What better way to get your information out there than by using a web site! The amount of information you can provide to students, faculty, parents and administrators is enormous. Not only can web sites be used to provide information, they can also be used as a tool to help gain awareness and fulfill media center goals for success. Media specialists want their students to be successful lifelong learners. The media center web site can open a gateway of information to all who visit.
After looking at web sites, blogs and wikis, I have found for me websites to be easier to navigate. Web sites can be designed to be user friendly and have a nice flow to them. I find wikis to be less appealing and hard to navigate. Blogs are easy to make and seem to be more personal. Web sites that have a nice design and flow to them invite the reader to explore them. Investing in a good design gives the media center web site the blueprints it needs to be a success.
After reading Chapter 6 in our text and the supplemental reading for this blog, I thought of a good useful tool that had not been mentioned. It’s something I find useful in a web site. I like to use a site guide. I love to use a search tool for the site also.
Many of the sites I surfed had links that did not work or were expired or information provided on the site was not up to date. For instance, the North Elementary School Library Media Center site had many resources, but many of the subscriptions had expired. I would remove them until they were back up. I feel it is important to keep the site fresh and updated. You can tell when a site is stale; you can almost feel the cobwebs and the neglect. Keeping the media center web site current will help it to succeed. Keeping your viewers coming back and having the viewer leave the site feeling like they found the site useful is important. All the wonderful tips and information I’ve learned will be such a great help to me when creating my own media center web site in the future.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteWebsite are the most useful tool to advertise the media center and should be easy to navigate. Today they can also be a form of collaboration between students, staff, and the media specialists.
Such a good point you made about the currency of the web site. I wonder if the people in charge of those outdated sites that you explored were not comfortable with website maintanance? It is important that the person in charge has the traning and the comfort level to keep it up to date for its users. I beleive students will not only stop visiting the website but maybe even the media center itself if things are not kept up to date.
I also use the search tool for websites. Good websites will lead me to exactly what I need in a flash. I whole heartedly agree with keeping a website current. It's been true for me too often, that when I attempt to connect to certain links on websites, they are no longer available. Just as you mentioned, it is important for viewers to find your site useful and to return.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy about cobwebs and neglect on websites that have not been managed. This is one area of the media center I hope to be on top on at all times. I do have 2 high school interns with whom I hope to teach and have help manage the website when needed. Nothing is worse than visiting a website and the links are out of date.
ReplyDeleteI agree the links working and up-to-date are key elements to hosting a successful webpage. The range of websites built by media specialists is astounding! Actually I was unaware of just how deficient my school website was until I was required to review others! I was particularly impressed with one school that featured Amazon as a fundraiser. Parents could streamline their purchases through the school; the media center received a portion of the proceeds
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