Lita national forum 2008: web site redesign: perspectives from the field

Presented Saturday, October 18, 2008, at the LITA National Forum. Speakers from four academic libraries talked about various aspects of their web redesign projects and participated in a Q&A after the presentations. Presenters were:

Elizabeth L. “Beth” Black, Systems Librarian, Ohio State University Libraries
Russell Schelby, Systems Developer & Engineer, Ohio State University Libraries
Amelia Brunskill, Liaison Librarian for the Sciences, Dickinson College
Robin Leech, Head, Digital Initiatives, Oklahoma State University Libraries
Edward M. Corrado, Head of Library Technology, Binghamton University

Several themes came through each of the presentations. Usability testing takes time but it’s worth it. Communication is key in any redesign process. Line up your redesign with your library and campus mission and/or strategic plan.
Creating the Web Implementation Team at Ohio State University Libraries
Beth Black and Russell Schelby talked about the creation and guidelines for the Ohio State University Libraries Web Implementation Team (WIT) as a key component to have in place before a redesign. Beth was the head of the WIT, which included new technical positions in the library, and Russell as one of the developers on the team. Slides are available at http://hdl.handle.net/1811/34031.
Team members were recruited not only for technical skills but also for project management skills and interpersonal competencies. Example interview questions were: Tell me about a time you lacked a skill that you needed and how you acquired that skill; Tell me about a time you solved one problem but created others.
The team went through a conscious team building process and developed its own mission statement within the framework of the library and campus. Goals for developing standards were: security, usability, maintainability, and data preservation. …

Tags: Campus, College, National, Science, Sciences, State, University, USA

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