Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Website Features

Hello Librarians,

I met with Mark K. last week to discuss what we want our library page on the Student Portal to look like. Obviously, we will have some technical limits, but right now we have the opportunity share as many ideas and "wants" as possible, and I'd like to take advantage of that.

What are some features that you think we absolutely MUST have on the new page (if you like any that we have now, I suggest including those in your list).

What are some features that you'd like to have but may not be essential?

What are things you don't want to see on the new page?

Think outside the box on this one. Let's not just stick with links (although include those if you want) but also the way that individuals navigate to services, how we group services together, how we link out to resources, information about libraries that you want to include on the pages, interactive elements, etc.

Thanks-

6 comments:

Amy Springer said...

I have been really trying to plug E-books lately.. and students seem confused by the process to locate E-books since they are currently under the same link as Books/Catalogs/Videos.

Maybe "NetLibrary eBooks" could have eBooks bolded because students are not recognizing the name NetLibrary.

Anonymous said...

Good point, Amy. I'm running into that as well. Also, I think this may add to the confusion when we're trying to get students to cite NetLibrary as a database.

I like the drop-down for the databases.

Would we be able to incorporate something similar to the grid handout (databases by program/subject area) onto the website?

Sara said...

Possibly, instead of having it say 'Articles' have it say 'Databases for articles', or something similar.

Emily said...

To all who have posted thus far:

These are excellent, simple changes that we can address with ease.

Have any of your students offered up questions or concerns about using some of our resources? Something they didn't know how to get to, or didn't understand how to use, or wanted to have increased functionality?

Chandra said...

A student asked if there was a way to search all the databases at once.

The same student also suggested a workshop on choosing the right database to fit your needs. That's why I like Hilary's idea of incorporating the grid onto the website.

I also agree with Sara's suggestion about modifying the label for the page of databases. That would be especially helpful for students working on (ugh) TKA6.

Chandra said...

I like our current handouts and text-based instructions for accessing and using our resources, but I don't think many students read those. In addition to the handouts, I'd like us to have demonstration videos/clips for how to access and use the catalog, a sample database, etc. Maybe there could even be a "click here, now type this" interactive tutorial, similar to the SAM program that comes with the Excel course--something that students can follow along and do as a means of learning how to navigate the catalog and databases.