Library Web Sites : Practical Considerations and Research Completed

Library's have their own websites. Most libraries started a Web presence with a library catalog/catalogue.

How good is their look and feel, how value-added is their content and how nicely designed [re: World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s standards on usability] are these?  Are they as cool as Google and as tempting? One may find the answer in the following:

• Building an Academic Library Website: Experiences and challenges at IISER Mohali. By RAJESHWAR MISHRA and MALLIKARJUN ANGADI,  Journal of Indian Library Association 2011, 47(1) 5-10

Cited sources:

[1] R. W. Ongus, T. D. Kemparaju, and C.M. Nyamboga, “Evaluation of University Websites Targeting English Speaking Users: A Comparative Analysis Of Selected Sites In Developed And Developing Countries”, Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science, vol 11, 2, pp. 61-74, 2006.

[2] Mignon Adams, and Richard M. Dougherty, “How useful is your Homepage? A quick and practical approach to evaluating a library’s website”, College and Research Libraries News, vol 63, 8, pp. .590-92, 2002

[3] Charles Belangar, Joan Mount and Mathew Wilson, “Institutional image and retention”, Tertiary education and management, vol 8, 3, p. 217, 2002.

[4] L.A. Clyde, “The Library as Information Provider: The Home Page”, The Electronic Library, vol 14, 6, pp.549-558, 1996

[5] Sherry Piontek and Kristen Garlock, “Creating a World Wide Web Resource Collection”, Internet Research, vol 6, 4, pp. 20-26, 1996

[6] Pamela Harpel-Burke, “Library homepage design at medium-sized universities: A comparison to commercial homepages via Nielsen and Tahir”, OCLC Systems & Services, vol 21, 3, pp.193 – 208, 2005

[7] Rozic-Hristovski, Anamarija and Dimitar Hristovski Ljupco Todorovski, “Developing a medical library website at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia”, Program: electronic library and information systems, vol 33, 4, pp. 313-325, 1999

[8] R. Raward, “Academic library Website design principles: development of a checklist”, Australian Academic & Research Libraries, vol 32, 2, 2001 Available at http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/aarl/raward.html [inactive link]; see, the Checklist

[9] M. Stover, “Library Web sites: mission and function in the networked Organisation”, Computer in Libraries, vol 17, pp. 55-7, 1997 

[10]Mark Stove and Steven D. Zink, “World Wide Web Home Page Design: Patterns and Anomalies of  Higher Education Library Home Pages”, Reference Services Review, vol 24, pp. 7-20, 1996

On the same shelf:

•  The Mission and Role of the Library Web Site, Mark Stover
• Linda Main. Building Websites for a Multinational Audience. Scarecrow Press, 2002. Information Processing and Management, 40, 2004, 583-585. [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• Content and Workflow Management for Library Websites: Case Studies, Holly Yu (Ed.), Idea Group Inc, Hershey, PA, 2005 (259pp.) International Journal of Information Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, February 2007, Pages 59-60 [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• Melody Y. Ivory. Automated Web Site Evaluation: Researchers' and Practitioners' Perspectives. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.Information Processing and Management, Jan2007, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p. 288-290 [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• UContent: The Information Professional's Guide to User-Generated Content, By Nicholas G. Tomaiuolo, Information Today, Inc. (2012), ISBN-13: 978-1573874250.
• Hock, R. (2002, September/October). A new era of search engines: Not just web pages anymore. Online, 26(5), 31.
• Janowski, A. (2005). Instant web sites! (Just add content). School Library Journal, 51(1), 50-52.
• Sauers, M. P. (2006). Blogging and RSS:  A librarian’s guide.  Medford, NJ:  Information Today
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  Vesey, K. ( 2004). Building a better clicks-and-mortar library. Library Media Connection, 22(7). 
• Young, T. (2002). The weakest link: Library catalogs. Book Report, 20(4), 6-14.