Library 2.0 - Designing an effective library website

Today the library website is not just seen as an online presence providing static, one-way information to the user.

The library website is one of the most important features of the library.  In addition to advertising what the library does and where it is; it allows users to perform many functions such as seaching the catalogue,  placing holds, renewing items, downloading eBooks, requesting inter-library loans, searching online resources and requsting online help. 

The use of social networking tools incorporated into the webpage enables a much more interaction between the library and the community.

The library 2.0 online world conference October 3-5 2012 had some great interactive sessions about how we can make our library more interactive. It included educational, public, academic and special library environments.  Presentations are archived on the following website
http://www.library20.com/page/2-012-conference

1. Some criteria for effective library website design

Promotion and marketing

• The library website is the gateway to the libraries resources
• It should act as a marketing tool to promote resources, events, services, popular materials and technology
• It needs to be able to draw attention  to specific items of interest to users

Segmentation

• Parts of the website need to be able to be customised to target specific audience types or ages

Interactive

• The webpage should allow for interaction with the community
• Conversations between the library and users should be transparent
• It should allow for feedback

Visual aesthetics

• The webpage should not just be  words and links
• It should have a combination of graphics, multi-media and links to help direct the user  to events and showcased information

Searchability and browsability

• The webpage needs to  be able to be navigated in various ways
• Navigation bars, search boxes, menus need to be consistent on every page of the website

Mobile friendly

• The library webpage and catalogue should be able to be used on mobile devices

Online Help

• There should be some type of online help
• Somewhere that the user knows they can interact with a librarian

User friendly

• The webpage needs to be user friendly
• It needs to be geared to the community it serves, not to the librarain designing it

2. Effectiveness of the of the Yarra Plenty Regional Library website
http://yprl.vic.gov.au/

Promotion and marketing
The Yarra Plenty website has links to ther services, online resources, the catalogue and what's on in the library.  It promotes new titles well with the use of images.  Book reviews by staff members are also located in a prime position on the homepage and have accompanying images to highlight them.  Library news is promoted by the use of rotating headlines on a slideshow.  This keeps the page looking interesting and draws attention to the news the library want to showcase.  Recent comments from borrowers on book reviews are also highlighted.  This keeps the page looking refreshed because of the social interaction taking place in the background.
Segmentation
The website is not customised to cater for different audiences.  The only thing different on children's Summer Reading Club page is a picture that is geared to that age group.  The local history, lifelong learning and subject guide pages (just to mention a few) are very boring with just the use of text.  As mentioned, the homepage is aesthetically pleasing but as the user drills down into the website it can become quite boring.

Interactive
The website itself has little interactivity.  Four of the links claim to lead to blogs; Local history blog, Genealogy blog, Youth blog and Summer reading program blog, but are in fact, not blogs but static template page in which a blog post from another site has beed added. The pages do not allow for any comments to be posted on them.  I am aware through a search of blogger that a Local history  blog is maintained by the Local history Librarian that allows comments, but it is not linked anywhere on the Yarra Plenty webpage.   There are links to a Yarra Plenty facebook page and a Yarra Plenty Twitter account on the website that allow  community interaction, and also a Youth facebook page (if you can find it as you have to drill down three pages to access it.  The library catalogue however does allow book reviews to be written by the community.  A more prominent link to the youth facebook page could improve the interactivity between the library and youth.  More interactivity of the pages claimed to be blogs would also help community interaction.

Visual aesthetics
As mentioned under the promotion heading, the website uses images and text to promote  new books and  book reviews by staff members. Library news is also promoted by the use of rotating headlines with accompanying images on a slideshow.  This keeps the page looking interesting and draws attention to the news they want to showcase.

Searchability and browsability
The website, library catalogue and events calendar can all be searched seperately, however there is no single search function to search all at once.  There is also an advanced search function.  The search box is embedded into the website template and appears on all pages of the website.  There is no federated search function when searching the online resources.

