Organization

Figure 1

After assessing the existing library homepage (see figure 1) and determining its strengths and weaknesses, I began searching a for platform that would allow me to meet my goals for the library webpage:

• to be easier for the users to get to and navigate
• to be a place to further educate the community on literacy skills
• to better reflect the school curriculum
• to be better organized visually and enhanced by multi-media features

After looking at a number of school library websites and exploring different web page creator tools including Wordpress, Snap Pages, and Wix, I chose Weebly for Education as the platform for the new library webpage. I liked the ease of use of that the drag and drop feature offered, especially since this was my first attempt at creating a web site. I decided that I wanted the Destiny homepage to be much cleaner with just a simple link to the new library web page as demonstrated by the Pacific Christian Secondary School Library home page (see figure 2).

Figure 2

The Richmond Christian Secondary Library main page (see figure 3) gives a brief outline of the Library Philosophy and Purpose (which includes a link to the school web site), offers a link to library catalog, a tutorial on how to the download the Destiny App to a mobile device (as another means of maximizing access), and offers a contact feature where users can make suggestions or ask questions in attempts of establishing two way communication; an idea inspired by reading David Loertscher's Flip this Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution.

Figure 3: RCSS Library Home Page

I chose a user centered method of organization, having the main headings reflect the users: Students, Teachers, Parents. Each of these sections offers a main page that explains the services the teacher librarian offers to these users (see figure 4). Each section is then further divided into sub-sections of topics specifically related to the user.

Figure 4: Teacher Main Page

I chose to organize the curricular related resources under the label Subjects. Within this section I have a General Resource option where users can find resources relevant to all the subjects. The subjects are then listed in alphabetical order in a drop down tab. Each section is then organized by general resources for that subject, then further divided into grade level and topic, as seen on the Social Studies Page (see figure 5). These topics were taken from the course outlines provided by teachers and reflect the BC Integrated Resource Package prescribed learning outcomes.

Figure 5: Social Studies Resource Page

Finally, I offer a link to my blog, The Curious Library, as one of the main headings on the home page. This will serve as place to post library news such as new books, interesting articles, promotion of author visits, etc. 

I attempted to create a site that was clean, uncluttered and user friendly to maximize access. I chose the URL rcsslibrary.weebly.com thinking it was an easy address to remember. Eventually, I would like to add a search feature such as Zoom to provide users another means of navigating the site and to have a way of easily searching for broken links. This site is a work in progress and I plan to continue adding more resources, taking into consideration input from students and teachers.