Sawyer Library Web Team

2005-06-17T16:53:00.000-04:00

I think that's it!

So, I just finished the web site documentation and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I saved it to the webteam folder on “Shared on ‘Helen\Sawyerlibrary\’ (G:)” drive. The file is called "libweb-documentation.doc" Scintillating reading, if I do say so myself...

If you have further questions, feel free to get in touch. I just want to say it's been a pleasure working with all of you. Thanks for giving me the chance to learn and for putting up with me when I didn't learn too quickly. Take care of yourselves and keep in touch.

Signing off,

Jason

2005-06-10T14:48:00.000-04:00

Recent Project Updates

I updated the web project list and we have two lonely summer projects left (proxy server pages revisions and the "How do I/FAQ" project. I was able to finish:

Adding the staff table to the database, pulling that data into different sections of the site.
Broadening of indexes and databases pages.
Turning the "not finding what you need" box into a more general research strategies helpbox.

The remaining projects are owned by Lori and Christine which is exactly what we want. View our active and proposed projects - http://www.williams.edu/library/admin/projects/

*Any questions or suggestions can come to me.

Jason

2005-05-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

Changes to Databases and Indexes Pages

I've made the changes to the Indexes and Databases pages based on our conversation at the last ref/instruction meeting. You'll notice an index page with some rearranging (helpbox appearing at the bottom) and extra white space and a simplified left navigation on all the pages. One of the new links in the left navigation is to a list of our resources by type. We are starting to regain some of that broader access to our resources. Anyway, take a look when you have a chance.

http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/

I'm still working on the specific access for subjects to these resources by type. (E.g., Walter wanting access to just economic statistics resources.) I have a test page up at http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/economics_test.php. More to come as I get the pages up and running.

Questions or comments?

Jason

2005-04-13T11:41:00.000-04:00

Helpbox on Databases and Indexes Pages

A current draft of the helpbox (Not finding what you need? box) appears on the English articles page. Comments are welcome. When we come to a consensus, I'll move forward and create it as an include for each page.

http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/english.php

2005-04-11T13:31:00.000-04:00

FTP Changes on Test Server

Some people were having problems using FTP clients to access/upload files onto the test server. Walter made a switch from the Mozilla Filezilla ftp server to the Windows ftp server and things seem to be going swimmingly. Thanks, Walter.

If anyone has remaining or additional problems, be sure to let Walter or me know.

2005-04-06T16:44:00.000-04:00

Master list and Article Master list updated

I made the changes to the two main lists on the indexes and databases pages.

The ref/instruction group agreed upon dropping the "Access" note and the "Full-text" note from the lists. It makes for a much cleaner list. I kinda' like it.

Take a look for yourself.

Master List - http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/master.php
Article Titles Master List - http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/title.php

2005-04-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

Web Team Agenda 04.06.05

With my announcement last month, our goals have obviously changed. The focus of this meeting will be assessing and deciding what the team wants to happen in the next three months.

Announcements: Jason's last day
Prioritizing remaining projects
Documenting web procedures and passwords

Notes: Walter

Please take a look at our active and proposed projects - http://www.williams.edu/library/admin/projects/

*Any questions or suggestions can come to me.

Jason

2005-03-17T23:49:00.000-05:00

Day two at CIL 2005

Spent the day thinking and learning about social software - blogs, wikis, IM, etc. It's funny, I use the stuff and I like it, but I can't help but feel I've heard it before. We, as a profession, seem to be stuck in a bit of a loop. Last year, there were sessions explaining what a blog is. This year there are sessions explaining what a wiki is. I'm just not sure what the purpose is. I can go to wikipedia to get web lingo definitions. I'd like to see more of "here's how to use it in the library" and "here's how to do it" in these sessions. I recognize the limitations of addressing a broad audience and the passive nature of a presentation. (People don't do in these sessions, they listen.) I guess I'm looking for more practice and less theory...

Really enjoyed Matthew Dames session on Social Software 101. Some interesting predictions. One that struck me was the idea that blogs and the easy content management systems that are coming up will displace html coded web sites. Not sure it will happen, but the ease of creating a web site will bring more people online. During his session on wikis, Will Richardson called this new model the "Read/Write" web. It's a great turn of phrase for thinking about how social software is moving web users into more active agents. People read the web, but more and more they are creating/publishing it. How does that change things for libraries? Do we need create our sites and services with a level of open editing? I'll have to think some more about that...