 

The use of an hierarchical global navigation bar on each page with dropdown menus allows the user to browse throughout the website.  Although not a Web 2.0 tool; this is a good navigation function.  Local navigation is also used down the left hand side of each page, whilst FAQs are used as navigation assistance on the right hand side of the page

Mobile friendly
The Yarra Plenty library catalogue can be downloaded into an iphone, ipad or android phone. The mobile app allows the user to search the catalogue, place holds and manage their account.   This is a great addition to the website as the community embraced mobile technology..It also gives a sense that the library is available every where 24/7.  I also like the use of QR codes beside the moble app download.  Clever use of web 2.0 technologies to provide useful information to community members.

Online help
Online help is offered via an Email a librarian a librarian link on the homepage, an  Ask a question link which is 1 click down, or a  Site feedback link which is 2 clicks down on the webpage.  All links lead to forms to fill out. From the Ask A Question link there is another link to  Homework help  This leads to an external homework help service. There are no details of the person you are contacting on any of the forms, or the time frame of receiving a response.  It is very confusing as to what link the user should be using.  How does a user distinguish betwenn Ask a librarian or Ask a question?  There is also another link to Contact us which leads to list of general phone numbers. There are no names on the list to personalise the users experience when calling. There are also no phone numbers for any of the 8 branch libraries. Contact details for the branch libraries are located under the link Hours and locations and locations  This also links to Google maps where the locations are pinpointed.  Unless the user knows specifically where each link leads to they could easily miss the contact details they are looking for.  Web 2.0 techologies could be used to enhance the online referecne services offered.  IM, SMS services, chat, Twitter for quick reference enquiries are all ways to enhance interaction between the library and it's community.

User friendly
Whilst the home page of the website is appealing with the combination of graphics and rotating images drawing the eye to new books and what's on in the library; subsequent pages lack the appeal of the first page. The use of a template throughout the site is consistant, along with the funtionality of the navigation and seach functions. The online help is very confusing and lacks a feeling of "the personal touch".   
I am surprised at the lack of interactiveness of the site, allowing little room for the community to  communicate with library staff.  There are ways that the community can comment (through forms and sending and email) but the website takes little advantage of the interactiveness of social media tools.  The pages that are called "blogs" are in fact not.  They have taken blog post from other sites and embedded them in a static template that does not allow comments. The language used on some of the headings is not really user friendly, and more geared to "library jargon" rather than the end user. Comments on web 2.0 tools can be monitored before they are posted live; this may be a way to compromise but still allow more community interaction.

Second Life

What is Second Life
Second Life is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE).  It is a game-like online environment that can be accessed by many users simultaneously, where they can interact with other people, objects and their environment within a virtual world.

The basics of how it works
Second Life is accessed by software that is downloaded free from the http://secondlife.com/
website. There are three basic elements that make up Second Life; avatars, objects and the environment.

Avatars - Users create three dimensional cartoon representations of themselves called avatars.  They do not have to be "people" 

Avatars can interact with other avatars, objects and the environment.  can interact via voice chat.  Avatars move through the Second Life world by walking, teleporting or flying.Similar to that of reality; avatars can also dance, sit, run, drive a car, etc.. in Second Life.

Objects - There is a building tools function in Second Life where you can build objects for your avatar to use, or to use within your environment.  External programs can also be used to make objects and uploaded into the Second Life virtual world.

Environment - The landscape in Second Life replicates that of the real world.  It has sky, sea, land, sun, etc...Second Life users use the environment to create landscapes and buildings. Landscapes in Second Life are on Islands.  The environment can interact with third party sites which allows such things as video streaming, presentations, interactive blackboards to be used in the environment.  There is also a social environment with searchable groups, profiles and contact lists.
Having a brief understanding of what is possible on Second Life helps to get a better understanding of how it could be used in the Information industry.

