seven habits of highly effective library

websites

Lesley Thomson

Data inputterer at Scottish Office Agriculture and

Fisheries Department

Various posts in Department for Work and Pensions: front line service, IT support and

management, information security, risk management

PGDip Information and Library

Studies

MA(Hons) History and

Economic History

Various IT qualifications

Website manager at UK Trade and

Investment

Knowledge Management

Officer with the Scottish Centre for

Regeneration

Librarian in the Scottish

Government Library Service

seven habits of highly effective library

websites

http://www.pegboard.com.au/PegboardGetit/CreatingAUserExperienceEquationForWebsiteSuccess

Success =

highly effective websites meet the needs of users in the performance of their

tasks

Habit 1. highly effective websites...

have a purpose

http://www.uu.nl/university/Library/EN/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.lexpublib.org/

http://www.hclib.org/pub/bookspace/

http://montgomery.lib.wv.us/

Habit 2.highly effective websites...

are integrated

Habit 3. highly effective websites...

are designed for what their users are doing

http://blog.thinkingcapstudios.net/2009/07/the-3-components-of-web-design/

them’s the rules...

"simplicity rules"

http://cabell.lib.wv.us/buffalo/

http://www.esls.lib.wi.us/cedarburg.html

http://www.ocls.lib.fl.us/

http://www.library.nd.edu/

http://www.library.yale.edu/

“the rule of seven"

http://info.lib.uh.edu/

“from your homepage, users should be able to access any content within three clicks”

“stay above the fold”

http://www.mylibrary.us/

http://www.tscpl.org/

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

“a picture paints a thousand words”

http://www.bncrm.librari.beniculturali.it/

http://www.njstatelib.org/

http://www.library.northwestern.edu/

http://sheldonwilliamscollegiate.rbe.sk.ca/sheldonlibrary/

http://www.ahml.info/

http://www.nypl.org/

http://kids.nypl.org/

the user is not broken

Karen G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com

the OPAC is not the sun

Karen G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com

the user is the sun

Karen G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com

most of your most passionate users will never meet you face to face

most of your most alienated users will never meet you face to face

Karen G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com

you cannot change the user but you can transform the user experience

Karen G. Schneider http://freerangelibrarian.com

http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php

Peter Morville’s ‘hexagon of user experience ‘

1. what can I do here?2. what can I do next?3. why should I care?

http://www.freelibrary.org/

www.ldlwebservices.co.uk

Habit 4. highly effective websites...

have great content

http://theshoeboxgirl.tumblr.com/post/88471101/02-72

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-shudders-at-large-block-of-uninterrupted-te,16932/

http://www.library.pitt.edu/green/about.html

http://www.middletownpubliclibrary.org/Home

http://www.meadpubliclibrary.org/

http://walkingpaper.org/content_strategy.pdf

http://walkingpaper.org/content_strategy.pdf

http://walkingpaper.org/content_strategy.pdf

Nope Better Better still?

Interlibrary loan/Document supply

Borrow from other libraries/obtain items we don’t stock

Get stuff

Online databases Find articles Find stuff

Circulation My account Check out

Library Catalogue Books and more Find stuff

Periodicals Find articles Find stuff

http://collingswoodlib.org/

Habit 5. highly effective websites...

are accessible to all

www.w3.org/WAI/

http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/telecommunications_and_online/8161.aspx

http://aislclibrary.com/

Habit 6. highly effective websites...

have ‘findability’

http://liverpool.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/

Habit 7. highly effective websites...

redesign, redesign, redesign

http://web.archive.org/web/20050828154932/http://www.cecil.ebranch.info/

http://www.cecil.ebranch.info/

So, to recap...

seven pillars of website wisdom:

1.purposeful2.integrated3.user centred4.content rich5.inclusive6.findable7.flexible

Addendum 1:a word about mobile...

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/m

http://consortiumlibrary.org/mobile/

http://consortiumlibrary.org/

http://influx.us/onepager/

Addendum 2:users!

http://www.cmpl.org/default.asp

methods include:

1. contextual enquiry2. personas3. guerilla testing4. protyping5. A/B testing6. heat maps/eye tracking7. site analytics

Lesley’s seven deadly website sins...

http://www.hendersoncounty.lib.il.us/library/index.html

http://www.carnegielibrary.org/

http://www.yclibrary.org/

http://www2.youseemore.com/foxlake/default.asp

http://www.whistlerlibrary.ca/

http://www.imcpl.org/

http://www.webrary.org/mgplhome.html

http://cabell.lib.wv.us/

resources:www.diigo.com/list/lelil_/7-habits-of-highly-effective-library-websites

websites:www.diigo.com/list/lelil_/library-websites

talk to me:twitter.com/lelilmea-mea-culpa.blogspot.com/ uk.linkedin.com/in/lesleythomson