Presentation is tomorrow morning. I'm ready, just need to get some sleep. Good night, all.

2005-03-17T15:12:00.000-05:00

Day one at CIL 2005

A bit late on this post, but better late than never... Too much to see and do. I started out by checking David King's session on targeting library web sites to specific users. Academic libraries have been targeting academic departmental users for some time now with subject guides. David's talk pointed out some more general audiences - seniors, young adults. The crux of his session was meeting users with their own interests and using research into traffic logs, reference transactions and other sources to discern these interests. It might be worth taking stock of how we are meeting our student and faculty needs with our guides. David works for Kansas City Public and uses RSS feeds to push content to the subject pages - http://www.kclibrary.org/guides/. An interesting model to consider...

The other interesting news from the day was the Dead and Emerging Technologies session. Jodi alluded to it in her comments earlier. A quick rundown:

Dead = email, floppy disks, advanced search screens, anchored data storage
Emerging = rss and blogs, flash drives, IM, podcasting (audio and episodic mp3s through mobile devices like an ipod), simple search screens and mobile data storage

A good session overall and one that really made me think about how we can introduce library resources to the millennial generation. IM is calling out to reference. Check this link from University of North Carolina Libraries - http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/im_a_librarian.html. Stay tuned for more later tonight.

2005-03-15T08:49:00.000-05:00

More to come from CIL 2005...

Hi, Team,

I'm off to the conference later today, but I'll be posting updates here. If you see any sessions that you are particularly interested in, let me know. Stay tuned for some fascinating (geek) reading.

CIL 2005 Conference Program
http://www.infotoday.com/cil2005/program.shtml

2005-03-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

Web Team Meeting 03.09.05 Cancelled

I'm cancelling the meeting because most of our work right now involves small groups. These groups should continue their work and plan on reporting at the next meeting 04.06.05.

Jodi and I will continue working on the card sort and related studies
Lori and Walter will continue to work on the proxy server pages
I will continue working on the "big picture" design options for the site

2005-03-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

Finding Images page linked under "Finding More"

Due to some patron requests for finding images at the library, Christine created a new page - http://www.williams.edu/library/how/images.php.

It covers all of the essentials and then some... (Thanks to Christine for her work on this.) It is linked on the site map and like the post title says under "Finding More" > "images". This page will also be a part of the Research/FAQ section, but we needed a way to feature it right now. So, there you have it.

Questions and Comments?

2005-03-06T20:16:00.000-05:00

Hi Web Team -

Jason assigned me the task of researching card sorts and preparing the cards for an actual sort. Based on my reading I have a few questions:

- What type of card sort will we be doing?
- How many people will participate?
- What layers of pages will be included in the sort?

I will send URLs and pdfs about cards sorts for your review in a separate email.

Jodi

2005-03-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

Error checking when deleting from database, new student worker

A couple of announcements:

Walter and Christine had asked on different occasions if there was a way to prompt the user before deleting a resource from the indexes and databases database. There's always a way, it's just a matter of figuring it out. Figured it out. Now, when you try to delete, you get a prompt asking if you are sure you want to delete. Choose no and you are routed back to the admin index page.
Rachel Shalev is now working two hours a week for us - Mondays 1-3pm. She will be working on assorted html and web content inventory tasks.

Jason

2005-02-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Meeting Minutes 02.05.05

Here are the latest minutes. Questions and comments can come to me.

http://libweb.williams.edu/committees/web/minutes/feb0205.html

2005-02-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

Citation Guide - new header, footer and page design

The new citation guide (http://www.williams.edu/library/citing/index.php) is now linked as the main entry throughout the site . There is a temporary redirect on the old index.html page which will be deleted at the end of the week. I ran a link checker to update links, but please let me know if you encounter any broken links. All the new links to the page should be /library/citing/.

Props go to Lori for working (and reworking...) on this update. Thanks, Lori.

Jason

2005-02-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

Using Basecamp for Web Redesign Project

I entered some of our project plan into Basecamp (online project management software). Our project lives at http://wclwebteam.grouphub.com/.