My learning experience of Second Life
For the purpose of this exercise I created an avatar (LynetteJoy) to explore the Second Life world.  I have used Second Life before; so had an understanding or the concept behind this MUSE.  I didn't find the software intuitive, and had to refer to the online help a couple of times until I got started.  Once set up I found it easy to walk, teleport and fly around. I located the CSU-SIS Learning Centre easily and completed the exercise required.  I liked the search functionality and used it to locate the following buildings:
-University of Newcastle
-Curtain University
-Association of College and Research Libraries
-Rodecliffe University Library Reference Desk
-Australian Libraries Building

Using Second Life in the Information Management industry
I love the concept of Second Life and feel that there is a place in the Information Management industry to use this platform for library reference, library training, and library instruction.
Some example of how it is being currently used in the Information Management industry can be found in the following literature:

Murdoch University has introduced Second Life to their university community.  This YouTube video by Kathryn Greenhill gives a background to how it is being used
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiH7dkOVaLc

In 2006 an Australian Libraries Building was set up on Second Life  It was a collaborative project which ran a virtual library with an interactive virtual reference desk.  A paper titled Do we remove the walls? Second Life Librarianship was presented by Kathryn Greenhill at the 2008 VALA conference.  The paper gives a great insite into the development and running of the virtual site
http://www.valaconf.org.au/vala2008/papers2008/20_Greenhill_Final.pdf

Mahnaz Tehtani also provides an overview of libraries that have conducted library services through the Second Life platform in his paper Librarian Avatars in Second Life.
http://iris.nyit.edu/~mtehrani/Librarian%20Avatars%20in%20Second%20Life.pdf
   
The Kista Library, which is a branch of the Stockholm Library Service runs a Literary Language Cafe for it's library users. It is a multi-lingual project  between local universities, schools and community groups where European literature is shared and discussed in it "Literary Language Cafe"  There are virtual discussion groups using the Second Life MUSE as the cafes platform  The aim of the cafe is to improve Internet skills; to promote partnerships between local schools, universities and community groups; promote the virtual library and a platform for learning and r=encourage literature and culture and emerging technologies.  More information ban be found on page 23 of the following report on the Great Public Libraries Tour of the World 2008
http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/downloads/2008_Viclink_Great_Public_Libraries_of_the_World_Tour/2008viclinkgreatpubliclibrariesoftheworld_1668.pdf

Ilene Frank, librarian  at the University of South Florida  also outlines how librarians are engaging in Second Life in an onlie article titled Second Life: A Virtual World Why Are Librarians There?
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2222/2010

Whilst researching how Virtual Worlds are being used in the learning environment; I came across a very interesting blog post about how Virtual Worlds are being used in the classroom.  It certainly leave some "food for thought" of the different way software such as Second Life can aid learning.  
http://blog.cengage.com/?top_blog=engaging-students-via-immersion-in-virtual-worlds-and-augmented-realities

There is also a great YouTube video on how SecondLife is being used in education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA

RSS in action

RSS is commonly known as Really Simple Syndication and is a file format (usual an XML file) that is used to deliver regularly updated information over the web.


RSS feeds and aggregators allow articles of interest or relevence to be delivered directly to your desktop when they are published.Without RSS, you would have to check each individual site daily for new updates.

Who uses RSS

Some common uses for RSS feeds are: 

• Notification of additions of new items to a database,
• New information added to websites,
• New job vacancies,
• New blog posts

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) use RSS feeds to keep their members up-to-date on what is happening in the association.
http://alia.org.au/rss/

RSS feeds are used by ALIA to inform members of the following:

• updates to information on their website,
• job vacancies,
• ALIA media releases,
• ALIA Board information, and
• ALIA enquiry watch which informs members of changes to library associated  acts and policies

Database companies such as Gale-Cengage Learning, Ebsco and Emerald  all allow individual searches to be captured via RSS.  Individual searches can be set up by RSS so when new content is added to the database that matches the search criteria; the new content is added to your RSS feed.
Individual periodicals can also have RSS feeds attached, so when new content is added to that periodical; it is added to your RSS feed.
Information about setting up RSS feeds via the Gale-Cengage Learning databases can be located via the following link
http://support.gale.com/gale/article.html?article=1809

Individual journals also often also have RSS feed capacity.  This enables the journal's headlines to be posted on your RSS feedreader as soon as they are published.
The Library Journal is an example of an onlie journal that has RSS capacity
http://www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/Info/rss.csp

How the library can use RSS feeds

The library can use RSS feeds to inform library users of new resources added to their collection, up and coming events and changes to the library's opening hours.

