Videoconference · 1 October 2003 · 1 to 4 p.m.
MOLO Regional Library System Training Center

Remote Access Users: A New World of Opportunity for Libraries

Presenting the Virtual Library

Presentation Slides | Related Links | Developer Resources

Quality content sets a "Virtual Library" apart from a traditional web site. To keep up with community expectations as the population of Internet users grows, libraries are offering more full-text resources, community information services, and media-rich archives. The library web site is the usual "gateway" to this content, and should be:

• Easy to find
• Easy to use
• Accessible to all
• Attractive

Easily found sites have memorable URLs, a title, and basic meta tags.
Ease of use is achieved though good site structure and design.
Accessibility follows from adherence to web standards.
Attractiveness depends on the fit of interface design with the site's purpose and audience.

The ideal is elusive but not impossible. There are many fine resources available to help us create a usable web, make it better, and develop our skills in the process. The links listed here were chosen to illustrate a point, provide examples that work, or simply inspire. Some of the best references are also listed under Developer Resources, which is a very selective list of informative sites that support current web standards.

Presentation Slides

• Slides (HTML | PowerPoint)
• Printable handout (PDF, 120KB, grayscale) with slides and lines for notes

Related Links (by Slide Number)

I. Introduction

• (3) Content is King
  • Definition and Purposes of a Digital Library
    Association of Research Libraries, 1995.
• (4) Mooer's Law
  • Mooer's Law
    "An information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him to not have it." —Calvin Mooer. Mooer's Law was first articulated in American Documentation, 11(3) (July 1960), p.ii. Reiterated in: Bulletin of the American Society of Information Science, 23(1), October/November 1996, p. 22-23.

II. The Virtual Library Entrance

• (7) What makes your site easy to find?
  • www.citifare.com is a good example of a domain with an alias. When you go to this Web address, you land at http://www.rtcwashoe.com/transportation/citifare/
  • W3 Schools Meta Tags Tutorial
  • Dublin Core Metadata in the RLG Information Landscape
  • Metadata
    Good collection of resources, including a Dublin Core Generator (DC-dot) that create dc metadata and display it as XHTML Meta tags or as RDF/XML. A short introduction to the Resource Description Framework is also available. UKOLN. (UK Office for Library and Information Networking, at the University of Bath)
• (8) Marketing helps!
  • Marketing the Library: Training Modules for Public Library Staff
  • Marketing Ideas for Libraries
    Recent Bibliography by Beth Carpenter of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System, Wisconsin.
• (9) What makes your site hard to find?
  • [Frames] University of Nevada, Reno Libraries' previous home page
    Example of a site that uses a browser-sniffing script and frames written on the fly. Using frames does not break the back button and delivers a page that is customized for browser-capabilities from Lynx through Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 7, without or without javascript turned on! Unfortunately, we had to maintain 4 graphical web pages and one text only version of the home page to do this. A good argument for coding to standards!
  • DeLaMare's special home page for Netscape 4 and other old browsers
    Example of using an "Back" link to work around breaking the back button with an "onload" script. When visitors go to http://www.delamare.unr.edu they get a standards-compliant page or a custom page for older browsers. The "Back" link is a tiny JavaScript that goes back 2 steps in the browser's history, skipping the page with the onload script:  <a class="top" href="javascript:history.go(-2)">Back</a>.

III. Designing the Virtual Library

• (11) Good design is invisible
  • Designing with Web Standards
    Jeffrey Zeldman. Companion site to book of the same title. If you read only one technical book this year, make it this one. Amazon has 41 free sample pages
  • A List Apart
    Jeffrey Zeldman's articles for "people who make websites."
  • Eric Meyer on CSS
    Companion site to Meyer's important book. Practical advice and well-documented examples.
• (12) Good design includes online services
  • Zoomerang
    Free Web surveys
  • FSO: FreeSurveysOnline.com
  • Google > Computers > Software > Marketing > Surveys
  • Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries
    Includes a variety of notable innovative services with links to both public and academic libraries. Wilton Library Reference, Wilton Library Association, Wilton, CT.
  • HumanClick
    Hosted chat software.
  • Library Spot
    A "Virtual Reference Desk" with some additional content. Curiously, it appears to be both "the competition" for libraries, and a resource for librarians.
  • Librarians Index to the Internet
    For current topics of high interest, a link to a "Current Themes" resource page may be all you need to make useful information available quickly.
• (13) Make your web searchable
  • Information Foraging: Why Google Makes People Leave Your Site Faster
    Why web searchers hunt like animals, by Jakob Nielsen.
  • If you cannot provide your own search engine, you can create a free customized Google search that will search your domain (requires registration). The search below was created in less than a minute, using the defaults:

    WWW UNR Libraries DeLaMare Library

• (14) Play to your audience
  • Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
    Has kids and teens sections. Has it's own "HealthLink Plus" site. Offers to translate its web pages to other languages.
  • Text too small to read?
    Instructions for making browser font bigger. Psyclick.org.uk: stuff for prospective clinical psychologists
  • Larger Text?
    Concise and correct. W3 Schools.
  • Technical Support Form
    A form that elicits information needed to respond to technical problems. University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
• (15) Provide Learning Tools
  • For K-12 Students
    • Burlington Public Library's Teen Zone
      A nice "homework help" site. Burlington Public Library in Ontario, CA
    • Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation Guide and APA Citation Guide.
      Ohio State University Library.
    • Who Said That? How to Cite Electronic Resources
      Education World. 
  • For Adults and Seniors
    • Open University's Open Library
      Good example of comprehensive, organized subject and other specialized help for distance learners and lifelong learners.
    • Information Retrieval Skills for Distance Learners and Information Skills Support
      University of Leicester, UK.
• (16) Add new media
  • The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing
    William E. Kasdorf, editor. Comprehensive reference guide.
  • Online Information Sources for UNR Alumni and Library Friends
    Free databases and free online journals.
  • Electronic Journal Miner
    Searchable directory, with limit options for "Free Publications" and "Peer Reviewed Publications." Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (CARL).
  • Sources for Free Electronic Books
    Short list from University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
  • netLibrary
    Subscription electronic books
  • Milne Library- Electronic Texts
    Includes a selection of Digital Collections. SUNY Oneonta.
• (17) Web Portals
  • Portal Webliography
    Eric Lease Morgan, developer of MyLibrary portal application.
  • Brarydog
    A public library portal. Homework help and web companion. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
  • Reference Tools
    Create a Custom Reference Tools Page. Hennepin County Library, Minnesota.
• (18) Resource Integration
  • Development of an OpenURL Standard
    California Institute of Technology.
  • Top Trends [in Technology Issues]
    Select links to information about Open URLs and Metasearching (cross-database searching). ALA/LITA.
• (19) Usability
  • Usability 101
    "Iterative design is the best way to increase the quality of user experience. The more versions and interface ideas you test with users, the better." —Jakob Nielsen.
  • Bobby
    Test web pages for barriers to accessibility. Bobby will report potential problems as well as real ones.
  • Section 508
    Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards.

Additional Developer Resources