Figure 7: Redesigned About MCL Wireframe

Figure 7: Redesigned About MCL Wireframe

New Content

Books, Movies More

Much of the redesign involves combining content from several of the current pages. One of these new pages is the Books, Movies & More (Figure 8) category page. The page includes sub-categories from various hyperlinks or sub-categories throughout the website including “Books,” “Music,” “Movies,” “Magazines and Newspapers,” “Subject Guides,” “Bestsellers and Staff Picks,” “E-media,” “Zinio” and “ILL and Books By Mail.”

Figure 8: New Content MCL Books, Movies & More Wireframe

The new page has been simplified to include only the most valuable information from each page. Graphics of books and movies have been added to the page for visual appeal. By including these graphics, it is intended that users will be drawn to the webpage through the pictures and will be able to see visual representations reflecting their interests.

As with the other redesigned pages, this page also includes the global navigation bar, the expanded search box and the general contact information, hours, site map and various applications located at the bottom of the page.

A blueprint (see Figure 9 on the following page) illustrates how the items connected to the homepage are consistent.

Users are able to find off-site links for books, e-media, Zinio, and movies, as well as a remote page stack leading to a section of the original website dedicated to the MCL music collection. Local page stacks contain information about available subject guides, the magazine and newspaper collections, bestsellers, staff picks, reviews, and interlibrary loan.

Figure 9: New Content MCL Books, Moves & More Blueprint

All of these changes reflect an effort to organize and simplify this category page. The redesign will help guide users to the information they are seeking. It will also introduce them to new content such as new books or movies that may be of interest to them.

Borrowing at MCL

The new “Borrowing at MCL” content page (Figure 10) also incorporates content from more than one page of the original website.

Figure 10: New Content Borrowing at MCL Wireframe

One highlight of this page’s redesign is the consistency of its framework as compared to all other content pages within the redesigned site.

The consistent elements include the top third of the page, with the “@MCL” logo, search box, “my account” and “contact us” links, graphics bar, and global navigation bar. Consistency is further reinforced by the library location and hours, information, etc., along with the social media links.

Finally, the sidebar presents a format similar to formats within other content pages, although the content of the sidebar’s “buttons” varies from page to page. Rather than scrolling through all available topics, the redesign proposes a sidebar featuring links to specific task oriented or informational sections such as “Get a Library Card”, “Loan Periods”, and “Search the Catalog”. Like the global navigation bar, the user’s current selection is highlighted, and the page contains a bread crumb trail to further improve user navigation.

Ask a Librarian

The MCL does contain a simple “Ask a Librarian” application which does sufficiently guide users through the process of submitting a question to the reference librarians. However, the redesigned form (Figure 11) will improve upon the public’s ability to use the feature.

Figure 11: New Content Ask a Librarian Task-Oriented Blueprint

Many of the current application’s issues derive from users being able to submit questions with a minimum of requirements, including submitting blank questions or conflicting selections. The new application contains strict—though still simple—requirements before a submission will be successful (see Figure 12 on the following page).

Figure 12: New Content Ask a Librarian Wireframe

Drop down menus for “Subject” and “I need this information for” fields will allow a greater number of options and allow librarians clearer starting point for answering patron questions.

For patrons unfamiliar with the new features, a clearly marked “help” icon will provide detailed information to guide the patron through completing the form correctly.

The newly designed application will aid both patrons and staff by giving patrons clearer direction and provided the staff with more information to better answer the patrons’ questions.

Conclusions

Although the Morris County Library website currently contains large amounts of value rich content, the weaknesses in its structure are detrimental to the information seeking needs of its users. The proposed redesign addresses the site’s major weaknesses by developing a logical hierarchy supported by an internally consistent structure and clearly defined content categories.

Controlled Vocabulary

Introduction

In our mission to improve the Morris County Library website, the design team has re-addressed three goals from our initial report: (1) to establish an organizational system for information retrieval, (2) to develop navigation tools for user inquiries, and (3) to standardize and create consistency throughout the MCL website. These have been accomplished with the creation of a metadata scheme and controlled vocabulary, illustrated below. In contrast to our redesign of the visual layout and webpage hierarchy, it should be noted that this report will focus on the back-end structure, invisible to the average user.

Metadata Scheme

The metadata scheme combines elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, as well as the Metadata Object Description Scheme (MODS). Dublin Core was developed for the “simple and precise description of web-based documents.”[1] Our group also selected this scheme for its appearance in the “Library Application Profile” developed by the Libraries Working Group.[2] MODS, derived from MARC 21, was selected for its flexibility and ability to complement other metadata formats. The elements shown reflect careful consideration of administrative and descriptive needs, while comparing existing metadata on the current MCL website. Some elements were rejected as unnecessary, but many more were added to increase findability. Examples illustrate how each element should be used.

