Update on LiB’s library website redesign
Along with our library’s part-time webmaster, I am embarking upon a complete website redesign. The library’s current website suffers from the same problems that many library websites do–important information is buried, no Web 2.0 features, and a real lack of content.
We are using LibrarySite 2, from the Cherry Hill Company. It’s a pre-built Drupal package, along with full support and training. It’s kind of like "Wanna do Drupal but you’re scared? We’ll help you!" So far I am very, very happy with the process and the service. Right now we’re looking at the various blocks and themes and deciding what we want for our site. I am very impressed with Drupal, too, and am even more happy now than I was when I made the decision.
Being the project manager, the project plan is insanely complex…pages
and pages of various tiers of responsibility and steps. It feels good to be getting some of it done, getting our footies in the water for the first time, but as with most things…the slowness of the process can be frustrating.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Interesting post – I wasn’t aware of the LibrarySite product. Is it free or is there a licensing fee? I work with the Plone CMS which also has a framework for public library websites. Plinkit (stands for “Public Library Interface Kit”) is located at http://www.plinkit.org/. There are some example sites here: http://demo.plinkit.org/ and here: http://www.colibraries.org/.
April 14th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Needless to say, we’re watching closely and with antici…
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pation
April 15th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Hi Scott–I think it’s going to be several more sets of ellipses worth of time before the site is up. One can only get as much work done as one has staff time to complete it :/
Bob: LibrarySite does cost money, but it is as reasonable as can be. We have very limited staffing for web services (see above comment to Scott) and instead of taking our time to set up Drupal on our server from the very beginning, with almost no knowledge, we decided to let someone else do it for us: hence, LibrarySite. It’s basically a pre-formed Drupal installation with the modules that libraries most likely would use. You can add whatever else you want to it, but it’s like having a starter pack to work from. Also, you get training on Drupal and support, which is invaluable to us newbies.
April 15th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Plinkit is free to public libraries from participating partner states: hosting is provided, training and support are free, and each website comes pre-populated with a ton of content and functionality.
The primary focus of Plinkit is on small and rural libraries who don’t have and are unlikely to ever have the time/resources to host their own site or to afford someone to provide web services.
Personally, I think it’s great there are so many choices these days for libraries, from full service like Plinkit to pay-for-services like LibrarySite to how-tos like Joomla in Libraries (http://www.joomlainlibrary.com/home/). Something for everyone!