It's got a ton of bells and whistles and it's managed like a blog through a browser. In order to access, you'll need our team username and password. I'll forward it through a more secure channel after I get more of our project data entered and I have some practice using the software.

2005-02-02T13:03:00.000-05:00

Meeting Minutes 01.19.05

I got these this morning. Try and take a look before the meeting if possible.

http://libweb.williams.edu/committees/web/minutes/jan1905.html

2005-02-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

Web Team Agenda 02/02/05

Announcements: number of files in site, comments from users
Proxy server pages and converting popular pages
Project Definition Report (objectives and deliverables)
Next steps in redesign project timeline
FAQ pages presented by Jodi (time and preparation permitting)

Please take a look at our active and proposed projects - http://www.williams.edu/library/admin/projects/

Notes: Walter

*Any questions or suggestions can come to me.

Jason

2005-01-27T13:45:00.000-05:00

Announcements: New Port for Library Redesign and Print this Page

Walter was able to create a new port on the test server where we can store our files for the redesign. Basically, it will let us create a whole new directory structure and style independent of the files that already exist on the server. The url is http://137.165.201.112:8080/library/. There's a placeholder index page there right now. More to come as we begin to organize our site files...
I've been refining the "printer-friendly version" option on our interior indexes and databases pages (e.g., http://www.williams.edu/library/indexes/title.php). If you click on the link or print directly you get a printable page in IE and Netscape/Gecko browsers. It's set up to call a print style sheet and let you preview the page before printing. Works well in most of our new pages - pages with new header and footer. There are some bugs in how it displays the subject guide pages, especially if the subject guide pages have a sized table within the main page div. I'll continue to work on this quirk. In the meantime, have a look at the indexes and databases pages to test it out.

One more quick tip: you can use the print stylesheet switcher on any page that includes the new header and footer. Append ?q=print to any url.

Example:

http://www.williams.edu/library/schow.php?q=print

Post any thoughts or comments.

2005-01-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

Public Messages About Our Pages

I just posted a message to Williams Daily Messages about our pending index page change. It went something like this:

Changes to Library Web Page – New URL for library home page

Over the weekend (January 22 and 23), the library home page will be changing its address. If you have bookmarks and links to the old home page, you will need to update them. The old page url is http://www.williams.edu/library/index.html. The new page URL will be http://www.williams.edu/library/index.php.

Quick troubleshooting tip: You will be seeing more of these changes as the library web site is moving to a different technology for its pages. If you come upon a “can’t find page” error, try changing the extension of the page from .html to .php.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email the library at libref-l@williams.edu or call the library research desk at x2505.

I was going for the minimal "need to know" item which is "Hey, there is a new URL and your old links will break." We can talk about if we should forward something similar via liaisons. I'll post the message again for Friday. I was thinking a more detailed message of the changes - new site search, rss feeds, global headers and footers - to all library staff might be in order. I will work on a draft. If you have any suggestions, just post them here.

Jason

2005-01-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

Web Team Agenda 01/19/05

Announcements: index page rollout
Plan and schedule for a redesign
FAQ pages presented by Jodi (time and preparation permitting)

Please take a look at our active and proposed projects - http://www.williams.edu/library/admin/projects/

Notes: Lori

*Any questions or suggestions can come to me.

Jason

2004-12-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

Web Team Agenda 12/15/04

Announcements: winter study projects
New index page and rollout

Draft exists at http://137.165.201.112/library/index.php

Web Site Redesign - what's next?
RSS feeds
FAQ pages (time permitting)

Please take a look at our active and proposed projects - http://www.williams.edu/library/admin/projects/

Notes: Jason

*Any questions or suggestions can come to me.

2004-12-13T13:43:00.000-05:00

"Table-Free" version of new index page

More work than I expected, but I think I got it now. (Internet Explorer 5 on the Mac was particularly tricky. Grrrr...) The design exists at http://137.165.201.112/library/index.php.

Post comments here if you like. We can address them at length in the meeting Wednesday.

2004-12-13T13:23:00.000-05:00

Meeting Minutes 12.01.04

I have been sitting on these minutes and referring to them as my checklist - http://libweb.williams.edu/committees/web/minutes/dec0104.html.

I'll be posting some other updates related to the action items in the mintues, so stay tuned.