Media Center Web Page – Does Your School Have One?

Web pages were first seen in the early 90’s when the internet was first introduced to the public.  The original idea was to promote businesses.  Web design eventually grew in population and more people started to design their own sites for various reasons.  I personally feel that in this day and age everyone has a web page/site of some sort (think Facebook).  Adults and children alike enjoy promoting and showing themselves off one way or another.  Before starting this assignment, I previewed other school media center’s web pages for another class assignment.  I was embarrassed by my media center’s web page - our school’s web page was just recently reconstructed for the better.  Our site didn’t list any information about the vision, mission, and goals of the media center.  I feel that the web page should represent the school just as much as the students and faculty do.  How can Arnall be “The Best of The Best” if our web pages are lacking?  I hope to one day revamp our media center’s web page to represent who Arnall really is. 

Studies show that having a school media center web page is becoming more common.  Our readings this week stated that close to 90 percent of school librarians maintain a web page (Jurkowski, 2010).  In order for students, faculty, and parents to understand the media center better and what services are offered, schools should have a well working web page.  Web pages can be maintained by the media specialist, the media specialist’s assistant, a student, or someone from outside the school building.  There are a few steps one must look at before setting up a web page:

1.      Select the software to create the web page.

2.      Decide who will host/maintain the web page.

3.      Decide how the web page will be designed and the usability.

4.      What features do you want your web page to have?

If your school does not have a web page, it might be easier if you start off simple and gradually increase as time wears on.  Keep in mind though, your site should represent your school – and every web page should be different because every school is different. 

My top do's and don'ts for good media center web page design:

1.      Do have an attractive web design

2.      Do list the hours the building/media center is open

3.      Do list a monthly calendar of events

4.      Do list information about the media specialist including the contact information

5.      Do list a link to the policies and procedures

6.      Do link a tour of the media center for parents/students to watch

7.      Do include links to the teacher pages

8.      Do include links to grade level resources/CRCT information

9.      Do include a link to recommended books and/or books that have received awards

10.  Do list a contact link for questions, comments, etc.

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1.      Don’t have colors that compete for your attention – soft tones might work best for your audience

2.      Don’t have links that are no longer working

3.      Don’t include information that is not relevant to the site or  has already passed

4.      Don’t include too many pictures or links – simple is sometimes best

5.      Don’t assume your audience knows how to find the information he/she is looking for

6.      Don’t assume your page will never need an upgrade

It might seem overwhelming at first, but if you keep your audience in mind and set specific goals that you want your page to achieve, then, with time, your webpage will come to be. I have included a link (that Dr. C. shared) that lists websites from various schools – http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com – there are some really great sites out there to view if you are looking for ideas.