Post #3 - Media Center Websites
In 2013, everyone has a website! You can find websites for everything imaginable;
even some animals have their own sites (Bo, President Obama’s dog [http://www.obama-dog.com],
and Clifford [http://pbskids.org/clifford/index-brd-flash.html], even grumpy
cats [http://www.grumpycats.com]. According
to Wikipedia, there are more than 40 different types of websites (personal
websites, rating websites, humor sites, government sites, etc.)! As in any other media format, some sites are
really awesome and some look like the young student next door put it together. In researching this topic, the area of web
design provides a plethora of dialog regarding the highly complex and
subjective task of website design. It is
almost guaranteed that no matter the design of any website and its
implementation, monitoring will be required, and most definitely, changes will
be essential to the growth of the website.
Our text brought to our attention a wealth of information
regarding websites. The first and
foremost step in design should be setting a goal of the site, and then detailed
planning to provide the means to succeed.
Looking at the different stakeholders, determining the use of the site,
providing relevant and accurate links, even determining color, text, and layout
of the site is necessary. Thinking of
these things in advance can help tremendously with the design. Jurkowski even lists different priorities that
should be considered so that all areas of a site are adequately covered.
Technology has progressed quickly enough in the last decade
that it’s hard to imagine a school and/or media center that doesn’t have its
own website. A website becomes a great
location to, not only publicize your media center and the wonderful things that
take place there, but to utilize a central location to inform students, parents,
teaches, administration and community members of the many things that take
place within and outside the walls the media center.
Jurkowski, O.L.
(2010). Technology and the school library.
Lanham, MD. Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Ting, I. H., Kimble, C., &
Kudenko, D. (2004, September). Visualizing and classifying the pattern of
user’s browsing behavior for website design recommendation. In International
Workshop on Knowledge Discovery in Data Stream, Pisa, Italy (Vol. 24, pp.
101-102).
You shared that there are over 40 different types of websites. I never thought about websites being categorized like that before. I agree with you that monitoring the media website is a must. Especially in a school things are always changing and the media center is definitely a place that should be up to date for all of its patrons. Setting up a plan can be a team decision. Each school has their own needs and diverse set of users. As long as the users’ needs are considered in the planning of the web site I think it is off to a good start. Establishing a list of priorities in order of importance will make sure that the site covers everything that is needed. The media center is definitely a central location to house everything that is needed for all patrons.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is there are many websites with a lot of information to share. The bad news is there is a lot of garbage and self-proclaimed experts out there on the web. One of the activities I do with students is evaluating websites. They are given a rubric and rate the sites given. After they complete their evaluations I then showed them where you find out about the authors, usually on the same site. One of the sites they rate the highest was created by a nine year old, they were shocked. The site look very official and looked like a professional created it.
ReplyDeleteJurkowski’s (2010) priorities are worth considering when planning website. The most important thing to consider is who your audience is. You also need to make things consistent throughout your site so the reader understands the navigation. I like the idea of making the sides filled with information and links that rarely change and most of the changes are kept larger and in the middle. This tends to capture the attention of the visitor.
I think one of the most important things you mention is the importance of monitoring your website. Something that turns people off is than looking at old information. If you see an event that happened months ago and it is in the forefront that just tells the viewer there is nothing new so why go further.
Media Center websites serve as tools that extend beyond the media center and sometimes the school, itself. Somewhat related to how you mentioned 40 different varieties of websites, media centers often find themselves having to integrate many of those types of websites into its own websites to become a legitimate resource for teachers and students. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website#Types_of_websites
ReplyDeleteSince the essential duties of the media center is to disseminate information and present the best resources as possible, many school librarians often resort to finding as many sources as possible to reach student body and teachers who all possess different interests and needs through the course of a school year or term. It almost becomes secondary for media specialists to explore and analyze websites that hold enough educational value and relevance to incorporate into the media center's website. Oftentimes, these websites fall into categories of reference materials (such as online encyclopedias or dictionaries) or
More traditionally, media centers (website) existed early on in order to promote operations of the individual media center. As one would see with more primitive media center sites or one's which are in desperate need of being updated, many websites only discuss the main day to day operations in the media centers, such as policies and procedures (which maybe outdated), activities that take place in media center, and sometimes a few links to outside sites (which may also be outdated). Even though website maintenance is an issue that varies from school to school, it still shows that many media center websites often remain short sighted in the way it presents content or how much vital content it could present on its website. On more up-to-date SMC websites, you can find a great number of resources for students that are concentrated in topics for math, science, social studies, language arts, foreign languages, and even arts/entertainment. You can also check on other libraries in the community, county, city, or district. There's also teacher resources to search through, as well as links to governmental websites, databases for any subject, homework help websites, research websites, and even fun websites were educational values are not comprimised.
I liked your analogy about how creative websites are these days. I agree with your suggestion that the websites need to be maintained and updated frequently. With the ever changing topics and information available, the media specialist should keep the website current and relevant. To attract more viewers to the website, it would be beneficial for the media specialist to create a creative and unique page that offers useful information for teachers, students, stakeholders and parents. While viewing media center websites for another class assignment, I did find generally well organized sites. Many had book circulation policies and helpful educational links.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, planning is a crucial and important step when designing a website. Much thought must be given by the media specialist as to what links and information would best suit the school. Setting a goal of what is to be accomplished on the site is equally as important. Additionally, you mentioned that the media center website should be a place for others to retrieve important information about the media center. Lastly, the website should be a good reflection of the great and impressive things the school is doing, that needs to be publicized to the school and community.