recent changes history is tracked
  • Has a wysiwyg interface so no one has to know HTML (although EVERYONE should know basic HTML…)

Very cool indeed… especially since I’m starting work on a new version of our staff intranet, complete with blogging ability, too. I’d love to see more library intranets – anyone?

Random Thought #2

By

Another thought, probably originating from listening to Abram:

Our next big set of customers are kids and teens right now. I could even stretch that out a bit to include 20-somethings. Are we really marketing to them?

Right now, most public library websites have a page or so devoted to kids, and the same for teens. Then we toss in the 20-something with his dad, his older brother, and his grandma – all run-of-the-mill adults.

Look at 10 library websites, then tell me… are they marketed to young adults, kids, or teens? No (well ok – don’t look at aadl.org – anything else is up for grabs, though).

And yet – we all talk about getting more teens into the library. And we should be talking about keeping them when they become parents in the next ten years.

So – maybe our websites (for starters) should be a bit more hip? Interactive? Fun? Attractive? etc….

Random Thought #1

By

[Update: not so random after all – I probably heard Stephen Abram say this at Internet Librarian]

As I’m starting to re-write our website plan, I’m having some random thoughts… they don’t necessarily go in the plan, but might be useful nonetheless. So I’m posting them as they come.

Random Thought #1: Go where your customers already are, and be prepared to meet them with the information they need.

The second part of that statement might be difficult – then again, if we have well-rounded librarians, we should at least be able to track down said info.

First part of the statement – where are our customers? Here’s a beginning list:

  1. in the library
  2. at home
  3. on the phone
  4. in the classroom
  5. on the web
  6. in a meeting
  7. at the mall
  8. etc

My point? Can a library patron reach your library via phone, email, chat, IM, SMS, etc?

How about this – your customers are in school… how do you meet them? Your customers are at the cafe around the corner. How do you meet them? Your customers are working in the corporate office across the street. How do you meet them? Your customers are using Flickr/LibraryThing/Furl/del.icio.us/my yahoo/etc – How do you meet them?

Review of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s Website

By

This time around, I’m reviewing the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s website. If you’re interested on the background of my reviews or past reviews, please see my first one.

Website at a Glance

Hits: Great visual design and navigation, nice and useful Info Guides, catalog and webiste are blended together, highlighting some Info Guides on the main page.

Further Reflection

Strengths:

  • Visual Design – awesome looking website! Colors, headings, choice of fonts – all work together nicely
  • Site Navigation – easy as pie
  • Info Guides – great job on subject type guides! Lots of great information, pulled from a variety of sources
  • Highlights (stuff above News & Press) – this is a great place to highlight new services and resources, like digital audio books, guides, or reference services
  • Events & Exhibits – very clean and simple
  • Catalog – attempted to integrate catalog into website (look and feel). That’s way more than most libraries have done!
  • Usability, Information Architecture – great – everything is clearly laid out – you know where you’re going when you click
  • Computer Reservation – you can reserve a computer by clicking on the main page – cool beans!
  • New resident link – cool idea! They are pulling out a subject guide to feature on the main page, which is a great way to display specific types of content
  • Main focuses – two stand out: content and connecting with a librarian. Can’t beat that!

Weaknesses:

Big Stuff:

  • Linking away from the library’s website – The Ask A Librarian link on the main page is a huge link, high up on the page, that links directly out of the library’s website (to a Nevada virtual reference service). That’s generally a no no on websites. Why? Website customers will immediately leave your site – if this service wasn’t what they were looking for, they’re gone. You can’t count those visits. And, you can’t give the customer more information. A better solution is to make a page describing the service and describing why patrons might want to use the service (and linking tot he service). Then link THIS page to the main page of the website. Problem solved.
  • Teen Zone – Using neon colors and adding pics of teens won’t attract teens. Interaction and content will. The Booklink Poll is a good start – just add LOTS MORE STUFF like that.
  • Just for Kids – My problem? This section is called “Just for Kids” – but it’s not. When I first looked at this page, the first event listed was “Women’s Diversity: 100 years of Influence.” Does that sound like a kid’s event? Also, just taking another peek at the page – it’s not really a kid’s site. Rather, it’s a site designed for parents with kids. Why do I say that? Besides the colors and the dinosaur at the top, there’s no interaction, no large words, no moving things – nothing to draw in a kid. Compare this to Nick Jr or even BookHive (done by a library). Both sites are obviously created for kids. The “Parents with Kids” thing isn’t a bad thing – just don’t call it “Just for Kids” if it’s not.

Small Beans:

  • Good Books – There’s a link on the main pages titled “Good Books.” Don’t they have music and videos? Why not point to more than just book recommendations?
  • Billboard effect – Quick, take a 5 second peek at the main page. Where’s the catalog link? The site is pushing people to the large links like Info Guides and Ask a Librarian. That’s not necessarily a bad thing… in fact, that might be exactly what the library wants – I really don’t know. But – library website planners should think about what the most important resources are, and make sure those resources are seen on the site. Steve Krug compares library web pages to driving past a billboard on a highway – is your message getting across?

In summary, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District website looks great, works great, and is able to connect library customers to information and to librarians. Work on connecting teens and kids a little more, and this will be one solid website.