Is your school library media center’s web page gathering dust? If so, it is time to bring your Media Center's Web Page to the 21st century with an Extreme Makeover! First, you have to abandon your drab, carbon-copy web page and construct a blog or Wiki in order to get your audience's attention. You can use Google’s Blogger to create a free blog at http://www.blogger.com/home. All you need to do is create your Google account, choose your blog name and then your template. If blogging is not your thing, you can create a special Wikispace for your media center with Wikispaces’ K-12 Plan http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers.
Once you have decided on the platform, you can then worry about the content. Students like flashy and interactive websites. Your students are not your only patrons, you have other stakeholders like parents, teachers and administrators so while your space needs to be edgy, make sure that the content is there. Your main mission is to display your media program in its best “virtual” light and advertise what your media program has to offer in improving student achievement.
Students need access to resources while they are not in the school setting. Having links to online catalogs such as Destiny and Library of Congress, databases such as World Book Online and online research tools such as MLA research guides are just the way to support your students and make your media program SHINE!
Getting teachers on board is easier. You are probably making yourself the “go-to” person everyday in the media center whether it is technology or instructional assistance your teachers need but make them think about you when they are home working on lesson plans. Provide links to Pathfinders, access to schedule collaborative lessons with you and even a space for quick tech tips for fixing and operating classroom equipment.
Parents are your stakeholders that you may not see day-to-day. Just because you don’t see them does not mean that they are not watching you. Include your calendar on your site so that parents can check it for special events to attend or volunteer at, a PDF of your school’s Acceptable Use Policy that they can view and print out, and also some background information on yourself so they can see that you are a “highly-qualified” educator.
Because we are showing our stakeholders how up-to-date we are with our state of the art blog or wiki, don’t stop there. Create links to your school’s Facebook page and Twitter account with a note to FOLLOW ME ON…
Your media center’s foundation is BOOKS, so make sure you have award lists and guides to popular books. You can also create a spot for your stakeholders to suggest book titles to place in the media center.
That’s it for the bells and whistles! Please make sure you have your contact information and hours of operation visible. I guarantee with these makeover tips, your media center’s site will get repeat visitors!
Thank you Tamarra for such an insightful and informative post on how to bring the media center webpage up to 21st century speed.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that students rely on social networking more today for sharing information, both personal and educational...
With social media being a relatively new avenue for most schools, it might be wise to check with the district to see where they stand on social networking as a mode of sharing information.
It might be that the district needs to develop or modify a social networking policy. If that's the case, having several LMSs on the committee positively impact the commitee by explaining how social media sites aid in the sharing of information in today's society.
Thank you again for sharing your ideas:)
Tamarra,
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome write up and I love the title and idea of making over the needed old, dusty format of web pages. I have mentioned in other posts that it is important to realize that teachers, parents, administration and students do require a different look what appeals to them. This is hard to do if not thought out properly.
I like the idea of sharing through the school Facebook page. This is definitely a great way to get noticed and get the needed information out.Many School Districts including my district at Atlanta Public Schools are utilizing social media to get the news out to all stakeholders.
We have a district representative tweeting from the school board meetings and it is very informative. I never paid any attention to any of the meetings before this, now I get a bunch of new tweets every time they meet and I am allowed to interact and share my comments with others.
Technology is amazing at times!
Good post,
Barry
It is important to the design of a library Web page simple, yet appealing. This is challenging because there is so much great information to add and so little space to put it in on the page: links lead to links with links, all of which have links. A young student could have difficulty reaching deeply embedded information. Categorizing and alphabetizing information makes it easier to locate. Ease of navigation is especially important for young users. For an older student, the layout can be more “wordy” and sophisticated; young users will benefit from visual cues and minimal choices. The librarian must consider the audience and how much information they need when creating a library media Web site.
ReplyDeleteTamara,
ReplyDeleteYour title is very catchy and an extreme make over is definitely needed for some of the boring websites that I have seen. I like that you suggested and gave links and directions to how to make a blog or wiki for the Media Center.
Not only did you incorporate the students, but you helped us to remember to include information for all of the stakeholders. I will make sure that I share this information with the rest of my group when we work on our group MC website.
My school does not have a website but we are able to add links on to our Destiny homepage. I will share your suggestions with my mentor as well to see if she would like to include any of your suggestions supported by Destiny on the homepage. I am sure that we will not be able to add everything but we can add a little more than what we have.
Thanks for sharing,
Cynthia
Tamara,
ReplyDeleteYour opening statement asks the rright question! It was certainly an attention getter. I especially like your comments about “virtual light” and achievement. Sometimes I don’t think our value as media specialists is linked to achievement when it certainly should be. I hear too often, “I wish I had your job”, like it’s the easiest job in the building. I enjoy it, but it’s difficult work. Using the webpage to highlight the work and achievement is a great way to serve and educate others about what we do. So much goes on in the media center that isn’t understood or noticed by the masses. I am going to focus on our virtual light and highlight achievement as I continue to update and create our new media center webpage.
Thanks for helping me refocus.
Leigh Anne
I LOVE your title. This is a perfect example of making information fun and catchy. We all need to figure out ways to grab the attention of students, parents and teachers. You are right, our websites do need to be be appealing AND informational. I have been looking at various media center websites and I see more 'dusty' sites that are in desperate need of an Extreme Makeover than those that appeal to users. A media center's website is a great advertising opportunity. As media specialists, we must remember that in order to maximize our 'customer base' we have to attract customers!
ReplyDeleteTamara-
ReplyDeleteI loved your title- it really caught my eye and made me want to read further. You did a great job giving basic steps to setting up a blog and suggestions for content. Breaking down the different stakeholders and giving an example of what might interest them was very insightful. I had never actually sat down to reflect on who would be using the webpages and why. A calendar for parent to see what's going on in the mc could help bring in volunteers as well as advertise such events as book fair. I'll definitely have to keep your extreme suggestions in mind when developing our media center webpage!
Tamara,
ReplyDeleteI SO enjoyed reading your post on MC Blogs. Your idea of an edgy, yet functional blog that appeals to all steakholders is exactly what we should all be shooting for. I think a great website can be developed initally, but will also change and grow as we find things that are missing or that are requested by our patrons. You offered many great ideas for content that I will be sure to be using as we build our group web page for class.
Thanks!
Virginia