Initiative Review Group XV Progress Report April 30, 2001

Create departmental Web pages

Members: Cheryl L. Conway, leader; Cheri Pearce, Bridget Penrose, Kristine Shrauger, Molly Moore, and Wanda Freeman.

1. Briefly describe the background, present setting/structure which applies to the initiative:

In November 2000, Carolyn Allen reorganized the web page committee, now called University Libraries Web Development and Page Design Policy Group. Alberta Bailey was appointed the Chair and several members were rotated off the committee. In the future, members will serve two year terms with the exception of the Webmaster (Beth Juhl) who will be a permanent member of the committee. Currently the committee members are: Alberta Bailey, Chair, Barbara Dean, Beth Juhl, Anne Marie Candido, Cheri Pearce, Necia Parker-Gibson, Ben Crozier, and Cheryl Conway. The long term charge of this committee as described in the November 2000 document is for the Group to oversee the development of the Libraries web site and act as the advisory committee to the Dean. The Group will also manage graphic design, establish web protocols, designs templates, organize content, provide staff development, and maintain up-to-date links. The sentence most pertinent for the work of this review group is: " The Policy Group shall design, establish, and maintain an internal staff web page where a variety of administrative, policy and/or procedural documents are maintained, and archived as appropriate." Alberta Bailey has established a time table for the Group and has targeted departmental web pages as a priority.

If all goes well, departmental pages will be developed and tested this summer. It is recognized that it will not be possible to have all content for all of the departmental pages available at that time.

2. Develop an inclusive list of issues that must be addressed/considered for that initiative, consulting non-group personnel as appropriate:

Many features and issues have been identified by the review group. Major issues include:

Consider the level of information which will be available to the public

What information, if any, should be reserved for staff only? Or should everything be available for the public to see?
Should the use of password access be used to for some links (assuming that some information should not be made public or is for staff access only)?
Should staff pictures be used (generally not favored by the group)?
Should email addresses of staff be listed?
Can privacy be maintained for staff when a departmental directory is posted? One possibility is a departmental email address and the duty of answering email queries could be rotated.
Consider design and ease of use of departmental web pages
Should color be used to distinguish departments?
Can the location of departmental web pages in the current Libraries web page structure assist in ease of use?
Can the page names be easily understood?
Should the terms also be easily understood ?
Should a site index or site map be included? Vanderbilt Library has a very nice site index. It was remarked that a linked alphabet was a useful for a site index. (http://www.vanderbilt.edu)
Consider the security of the Libraries web pages to protect from hackers
Consider the importance of clear information on the library web pages
Should web pages include information for the out-of-state user: i.e., area codes for the phone numbers?
Should we include a section titled "How do I ..." with a drop down menu such as the one at Iowa State site? (http://www.lib.iastate.edu)
Should each departmental web page have a FAQ section such as the Library of Congress? (http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/catdir.html)
Should a private calendar of departmental meetings to assist in planning be included?
Should the format be consistent throughout the library pages (The Vanderbilt pages have been identified as an attractive example of consistency)?
Consider features which give easy access to information
Who will answer questions from public (Webmaster, reference librarians, a staff member for each department)?
Should we include a help button?
Should we add a feature which lists where serial titles are located as the University of Kentucky site does? (http://www.uky.edu/Libraries)
Should technical service departments make procedures available to the general public to assist library staff in smaller libraries?
Should departmental links be followed by brief descriptions of the pages?
Consider direct access for the public
Should we add a virtual reference desk?
Should a "chat room" for online help for students (North Carolina http://www.lib.unc.edu and Auburn http://www.auburn.edu have this feature) be included?
Should we add an "Ask a librarian" feature with email access to a reference staff member?
Consider maintaining departmental pages for currency and accuracy
Should each department have a web master?
Should we have the last updated notation feature?
Should we include the identity of the webmaster?
Should the webmaster's email address be made public?
Consider adding these specific departmental features:
For the Periodicals Room: consider a list of current newspapers
For the Accounting/Budget Department: consider a PDF version of in-house forms (e.g. for travel) along with policies and procedures
For the Serials Department: consider putting title change forms, dropped title forms online
For the Cataloging Department: consider a "RUSH" cataloging request form for public service departments to fill out
For most departmental pages: consider giving a brief explanation or heading on the departmental page
For most departmental pages: the possibility to link to various resources. Examples: The Cataloging department could link to the Library of Congress web site and Government Documents could link to GPO and Marcive web sites
For the Cataloging Department: consider adding a glossary of terms
For the Government Documents Department: consider adding links to ERIC and other collections
For all departments: consider adding annual departmental reports
For all departments: consider adding full policies and procedures
Consider adding emergency information for staff
Consider the creation and maintenance of an up-to-date section on how to handle emergencies in the Library This should be fairly prominent and easily accessible for staff.
What should be done in the event of a bomb threat?
How and when should campus police be contacted to remove a problem patron (especially if the patron causing the problem is in the immediate area)?
What should be done if a stalker is harassing a staff member or patron?
What procedures should be followed for building evacuation for a fire?
What are the directions for handling with a workers compensation claim?
Consider the needs of remote access users
Should forms be available in more than one format for remote users? If yes, should a link to Adobe be included?
Will printing be a problem for webpac forms?
Should remote users have the option of running the text based version?
Will frames be used?

3. Briefly describe how the initiative fits into the long-term goals and/or fulfills the mission of the University Libraries:

The introduction in the University Libraries Web Page Development Design Policy Group states the long term goals. Briefly, the top level pages are the most important electronic image that the University Libraries will present to library users. Lower level pages will provide in-depth information and assist the University Libraries in the support of the teaching, research, and service mission at the University of Arkansas. Initiative Group 15 is in agreement with these long-term goals.

4. Note any initiatives that should be considered in connection to, coordinated with, or that may overlap the initiative:

Initiative # 14, "Document all major operational policies and procedures, and place them on the Web as appropriate", is related to the creation of departmental web pages. This Review Group (#15) generally agrees that each department should include departmental policies and procedures on the department's web page. Including departmental policies and procedures would be helpful because changes would be immediately available and updating procedures could become easier. This would also decrease the need for printed manuals. In addition, University Libraries departments would be sharing expertise with other libraries. Although there may well be some overlap in the reports of Initiative Review Groups #14 and #15, this should have the effect of providing an increase in the amount of information available for the University Libraries Web Page Development Design Policy Group.

5. Note any initiatives or considerations that are lacking from those delineated thus far which may be essential to the planning and redefining process:

Initiative Review Group #15 will give this point further thought.

6. Recommend the names of individuals who are essential (i.e., add to, delete from, or leave intact the list of the IRG) to the Initiative Planning Team that work on developing and implementing the initiative in the subsequent phase:

At this time, Initiative Review Group #15 recommends that a departmental representative be appointed from each department to work on the content for departmental web pages and to coordinate with the Webmaster and/or her assistant. The Group will further study the efficacy of an Initiative Planing Team.

7. Recommend, based on best educated guess, the amount of time that will be required to effectively develop the plan for implementing the initiative:

The Initiative Review Group is planning on consulting with Alberta Bailey (Administrative liaison for group #15), Initiative Review Group #14, and others to establish a reasonable time line.

8. Recommend the priority level to be assigned to this initiative in the three-to-five year planing phase:

Initiative Review Group #15 will investigate further before recommending a priority level.