Effective Website Design: OLJ Assignment

Shirley Garcia

Student ID #: 11468539

Info 506: Social Networking for Information Professionals

Lyn Hay—Fall 2010

My criteria for effective website design: 

1.)            Engaging home page with easy to access menu features

2.)            Clear links to Web 2.0 features, links library blogs

3.)            Advertising of the use of social media tools

4.)            Advertising of upcoming events and programs, including gaming

5.)            Videos and podcast use (for events, library tools, databases)

6.)            Separate kids/teen/adult webpage/links

7.)            Recommended reading by age group/genre

8.)            Accurate and easy to find/use search boxes

9.)            Facebook/MySpace/twitter/phone app links

10.)          Account accessibility and functionality

Suffern Free Library, Suffern, NY http://www.suffernfreelibrary.org/

The Suffern Free Library’s website: The website will be critiqued here based upon the above criteria.

1.) The library’s website has a clearly designed home page with easy to access menu features. General areas have clear links including: events and exhibits, kids stuff, teens and tweens, books and more, about your library, library account, catalog, and databases.

2.) Under teens and tweens is a link to Book Banter. This page provides links to discussion groups, ebooks/audio/video, teen events and teen reviews.

3.) The search option has a jump menu which includes a link to blogs. Blogs listed include Career Help, Tween’s Blog, We Love to Read, and What’s Up with Ms. Jennifer (the teen librarian). The home page features “What’s New”. This includes the use of text messaging for library holds and due dates. I had difficulty trying to find the advertising of other social media tools like facebook, myspace, or twitter.

4.) I found information on gaming on the home page and under several links, including the teen/tween links.

5.) I could not locate videos or podcasts easily.

6.) The website does have separate pages for various age groups and

7.) recommended reading.

8.) While the search box on the home page is a jump menu, other pages have an open search box 

9.) The only phone links I could find were those on the home page regarding texting.

10.) Account accessibility was easy. Accounts and various databases could be accessed from the home page.