When looking to find information on a place, be it a doctor’s
office, a school, a company, or a vacation spot, my initial inclination is to
go look them up on the internet. I’m
sure I’m not alone in this preference – when I have minimal knowledge of a
location and want to learn, I want to discover it on my own rather than making
a phone call and/or asking questions. I
don’t know why. That’s just how I
function. I hit the internet when I need
directions, hours of operation, specialties, mission statements, reviews, or
anything else that strikes my fancy.
While reviewing various media center websites for this
assignment, I found many that appealed to me.
They typically included names (sometimes with bios), schedules,
policies, helpful links, and most important (at least to me) pictures! I love when pictures of libraries are
included with websites, because they let me be a part of their world. There are several I’d like to visit, for no
other reason than they look really cool.
(Check out McClure Middle School’s media center pictures on flickr: http://mccluremediacenter.edu.glogster.com/mcclure-media-center/ There are two pages, be sure to see both!) I loved those with links using logos rather
than just urls. (Same information, just more
visually appealing.) I was particularly
impressed with media specialists who were able to keep up with a daily
blog.
Those that I didn't particularly care for were those that
were overcrowded with information, especially in small font, had broken links,
or hadn't been updated in quite some time (we’re talking years, not months
here).
I was surprised to find that some of the websites included
social media. It makes sense with this
generation of students, though. I do
find the idea appealing for high school students, though I’m undecided about
middle school and elementary. Though I know students at this age have access to their own devices, I just wonder about the level of interest they'd have in Media Center tweets...
Overall, when creating a media center webpage, I agree with both
Jurkowski and Warlick that keeping the intended audience in mind is
essential. Only when a media center webpage
is utilized by its patrons is it a truly effective tool.
References:
Jurkowski, O. L.
(2010). Technology and the School Library : A Comprehensive Guide for
Media Specialists and Other Educators. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-wgc1.galileo.usg.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMzNzQzOF9fQU41?sid=268b3564-4048-4cb6-8277-a40542129e91@sessionmgr110&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1
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
Relevancy, publicizing, and appealing are the top three qualities of an effective LMC webpage. Elementary school libraries have different needs than high school libraries and the websites for each school level should reflect this. At all levels, the LMC website should offer access to online books. LMS must find a committee of people to help publicize the LMC’s webpage often. Once the website has been designed to be appealing, the results will be a great number of people utilizing the website.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you have stated in your blog about MC web pages. I too like to discover information on my own. I hit the Internet for just about all my questions and needs. It’s just easier. My school system has revamped their webpages and decided to go with another company. I have been in the process of creating my Media Center page and have looked at multiple other web pages that are too much irrelevant information, broken links, and out-of-date information or just had information about policies and procedures. Just like you stated, these types of webpages do not draw the viewer’s interest. I checked out McClure’s webpage and loved how Ms. Harpin created so many links and pages that made me want to visit her media center. Her creativity drew me in and made me quite envious of her glog and website. I will definitely be checking it out again in the next few days to view in depth her logos and all the information she gives. I definitely agree with your last state about how we have to keep our intended audience in mind when creating our webpage’s.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I am with you! I am a picture person. The websites that appeal to me are the ones with lots of color and pictures. Thanks for including the McClure middle school site. I just added it to my top ten! I love that they have a link to flickr, with pics of their media center. I also love the interactive quality of the glog! Looks like a happening place! And a daily blog by the media specialist is awesome. How hard could it be to sit down and type out a paragraph or two? But what a great way to keep the site updated!
ReplyDeleteThough I do like the colorful ones, here is a link to a high school website that was so jam packed with info, I couldn't help but be impressed! But it didn't feel overcrowded. Check out the iPad page with all of its great resources; even bloom's taxonomy for iPads. Wow!