Abstract

Name: / Abstract
Definition: / A summary of the content of the resource (source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the content of the resource. Element is roughly equivalent to MARC 21 field520.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Only one Abstract may be used per resource; however, it follows that multiple resources require multiple Abstract elements. A link may be supplied in lieu of or in addition to the content.
Examples: / <meta name=”abstract” content=” The Morris County Library provides a welcoming environment and a knowledgeable, courteous staff; opportunities for lifelong learning; and a full range of timely resources in various media to meet the varied informational, cultural, and recreational needs of our entire community, those who live and work in Morris County.”>

Contributor

Name: / Contributor
Definition: / An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies any entity which has contributed to the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content; that is, each identifiable segment may have a different Contributor, or several Contributors. Its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service.
Examples: / <meta name=”contributor” content=”Childrens Staff, Morris County Library, NJ”>

Creator

Name: / Creator
Definition: / An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the entity which has primary responsibility for making the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content; that is, each identifiable segment may have a different Creator. Its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service.
Examples: / <meta name=”creator” content=”Reference Staff, Morris County Library, NJ”>

DateCreated

Name: / DateCreated
Definition: / The date when a resource was first created.
Function: / Identifies the date of creation of a resource.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Only one DateCreated may be used per resource; however, it follows that multiple resources require multiple DateCreated elements. Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”datecreated” content=”01012014”>

DateUpdated

Name: / DateUpdated
Definition: / The date a resource was updated.
Function: / Identifies the date a resource was updated.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / DateUpdated is intended to replace the former DateUpdated attached to the resource; therefore, only one DateUpdated should be used per resource. However, it is not intended to replace DateCreated. Therefore, once a resources has been updated at least once, it will ideally have both a DateCreated and a DateUpdated. Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”dateupdated”content=”02042014”>

DateValid

Name: / DateValid
Definition: / A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Tracks the contemporaneity, pertinence, or expected life of a resource.
Type: / Administrative
Use: / May be used, for instance, to tag a resource which will become available on a certain date or must be replaced when it becomes outdated; or, in other case, to set software permission expiration dates. May be repeatable. If used as a date range, must be used twice in the range (a beginning and an ending date). Format must follow mmddyyyy.
Examples: / <meta name=”datevalid” content=”01012000” through “01012001”>

Description

Name: / Description
Definition: / Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free text account of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Guides the content that follows, depending on what is being described.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Is repeatable; may refer to or contain various kinds of information depending on the context.
Examples: / <meta name="description" content="Morris County Library Online Resources">

Format

Name: / Format
Definition: / The file format, physical medium, or dimension of the resource. Typically, Format may include the media type or dimensions of the resource. Format may be used to determine the software, hardware or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Allows the user or software to correctly determine the format of the resource.
Type: / Administrative
Use: / May be repeatable even when describing a single resource when multiple format aspects of that resource must be described. For instance, an MP3 file may need one Format tag to describe its file type and another to describe the number of megabytes it consumes.
Examples: / <meta name=”format” content=”MP3”>

Genre

Name: / Genre
Definition: / A term(s) that designates a category characterizing a particular style, form or content. (Source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the category that content of the resource falls under.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. The terms may be from a controlled list or may be uncontrolled. If no authority is specified, it is assumed that the term is uncontrolled.
Examples: / meta name="genre" content="library, education">

Keywords

Name: / Keywords
Definition: / Words which enable free text searching within the resource.
Function: / Allows search engine to retrieve resource according to topic.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Use five to seven keywords per web page (page resource). Separate by commas. Always used as a plural; never “keyword.”
Examples: / meta name="keywords" content="library, morris, jersey, reference">

Language

Name: / Language
Definition: / A language of the resource. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the language used to create the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Generally speaking, repeatable only once per chunk of content to which it refers. However, in a bilingual website, for instance, the “language” element would recur often.
Examples: / meta name="language" content="en-us">

Publisher

Name: / Publisher
Definition: / An entity responsible for making the resource available. (source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the entity which published the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. As with Creator, its value may be (as in Dublin Core) a person, organization, or service. May be used, for instance, with patron blog content or user-tagged content on a public library website, where the Creator or Contributor is not the Publisher.
Examples: / <meta name=”publisher” content= “Morris County Library, NJ”>

Rights

Name: / Rights
Definition: / Information about rights held in and over the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies any legal rights with regard to using, publishing, downloading, etc. the resource.
Type: / Descriptive, Administrative
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. May describe rights associated with Source of content (descriptive), or rights with an expiration date (administrative), or rights regarding a certain number of users at one time (administrative).
Examples: / <meta name=”rights” content= “copyright 2012”>

Source

Name: / Source
Definition: / A related resource from which the described resource is derived. The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the resource which is partially or wholly the “parent” of the resource at hand.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of sourced content. Unlike Creator or Contributor, its value will be a work rather than an entity. For clear identification of the source, APA citation format should be used.
Examples: / <meta name=”source” content= “[source in APA Format]”>

Subject

Name: / Subject
Definition: / The topic of the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Identifies the focus of the resource using one word.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. Intended to be used in addition to “Title” and “Keywords.”
Examples: / <meta name=”subject” content= “introduction”>

TargetAudience

Name: / TargetAudience
Definition: / A description of the intellectual level of the audience for which the resource is intended. (Source: MODS)
Function: / Describes the audience for which the resource is intended.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content. Either a controlled list of values or free text may be used.
Examples: / <meta name=”targetaudience” content= “children, teens”>

Title

Name: / Title
Definition: / A name given to the resource. (Source: Dublin Core)
Function: / Provides a succinct, often unique tag with which to identify the resource.
Type: / Descriptive
Use: / Repeatable per segment of created content, and may have many subsections described by other elements.
Examples: / <meta name=”title” content= “borrowing at MCL”>

TitleAlternative