Casey Cardinia Library Corporation, a large public library corporation  in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs uses a blog for their library webpage.The blog utilises RSS feeds so their community can be kept up to date with changes to the library website.  The RSS feed icon is displayed at the bottom of the homepage.

Somerset College, a secondary college in Queensland uses a blog for their library homepage which has an RSS feed ability.  This means the college community can be alerted to new information added to the webpage.

RSS feeds can also be used in the library as a professional development tool to encourage staff to keep up-to-date with library related information by having RSS feed readers on their computers and pushing information through RSS feeds to them.  As Beth Kanter points out in her blog Beth's Blog, over the past decade, the Internet and social media have been one of the primary sources for professional learning.

Personally I use RSS feeds to keep up-to-date with discussions about technology in the library industry.  I have  set up a Google Reader which I am able to use on any computer.  I have numerous blogs that I follow set up so when a new blog post is added; I am updated.  It is a great way to keep abreast of developments in your profession.  I also have an RSS feed to a search string I have created through a database.  When information is added to that database that fits the subject of the search string; my RSS feed is also updated with the new information.

What is Social Networking

Web 2.0 is the term used to describe a variety platforms and applications that allow anyone to create and share online information. Web 2.0 technology allows people to create, share, collaborate & communicate
Social networking uses web 2.0 technology. Social networking is all about enabling people to participate, interact and create communities. These communities range from subject or work orientated to entirely social communities
 

Although a few years old; the YouTube video by Michael Wesch The machine isus/ing us sums up what Web 2.0 is all about

Social Networking Tools
I have used many social networking technologies through various work exercises and for personal reasons.

LinkedIn
I use LinkedIn as a professional networking tool. I have my resume and profile linked to it. My network is made up of professional associates and the groups I link to are all professional or work related. I have worked as a recruitment consultant; I used LinkedIn in this instance to source suitable candidates. I have alos been contacted through LinkedIn by other recruitment agencies also using this social networking tool to source candidates.

Facebook
Facebook is my personal networking tool. Recently my daughter was in South Africa. We used Facebook to communicate and share photos. My friends on Facebook are personal friends. Many professional library groups also use facebook to communicate Examples are State Library of Victoria, ALIA, National Library. Linking to these groups enable my to see what is happening in these library areas.

Twitter
I have a personal Twitter account which I use to keep up to date with what is happening in the library world.  My connections are people would are tech savvy with using new technologies in the library space.
 

Wikis

I have used Wikis in the past to organise library training when I worked at a regional library. Having 8 branches; a wiki made it easier for staff to interact and communicate.

I was also part of a team that set up a wiki called WikiNorthia. WikiNorthia is project that will encourage people across five local councils and tell their stories providing a snapshot of life in the north of Melbourne

RSS
I use a Google feed reader to store the blogs I like to keep up-to-date with. RSS feeds allow new information to be brought to my desktop as it is published.  It is a great professional development tool.

 

Other social networking tools I have used include:

• Ning
• Flickr
• Myspace
• Skype
• Igoogle

What do I expect to learn from INF506
I have worked a with Web 2.0 and social networking tools in the library environment a few years ago.  I am now in the commercial environment "the dark side" with my client base being libraries and library staff. Technology is changing at a rapid rate and social networking is being used in many ways. From this subject I am hoping to share discussions and ideas with others on the types of applications that could be used for different purposes in the library community. I am also hoping to gain ideas as to how I can use it in my current position as a Sales and Support person for a database vendor.