1. Go where it is
   
2. Corollary: Who Cares?
3. The answer depends on the question
   
4. Research is a multi-stage process
   
5. Ask a Librarian
   
6. Information is meaningless until queried by human intelligence
7. Information can be true and still wrong
8. Pay attention to the jokes

1. Tara Calishain
2. Jenny Levine, part I
3. Jenny Levine, Part II
4. Reva Basch
5. Sue Feldman
6. Jessamyn West
7. Debbie Abilock
8. Kathy Schrock
9. Greg Notess
10. William Hann
11. Chris Sherman
12. Gary Price
13. Barbara Quint
14. Rory Litwin
15. John Guscott
16. Brian Smith
17. Darlene Fichter
18. Brenda Bailey-Hainer
19. Walt Crawford
20. Molly Williams
21. Genie Tyburski
22. Patrice McDermott
23. Carrie Bickner
24. Karen G. Schneider
25. Roddy MacLeod, Part I
26. Roddy MacLeod, Part II
27. John Hubbard
28. Micki McIntyre
29. Péter Jacsó
30. the "It's All Good" bloggers
31. the "It's All Good" bloggers, part 2

WHAT'S NOT ON YOUR WEB SITE?

by Marylaine Block

In the process of researching my next book, I've been exploring library web sites, from the standpoint not of a librarian, but of a reasonably sophisticated user searching for specific kinds of information about those libraries. And though I've come across some really wonderful sites that show off alll their libraries have to offer, I have to say I've been pretty disappointed by quite a few of the others.

You see, the web sites per se were not what interested me. They were mechanisms for finding out about the libraries themselves. Here are some of the things I was looking for, and too often did not find:

• Photos and a virtual tour of the library: Shouldn't your web site give us a reason to turn off our computers, get dressed, and go to your library to enjoy the facilities and staff portrayed there? If you've got a building that makes our spirits soar, or looks and feels like the community's living room, show it to us. If there are gorgeous views and a community garden outside, show it to us. If you've got a funky, fun teen area, or a knock-your-socks-off children's room, with vibrant colors and art and activities no kid could resist, let us see it. If you've got a great art gallery or local history room, show it off. If your library is the town's favorite place to meet and chat -- the famous front steps and guardian lions of the New York Public Library, for instance -- show us that. You could do it as a self-guided photo tour, like the Southfield (MI) Public Library's <http://www.sfldlib.org/virtual/tourhome.html>, or as a clickable library map, like the River Falls (WI) Public Library's <http://www.rfcity.org/library/tour/> (which uses it to not only show pictures but demonstrate services available in each room). Or you could run it as a continuous slide show flashing on your home page, which is how the Princeton (NJ) Public Library shows off its new building <http://www.princeton.lib.nj.us/>

• Tell us all the neat things your library has to offer, both online and in person. And do tell us in our language, not library jargon. Don't hide your full-text magazines and newspapers and reference materials under not-particularly-meaningful words like DATABASES or ELECTRONIC RESOURCES when you could list them as MAGAZINE ARTICLES or NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, or under a "How Do I Find..." menu of categories like ARTICLES or ENCYCLOPEDIAS. (And incidentally, don't miss the opportunity to tell us, with thanks, that these expensive resources are paid for by our tax dollars.) What do you do that nobody else does? Tell us directly, on your front page. about unique resources you've created, like obituary indexes or guides to information on local authors.

• Community information. Lead us to information about your local government, schools, businesses, cultural and service organizations, because often what we need to know is who can solve our problems, or who we can connect with. Remember that people from across the country or around the world may arrive at your web site, knowing nothing at all about your community. Give us a reason to think well of it, or even come visit, why don't you?

• How responsive are you to community problems? I fwas disappointed that so few libraries post information on their front pages about local crises or important community events. When the Base Reallocation and Closure recommendations were released in May, I explored many web sites of libraries in communities near bases scheduled for closure, and found few that posted links to the report itself, related documents, or statements by community leaders. Perhaps the assumption was that local newspapers were covering it adequately, but I can assure you, they were not; there's no substitute for being able to read the original documents in their entirety.

