Website+Pros+and+Cons

=Building your Library Website Pros & Cons= What were the best/worst issues that you have with your website design? Panelists, please add in your thoughts/comments where appropriate. (initial your entries as well.)

Design by Committee
See webcomic: []

The first thing "we" always seem to do is to set up a committee of well-rounded individuals in an organization to design the new website. But will this really get you the website your organization needs? or just satisfy those on the committee? See this video on Designing the Stop Sign: [] (alt URL: []) --wns

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Bottom Line: Don't Forget WHO the website is being created for: Your Patrons. Remember that you want to portray your library as a valuable resource in the community -- so the website needs to embrace the community as a whole, but yet also lead them to the future. --wns

Danielle and Wynne both work with other agencies/committees on their sites content and design, mostly working within certain guidelines of branding.

In-house Design
As the in-house designer at the South Dakota State Library, I've worked with the current website for the past 4 years. I have learned by experience what works, and what doesn't. This valuable knowledge helps greatly as I build the new website -- focusing on my efforts to make the website easier for the end user. --wns

Time Consuming: is one of the few Cons I can think of -- I dedicate valuable time every day/month/etc in pulling Google Analytics reports, user testing, and generally tweaking code. For the website, I am technically a team of 1: if I am out of the office, there are limited things I can do if an issue arises. --wns

Hosting and Domain Registration: This was brought up by Karla Bieber from Mobridge. "Don't always go for a big name." She found that one of the most popular hosting and domain registrars she was considering had several very intimidating and long (8-32 pages) user agreements. The cost was also more expensive than what she could afford. She ended up calling around her community and found a host and domain registar that had the perfect price with a simple, average user agreement. Bottom Line: Research your options. (I place this in "In-House Design" as the in-house people usually work with this directly. However, it is good to keep control of this as a client, never-the-less.) --wns



Software? What kinds of software do we use?
Wynne: For Design and Layout, I use Adobe's Dreamweaver. I can control all aspects of the website -- the coding, the Cascading Style Sheets, and the content.

Danielle Loftus: Here at USD, we use a content management system call CommonSpot for our website, but also use LibGuides for subject, course and other help info, and many of us have set up wikis and blogs using RSS. We’ve also run a few focus groups.

Outsourcing
Outsourcing, in this context, is when you hire an outside agency to build a product (your website) for your use.
 * Communication
 * Costs
 * Technical Support
 * Editing Content

Blogs & Wikis
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Peg from Potter County Library ([|www.pottercountylibrary.blogspot.com]) shares her experience: We use a blog for a website because it is free and I haven't found anyone who will build and maintain a "real" website for us at no cost. Benefits include: Wish I had done the following differently:
 * It was easy -- do it myself
 * I can do it from anywhere without knowing html
 * It allows links and pictures
 * It shows up when you do google searches and on google alerts for Gettysburg or for Potter County Library
 * We get people from afar, especially historians, who stop in because they found us on the Internet
 * I haven't yet taken the time to learn how to do photos or anything else that isn't strictly text and
 * I want to make more use of the tools available on my blog

Web Trends
Social Networks are great ways to reach your audience, used effectively. It is incredibly easy with Twitter to inform people know what's going on. Facebook is just the same, and has the added benefits of sharing photos and announcing events in a platform where many people (young and old) can see on a daily basis. I'm on Facebook, but gave up Twitter. Facebook is the only way to reach our teens. They don't use their email anymore, but are addicted to Facebook. --Peg. But many web trends, are just that: Trends. Bloglines users have been notified that the service is ending October 1. Luckily Google Reader still appears to be going strong. Either way, we need to have the ability to adapt: To embrace new trends and technologies, and to be prepared when they pass.