Who are we? We are _ _ _ _ _ _. The school media center
website should be a place that captures the culture, excitement and energy of
the school. It should be a place where all will be invited to come and explore.
In considering these attributes, we must create a website with all our patrons
in mind. After exploring a variety of school website, I have organized a list
of do’s and don’ts for a media center website from the great and not so great
websites that I found.
- Do use bullet to list items when necessary. Bullets will draw the users eye!
- Do use short text to inform. The user don't reading too much.
- Do use color to coordinate the website. Make sure colors are cohesive.
- Do use space wisely. Too much on the site will hurt.
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Do use pictures, graphics, videos and sound to enhance website.
- Do provide space for feedback. Allow the user to leave feedback for improvement purposes.
- Do include resources that will help teachers, students and parents. Include all users.
- Don't distract with too many flashy pictures or graphics.
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Don't expect to create the webpage in one day. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Don't create a cluttered webpages. Least is better.
Don't forget to update site and answer blogs.
Warlick's suggestions for building a website can assist in making your media center website more effective. He suggest that the designer must start by setting "Goals". Remember to "keep your program goals front and center when planning your Web site" (2005). Identify barriers that will prohibit the user from utilizing the resources on your website. The answer to "why" are your resources not being utilized can be vital in providing better services. Targeting your audience and their actions is another vital creating objective when thinking about your website.
According the Warlick, " it is important to think of your audience as your success community, people who are in a position to help you do your job" (2005). Don't make your job harder. Always consider the needs of your audience then work on providing those services in an organized and easily navigable manner. Next, remember in order to guide the content and format of your site "invoke and empower the behaviors you wish to see" (2005). Guide your users to participate in reviews, online curriculum maps or even blogs and wikis.
Design! Design! Design! Is an important step in getting and keeping the user to come back to your site. The design layout is "The hard part is spanning the final eighteen inches between the users’ computer display and their understanding" (2005). The use of bullet, eye catching magnets, large fonts, and indented short paragraphs will make the website more usable. Finally, always work on ways to get your users to return to the site. You can start by providing easy links from the school website and featuring the URL on important school documents, newsletters, business cards, school announcements and media center answering machine. If there's still doubt about design ideas for your media center consider the resources below for great websites.
http://www.schoolwires.com/site/default.aspx?PageID=1
http://www.mesquiteisd.org/library/smith/
http://lc.liberty.k12.mo.us/lmc
http://www.lakeviewspartans.org/webpages/lmslibrary/
https://penfieldhighlibrary.wikispaces.com/Database+Tutorials
Reference:
Warlick, D. (2005, January/February). Building websites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest. Retrieved from: http://medt7477spring2014.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf
Decluttering a webpage can definitely lead to more users. Too much information on a webpage can be overwhelming to those perusing. The list of “do’s” and “don’t” created were very useful and basically said less is indeed more. Targeting LMC stakeholders will prove effective for receiving website hits. I also agree that easily linking the LMC website directly to the school website might lead to more users. Patron input is significant to the effectiveness of the website as well. The LMC page must include information that interests its users. Regular surveying of the needs of patrons will assist with this endeavor. The overall aesthetic quality of the page must be inviting and not overly decorative.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used your tidbits about adding bullets to statements and keeping it short in your blog post. When I begin on my webpage I will be sure to come back and visit your blog and write down a few of your points. I think it's also very important to write down the key items you want your website to display. I think it's fun to create a website with different fonts and colors, but some websites go a little too far and even though it's cute, it's a little too much for our eyes.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this post! I agree that design is a very important factor in the success of a website. There shouldn't be too much clutter, color, or and overload of words. It is important to have a clear concise webpage. I appreciate the inclusion of a do and don't checklist for web pages. I think it is very easy to get off track while designing Our focus should be on our audience and the webpage should make their life easier not more frustrating! Excellent tips!.
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