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Website Design Planning

Planning for web site development is critical in building and maintaining a sustainable and scalable web site. The planning process helps managers determine the goals and priorities of the web site, which ultimately aids the web designer in the site’s design and structure. Library web sites have enterprise wide implications, and managers soon realize that upgrades to the site affect many staff members in addition to the customers the site serves. For example, the addition of electronic books (e-books) requires the collection development department to select the titles, technical services to load the MARC records into the catalog, the marketing department to create promotional materials, the information technology department to create authentication for remote use, and staff and public trainers to educate users. Of course, the selection of an e-books vendor, format, delivery, and the allocation of funds would have to precede all of these.

Managers must realize that the more staff and departments they rely on to assist in web site development, the longer the process takes; however, each one is now a stakeholder in the process. Written goals and objectives help the web manager determine and secure the resources necessary to accomplish these goals.

Budgetary considerations include staffing, consulting fees, software, and hardware necessary to create and maintain the web site. The web site serves as a portal for customers to access collections and services of the library that must also be budgeted for. Additionally, marketing materials promoting the web site address and its ONE Planning Your Web Site contents and services should be considered. When all is said and done, the library’s web site may represent a substantial investment, in both financial and human resources.

The library web site is not only an entity unto itself with its own goals, but it can also be an instrumental part of helping other library departments achieve their goals. This may include supporting the goals of the collection development department, for example, in increasing the circulation of seldom-used materials or advertising the multilingual materials recently added to the collection.