Web Site Design With the Patron in Mind: A Step-By-Step Guide for Libraries

A library's web site is the face of the institution in the virtual world. If users don't quickly, easily, and intuitively find what they need, they will move on to other sites - possibly for good. Librarians understand the importance of usability for other library services, but while most libraries have a web site, many sites don't adequately address the needs of key users. In this engaging, nontechnical guide, Davidsen and Yankee take readers step-by-step through the process of creating a user-friendly web presence for the library. Step-by-step web site design and redesign instructions and bibliography all contribute to this highly usable and timely guide. You don't have to be a web design specialist, technical genius, or information architect to create a user-friendly site. For those assuming the role of librarian-webmaster in all library settings, this guide will help you to: Tailor the process to meet the needs of their particular audience; Collect the right data to do the job; Develop site goals, mission, and vision; Determine how much planning or redesign the site requires; Follow through with an organized, prepared approach; Featuring a web design process that focuses on users' behavior, needs, and habits, this practical resource helps librarians look at sites from their patrons' perspective. Using this systematic approach and the tools provided, librarians from different sizes and kinds of libraries will be able to develop patron friendly web sites.