Stap isi

14 February 2011

Shown the way by San Jose

Ever worked on the information architecture of a library site or section?

Labels like “information services”, “electronic resources” and “online databases” will send you mad. They describe their contents adequately to librarians, but to anyone else?

I had the good fortune recently to meet Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black and Assistant Director for the San Rafael Public Library.

In her previous role as Digital Futures Manager of San Jose Public Library, Sarah developed – fought for – the best information architecture I’ve come across on a library website.

Here is a snapshot of the top level sections:

• Books and Media – access to catalogues, readers’ advisory services, eBooks and book clubs; I like the link If We Don’t Have Your Book… which takes you to inter-library loans information and an opportunity to tell us what to buy
• Downloads – access to eBooks, audio books and music, plus subscription databases offering newspapers and journals; importantly, help pages for all these too, like New User’s Guide… and Supported Devices
• Services – information aimed at typical user groups (e.g. children, teens), plus the nitty gritty on photocopying, wireless and web access
• Research and Homework – here be electronic resources, under Find Articles Online and Homework Help; interestingly, also Local History Online
• News & Events – the library blog, whose usefulness is maximised by categorising posts and piping them into the sections above, very nicely done
• Locations – hours and locations, plus map

In her blog post on the redeveloped website she says:

We don’t use the words “database” or “OPAC.” We chose words that our users actually told us they wanted us to use.

Yes, they did user testing and Sarah has stats.

I’ve now forgotten the precise numbers she quoted, but from memory “Downloads” tested over 80%, more than double the recognition for “online databases”. The choice of labels may surprise you, but they are based on user vocabularies.

Dig through the site. There is lots to learn, and borrow.

— b3rn   design, ia, libraries   Feb 14, 09:13 PM   #   Comment

1 January 2010

The hardest working public servant in gov 2.0

With all the buzz at a conceptual (social media, gov 2.0) and brand (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) level, we sometimes overlook the most important bit. It’s also the most humble.

Hail up the link. Or, hyperlink if you’re feeling 1990s.

The world wide web is predicated on each discrete chunk of data or information having a unique address.

Don’t believe me?

I can reference Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau’s seminal paper WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project published November 12, 1990. But most importantly I can link to it.

The world wide web is designed to be a platform for sharing. We can point to things, and we can point to information about things.

So – URIs, URLs, web addresses. Everybody gets it. Sort of.

Continued...

— b3rn   design, urls, web teams   Jan 1, 06:08 PM   #   Comment

22 March 2009

Can we get more vim into local government promotion?

Councils are not very good at promoting events. We rarely use humour and never set out to surprise or shock.

Looking at our promotional material you see an ersatz Australia where everything is just middling. You know the place – it’s well signposted by WordArt arcs and oh so apt clip art (stick guy scratching his head! 50s cartoon man giving a thumbs up!).

Council staff, bless them, retain a touching faith in the pulling power of stapled newsletters, colour (!) laser-printed A3 posters and photocopied Publisher flyers (on coloured paper!). If a designer is contracted, the brief is anodyne.

Yet we’re out there competing for attention with sophisticated agency-created marketing campaigns and raw, authentic cultural products in musical, magazine and video form. Attention is fleeting and our constituents are adept consumers. Most ignore our material because they don’t live in this bland parallel universe.

I’d go as far as to say most Council-run events that do get good numbers do so in spite of their promotion.

And now – the internet and social media. Where the same routine is being played out. Except instead of posters on noticeboards, it’s “can you put this on the front page of the website?”

One too many of those has inspired this rant. That, and a very good blog post 19 paying punters can’t be wrong.

— b3rn   design, marketing, promotion   Mar 22, 03:33 PM   #   Comment [1]