Beyond HTML... back for IRLS 675

Our first blog assignment for IRLS 675 was reviewing the 2006 special Content Management addition of Library Hi Tech. The article titles alone indicate this is a great resource for libraries struggling with migrating their web resources from static html pages to a robust CMS. I chose to cover the article “Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system” by Doug Goans and Guy Leach. Although three years old, the lessons learned can be carried forward to current technologies as they pertain to organizing and understanding a move to a CMS from a static html (FrontPage or Dreamweaver) way of doing things.

The article talks about how a Georgia State University Library web librarian, web developer, and a team of liaison librarians implemented a new system of subject guides and utilized user testing and surveys and how it met and exceeding their expectations. A key finding from the report illustrated how libraries need to give as much attention to user interface issues as to technical (behind the scenes) issues. Organizational buy-in is critical and from my experience I find this true.

The GSU library went from liaisons having full access (with a range of abilities) that created inconsistent and un-credible resources. Content, time and enthusiasm differed between the pages within the website. Thousands of pages were amassing and in one instance an entire directory was accidentally deleted.

The team realized they needed a database driven system that took the content away from form the layout and navigation. This would also allow content to be more readily reusable and object oriented. By limiting the liaisons access to the visuals it actually freed them up to concentrate on their content. The system would need to be flexible and meet the needs of users while still maintain adequate security.

The GSU team investigated commercial solutions but found them to costly. They also looked into open source options but felt at that time (2003 – 2006) that those options were not robust enough for the needs of a university library and instead chose an in-house solution. This was a very similar process that the ASU libraries took, but ultimately chose the open source Drupal option since it was robust enough to handle our needs by the time we started our investigations for the same issues.

The key to their success was their involvement of user testing, surveys, training manuals and workshops designed to educate and get buy-in from the rest of the staff. Usability seems to get overlooked on many projects and in the case at ASU was not taken into consideration as much as it should have been during and earlier assessment of the website, prior to the Drupal migration. Our second venture into updating the library website was far more successful because it involved training, user testing, and also the dynamic web environment, similar to the GSU example, that gave the back control of content to the librarians while keeping the navigation uniform and in the hands of the designated web team.