If we want
our media centers to be perceived as the hub of the school, then we need to be
providing the information our clients are looking for. As Warlick states in his article Building
Web Sites that work for your Media Center, “At the heart of this article
and your school library media Web site is communication—delivering messages
across a digital and networked information environment that add value to the
services that we provide.” While this generally means things like book talks,
links to external research sites and other literature based information it can
also include other links, like homework help and school used educational sites
that make the media center web site the go to location for students and parents
alike. By offering our clients ‘one stop shopping’ we are ensuring that the
media center is the hub, both at school and at home.
Consider the idea that a media center Web site is really no different than a business. You need to attract visitors and offer compelling information that draws them back for repeat business and meets their needs. (Warlick, 2005) Assessing the needs of your community and student population is an important factor in this process.
Maintaining
a Web site once you have decided on the content, in my opinion, is more
difficult than choosing what to include.
Despite the constraints on our time and resources, keeping our web site
up to date is crucial. “The ability to update the website and provide a place
to locate resources as soon as they change is more important than ever” (Jurkowski,
2010). Sadly, I think that the answer to
this is to limit the amount of information that requires weekly updates and
focusing on information that can updated monthly instead. This doesn’t mean
that some information shouldn’t be included that is time sensitive. However, by offering the information early,
you have the ability to keep it posted for several weeks before it becomes
outdated. Selecting links that are consistent
and not likely to change decrease the maintained issue as well.
Creating and maintaining an easy to use, inclusive Web site designed with the needs of our students and community is no longer an option. In order to become a resource our school can’t do without, we need to be providing needed information not only in school, but out of school as well.
References
Jurkowski, O. (2010). Library 2.0 and beyond: Innovative technologies and tomorrow’s user. Westport,
CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Warlick, D. “Building web sites that
work for your media center.” Knowledge
Quest. 13-15 http://medt7477spring2013.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf
I love how you used a real life example with your second grader as an opening statement. Students of this generation are certainly more comfortable than those of previous ones with technology, and like you said, the Media Specialists must be the ones to take on the challenge of providing for these students. One thing that I have found, is that because students are SO comfortable with navigating the internet and websites, they tend to be a bit less patient with disorganization and misinformation. If the site does not provide the patron with what the patron went looking for in a clear and obvious way, then the patron will more than likely steer clear of the website from there on out. This is the same with outdated information. It is human nature to make first impressions about things, and if the first impression of a website is bad then it will stick. I agree with you in perhaps limiting information to things that only need to be updated monthly, but even then the media specialist would need to ensure that he/she had alternative ways of keeping the site fresh and appealing.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the purpose of a media center webpage; it can be a place for people to share happenings and events in the media center, but it can also be an information hub for all of the various stakeholders involved in schools…students, teachers, parents, community, etc. I like your thought of it being “one stop shopping” and thinking of it like a business – by including links to needed things outside the media center, you are sure to get more visitors more frequently. More visitors also means more positive attention being drawn to the media center – a definite win!
ReplyDeleteI agree about the maintenance of websites being perhaps more difficult than deciding what to include when designing it. Too often, people get enthused when creating something because it’s new and fresh…but once the newness wears off, it gets a little neglected. With websites, however, not only will information and links become outdated over time, but visitors of the website will be less likely to return if it is never updated. You offer a great solution to set up your webpage with limiting the information that needs to be updated frequently and post information early.
I love the story you included in the first part of your post. It is so typical for students to stay they have completed their homework. However, I do love the fact that the students can complete online activities that are prescribed as homework. I think it provides a great alternative to the pencil and paper methods that have been used for so many years. I even think children will be more likely to complete homework activities if they can do them on a computer, provided they have one. Most students I talk to seem to love using the computer and I think this alternative will break up the monotony of the paper pencil method. That being said, I foresee the media center webpage as a place where students can seek and receive help as can their parents. On my school media center website, it offers many resources and links for parents and other community members. The true benefit is that is helps the parents in our community that are limited English proficient and who may speak Spanish. It gives them an alternative for accessing materials to assist their children in their native language.
ReplyDeleteI want to first say that I love it that teachers can post homework on their school web pages and assign homework using computer programs. My 5th grader last year had most of her homework online. I wasn’t so sure I liked it at first, but when I saw that she would do the homework without complaint, I was onboard! I like your idea of having this information “housed” within the media webpage. That would give more exposure to the media center and make the “presence” known. You pointed out that it is important to keep up to date information on the website. As you stated, this can be accomplished by offering information a few weeks early, before it is outdated. As experts in media, it is important for the media webpage to be kept up to date so that we can appear as “leaders” in this area. Something that I also feel is important is to make the site aesthetically appealing so that users will WANT to use it. I think a lot of sites are too dull for students to want to use. Our students are our primary patrons so I feel that the site should be tailored so that they will want to use it, and include enough valuable information where teachers and parents will want to use it too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your example you mentioned about the 2nd grade student who was using technology to do her homework. I teach kindergarten and I must say that my students are very tech savvy for their age. They know how to search websites, use a mouse and navigate on websites. They love using the computer and using technology whenever possible. I liked how you emphasized for school media centers should be considered important hubs at the school with a great deal of important information to share. Having homework and other educational sites on the site would be very useful to students and parents. Additionally, research sites and literary based information links would be beneficial as well.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that a media center website should be considered like running a business is an important analogy. You do have to promote what is on the website to get people to view the website and return for additional viewing. It is important to offer compelling information and to meet the needs of the clients and supporters of the media center.
Additionally, you mentioned that it is extremely crucial to keep the website updated as currently as possible. This is a daunting task that is time consuming but must be done to keep the website relevant and updated.