  When Dateline ran a report on the Most Dangerous Roads in America <http://www.msnbc.com/modules/tvnews/dtl_dangerousroads2005/form.asp>, three of them were in the Phoenix area. I checked the otherwise outstanding Phoenix Public Library web site during the week following that report, and there was no link on the home page to that report or to related information, though it must surely have triggered a lot of questions. Few of the libraries in Washington near Mt. St. Helens posted information about the volcano prominently on their front pages this past May, despite the 10-year anniversary of the eruption and the fact that the mountain has been rumbling and steaming again. Major community celebrations I checked out -- festivals, races, and county fairs -- sometimes went unheralded on their public libraries' web sites as well, without any links to the events' official web sites or schedules.

  Now, maybe only a few people would look to their library's web site for such critical community information, but shouldn't the ones who do be able to find it there?

• An About the Library page. It's always nice to know who's who at the library, what your goals are, and how you go about achieving them.

• Who's in charge? I needed to know because I hoped to ask the library directors about their strategies for success, but other users simply want and expect accountability. Who do we complain to, make suggestions to, interview for news stories, or talk to about possible donations or collaborations? The director's name should be readily available on the web site, along with contact information (phone, e-mail and fax).

• Annual report and strategic plan: the annual report tells us how well you've spent our tax dollars, and measures your success with documented achievements. The annual report tells us where you've been; the strategic plan, if you have one, tells us where you're going in the future, and how your goals help your community achieve its dreams and desires. These are more than just useful information for citizens; the act of posting them is also a public statement that you are willing to be open and accountable.

• Construction updates: If you're in the process of designing or constructing a new building or addition, give us an ongoing slide show, new pictures posted every week if not oftener. That's not just for the benefit of your community residents, though we will enjoy being sidewalk superintendents from the comfort of our desks; it's for the library's benefit. Every new photo heightens your users' anticipation and increases a sense of ownership. You can also use those pages to encourage people to donate to the project, with engraved bricks or benches or items on your wish list.

• Are you interested in our opinions? Are there mechanisms on your web page for us to talk back? Can we e-mail library staff, post our own reviews in your reading recommendations, or participate in an online book discussion? Can the library's youngest users contribute poems and stories and art work to an online journal?

• Give us some hint of the character and personality of the people who make your library work. We can tell a little of this from your web page design, the programs you choose to sponsor, and the way you describe them on your web site. We can tell more from the library's newsletter -- you do put it online, don't you? -- and from your librarians' observations about books in your readers' advisory pages.

  But one of the best ways for librarians to un-bun their image is through library weblogs. The informal, chatty nature of the medium encourages bloggers to reveal their personalities, through the items and issues they select, their observations about them, and their openness to comments. If your librarians are acessible through IM as well, that too is a statement about both technology and personality.

  I wanted to talk about your web sites partly because I think it's a tragic waste when good libraries don't exploit their best public relations vehicle to show off their many excellences to users and non-users alike. But I also raise the issue because your site represents more than your own specific library; it contributes to the overall public impression of LIBRARIES.

  If your sites are blah and boring and stodgy, they won't entice new users AND they'll contribute to the eat-your-spinach image of our entire profession. If your sites fail to show off a wonderful building that people love, they won't entice your community to visit AND they won't show libraries as warm, dynamic, inviting community spaces. If your sites are mysterious about the who and how of spending your tax dollars, they add to existing public suspicion about all government bureaucracies.

  So, for all the librarians whose web sites already show their libraries off beautifully, thank you. For librarians who aren't quite there yet, I hope, for the benefit of your community AND the good name of the profession we love, that you'll design a web site as good as your library. Or design one that's even better than your library, and then set about making the library live up to it.

  * * * * *

  COOL QUOTE:

  Get rid of Marian the Librarian, but remember what else we do, too. Please. We hold hands. We open eyes. We walk through doors with people through the information we provide. We boldly go where no one has gone before, through teaching people to read, showing them new possiblities, giving them options. One piece of information has the power to change someone's life, and we get to do it every day. Every day!

  "On the Good Ship Librarian." FeelGoodLibrarian, June 29, 2005 http://feelgoodlibrarian.typepad.com/feelgood_librarian/
  2005/06/on_the_good_shi.html

  * * *

  You are welcome to copy and forward any of my own articles (but not those by my guest writers) for noncommercial purposes as long as you credit ExLibris and cite the permanent URL for the article. Please do NOT copy and post my articles to your own web sites, however. Instead, please copy a brief excerpt and link to the URL for the remainder of the article.

  Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians and Other Information Junkies.
  http://marylaine.com/exlibris/
  Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2005.

  [Publishers may license the content for a reasonable fee.]