Media Center websites have become a vital way of providing students with access to media center resources 24/7. The question is no longer should a media specialist have a website but the question now is how effective is the website. The information age allows media specialist the opportunity to have a virtual library that is available to patrons 24/7. A student working on a research paper over the weekend could simply open the media center website to find links to research databases and information about proper citation. Every time a patron uses the website the media specialist has provided a service. Take advantage of this opportunity to serve your patrons 24/7 by creating an effective website.
Do you think your website is good, bad, or ugly? Do your patrons view the website as useful? Would you love to have a great website but you just don’t know where to begin? Check out these examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly to find ideas for improving your website.
THE UGLY
• No website
• Only contains basic information such as contact information and hours
THE BAD
• Only advertises the services available in the media center (no content that can be used from
outside of the media center)
• Not age appropriate (i.e. using advanced vocabulary on a website for younger students)
• Poor color choices and font choices make reading difficult for visually impaired students
• Lack of eye-catching graphics
THE GOOD
• Navigation bar (easy to locate, easy to activate links, appears on all pages)
• Special navigation features (‘back to top’ and ‘home’ links on all pages; links to outside sources open in a new window, bread crumb trails)
• Transcripts of sound clips available for hearing impaired students
• Link to the OPAC
• Theme/pictures changed periodically to keep site interesting to repeat viewers
• Promotes reading (award winning book lists, book talks, most popular lists, ‘if you like this than try this’ lists)
• Creative forms of presentation (podcasts, use of Web 2.0 tools such as Wordle.net and Glogster.net)
• Uniform presentation (same template for each page)
• Caters to student egos (information created by students such as video book talks and information about students such as photos of projects and award ceremonies)
• Organized (i.e. grouping information and links by subject, grade level, or type of user)
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. View your website as a work in progress. Use this improvement plan to get started today.
1. Start by conducting a simple survey of the media center patrons to determine what information would be useful to include on a website. The survey should include students, staff, and parents.
2. Explore websites created for other school media centers. The School Libraries website (www.school-libraries.net) has a listing of school library websites with links. A list of my favorite websites is included below to help get you started on your exploration. While exploring the websites, take note of any features that would be useful to your patrons.
3. Compile the suggestions from your patrons, your notes from exploring other websites, and ideas from this blog into a wish list of improvements for your website.
4. Gradually make improvements and add new features over time. Adopt an “Improvement of the Month” plan where you work on one new improvement each month. Start out with simple improvements for immediate results.
5. Don’t forget to check in with your patrons periodically to see if the improvements are taking your website from the ugly to the good.
Suggested Media Center Websites
Collins Hill High School, Georgia – created using Weebly.com
http://www.chhsmediacenter.com/index.html
Locust Grove High School – created using school system template
http://schoolwires.henry.k12.ga.us/79612042710331133/site/default.asp?7961Nav=1113&NodeID=1113
Settles Bridge Elementary – created using school system template
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/13062072183334793/site/default.asp
Jackson Middle School– created using WordPress.org:
http://jmslibrary.wordpress.com/
Further Reading
How to Design Library Web Sites to Maximize Usability by Chris Jasek
http://www.elsevier.com/framework_librarians/LibraryConnect/lcpamphlet5.pdf
Easy-to-read pamphlet that outlines how to create a user-friendly website. Includes annotated screen shots of good web sites to illustrate concepts.
Best Practices in School Library Design by David Walbert
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/969
Examples of poorly designed websites are used to illustrate the concepts of good web design. Includes screen shots of websites.
School Library Websites: Examples of Effective Practice
http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/
This educational Wiki is an extensive collection of elementary, middle, and high school media center website examples and examples of content to include on media center websites.
References
Credaro, A. (2002). School library websites: More than pix and clicks?. Orana, 38(3), 20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Franklin, P., & Stephens, C. (2007). Creating webpages for the 21st century library media center. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 24(3), 41-42. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Jurkowski, O. (2010). Technology and the school library. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Schrock, K. (2003). Sources of great ideas. School Library Journal, 49(11), 37-47. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Warlick, D. (2005). Building web sites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest, 33(3), 13-15. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
I really like the way you tied your title into your breakdown of mc sites. I also thought the links to show examples of good, bad, and ugly were extremely helpful. For example, in Best Practices in School Library Design, he explains why web sites are not functional. Then he explains what you should do and give more links to help you design a good layout for your web page. I think that a lot of LMS have good intentions but are left to figure things out on their own because everyone else (IT) has so much on their plate. I like how you list what should be on "good" mc web page. I think this would help out a lot of LMS. They could go back and reflect on their own sites and probably have a lot of the "update of the month".
ReplyDeleteI like how you implied that the media specialist should work to include students and their activities on the media center webpage. I think that book talks and photographs of students are appropriate tools that can be linked to a media center website. A primary objective of the media center is to improve students' ability to learn; therefore, I think that allowing students to facilitate in building and designing the website is an effective approach. The website could include student assignments, essays, and other activities. This strategy informs students that they are encouraged to use the media center, allows students to educate others about their achievements, and creates a media program that interprets and accommodates the needs of students. I suggest that allowing students to complete a survey about links or subjects that they would like to include on the website could also be an adequate technique. The media specialist could listen to the concepts and needs of the students and design the media center webpage using the information. I also argue that adding resources for each subject area could improve students' ability to complete curriculum assignments.
ReplyDeleteAs always, your projects are organized, very thorough, and well documented. I specifically liked “The Good” and “The Bad” bullet points in this blog. This provided readers with a quick checklist of elements of an effective website. Two things that you addressed I think are often overlooked. They are uniform presentation and catering to student egos. A uniformed presentation minimizes training and enables students to become familiar with the system more quickly. Catering to a student’s ego provides a great opportunity to engage students in reading and the media center.
ReplyDeleteTrue! Rome wasn’t built in a day. The steps you provide are a great plan to implementing a webpage in the media center. The examples of various web pages provide fresh ideas and inspiration. The additional reading provides further detail for the reader.
I agree that it is now not a question of ‘if?’ but of ‘when?’ I believe that it is the responsibility of the media specialist to lead the school in this area of technology. Media specialist should become familiar and fluent in using web pages so that they may train and support teachers and students. You have provided a great introductory on this topic. Thanks!
I completely agree with your statement “The question is no longer should a media specialist have a website but the question now is how effective is the website”. I have visited a lot of media center websites over the last few months and there is a wide spectrum of the good, the bad, and the ugly out there. I like the ideas you have on what makes a website “good”. One thing that stood out to me from the list is catering to students egos. Everyone likes to be recognized for doing something good and placing that recognition on the website is a great way to attract patrons.
ReplyDeleteSuggesting that you should explore websites created for other school media centers is also a great idea. When you are visiting these sites make sure you keep some type of notes on which sites you liked or didn’t like and on any ideas that you may want to incorporate into your website. These notes may be for future use. ”. Keep a list of ideas you want to work into your site when you are updating it. And you should be updating it often. We should not create a website and “forget about it”. Like you said, you should view your website as a work in progress; gradually making changes and improvements over time. I loved your idea of an “Improvement of the Month” plan. I would suggest putting that on your calendar as a way to remember to update your website.