Anthony Chow, Ph.D. Rebecca Morris, Ph.D. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Amy Figley, MLIS Samantha Lam - Smithfield-Selma High School Librarian Jessica Sherrard – Grimsley High School THE USABILITY OF SCHOOL LIBRARY WEBSITES: STUDENT- CENTERED WEB DESIGN

Overview Are school library websites important for future services? Research Questions Relevant Literature Results Implications for School Librarians and School Library websites

Why this project is important? In preparation for my presentation I could not even find mention of the school library at my kids’ high school! School libraries are under attack in North Carolina As more and more provision of information services is online Websites are the storefront of any organization and department Presence Keyword searches to available resources Age related difference between adult and elementary/middle/high school age groups MARKETING & ADVOCACY

Research Questions 1) What does a typical school library website look like? 2) Who are school library websites designed for? 3) How do school library websites compare to recommended best practices? 4) How usable are school library websites?

Method We wanted validity and reliability Three steps: Step 1: One rural (a population of less than 50,000) and one urban county (a population greater than 50,000) (US Census Bureau, 2010) from every state was first selected from the US Census Bureau website Step 2: A total of six school library websites were selected and evaluated in each of the 50 states (three from a rural county and three from a urban county) in the United States (n=300; 33% elementary, 33% middle, and 33% high school) Step 3: Each of the school libraries selected were sent an online survey and 102 school librarians (33% elementary, 25% middle, and 42% high school) responded, which represents a 34% response rate

Relevant Literature Youth Information Seeking Behaviors Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages: 1) Pre-readers (3-5 years old) are in Piaget’s sensory motor stage 2) Beginning readers (5-8 years old) are in Piaget’s pre-operational stage and in preschool or early elementary school; this phase is characterized by “ego-centrism” where children are self-centered and expect the world to operate through their world view and perspective (Cooper, 2005) 3) Intermediate readers (9-12 years old) are in Piaget’s concrete operational stage; these pre-teens understand the world through concrete objects and trial-and-error learning (Huitt & Hummel, 2003; Cooper 2005) 4) Advanced readers (13-17 years old) are now teens and in Piaget’s formal operational stage where symbols associated with abstract concepts are meaningful as teens begin to emerge into adult information seekers (Huitt & Hummel, 2003; Blowers & Bryan, 2004; Dubroy, 2010).

Pre-adolescence Pre-adolescent web information seekers (10-13) prefer visual cues over dense text and their information seeking behavior focuses more on exploration rather than strategic searching for clearly defined information goals sites that keep this age-group’s attention use bright colors and are visually appealing with common use of animation, sound, and visual graphics and icons (Large, Beheshti, & Rahman, 2002; Nielsen, 2005). This age group does not like to scroll, prefers to browse over using search engines, and becomes quickly frustrated with lack of success (Large, Beheshti, Nesset, & Bowler, 2006).

Adolescence Adolescent web information seekers (14-18) still prefer to browse, rather than conduct, specific key word searches (Large, Beheshti, Clement, Tabatabae, & Yin Tarn, 2009). This group also like sites that have “cool” graphics, are interactive where they can socialize with others and leave their mark on the site through online quizzes, voting, blogging, and games (Nielsen, 2005; DiMichele, 2007). As this age group has begun to more closely reflect adult information seeking behavior, teens like to scan pages quickly looking for visual cues that allow them to quickly determine whether the site is a usable site for them – relevant with high quality information (Fidel et al, 1999). Like adults, most teens find moving images, sounds, and other scrolling information “distracting” and tend to ignore them with some disdain (Nielsen, 2005; DiMichele, 2007).

Three Domains of Youth Web Design Cognitive, Affective, Design Cognitive domain reflects age-appropriateness of the youth the site is intended for which entails seven primary factors: 1. Amount of text on a page (Bilal, 2005) 2. Vocabulary (Cooper, 2005; Dubroy, 2010) 3. Graphics (Large, Beheshti, & Rahman, 2002) 4. Cues (Rose, Rose, and Blodgett, 2009) 5. Pictorial searching (Rose, Rose, and Blodgett, 2009) 6. Icons to represent ideas (Cooper, 2005; Dubroy, 2010) 7. Games (Nielsen, 2000).

The Affective Domain involves ensuring an emotionally safe environment Positive Affective sites minimize uncertainty and fear of failure by providing feedback and using clear organization (Bilal, 2005). Establishing a positive affective environment for youth on the web involves seven factors: 1. Images that youth can relate to and are comforted by (Cooper, 2005) 2. Sounds that provide feedback and reflect interaction (Cooper, 2005) 3. Interactivity with others (Teo, Oh, & Lui, 2003; Bilal, 2005; Dubroy, 2010) 4.Personalization (Large, Beheshti and Rahman, 2002; Dubroy 2010) 5. Play (Dubroy, 2010; Large et al., 2002; Cooper, 2005) 6. Open exploration (Bilal, 2005) 7. Self-paced (Cooper, 2005).

The design domain involves actually incorporating identified best practices Help make a website an inviting, age-appropriate digital environment designed to maximize interest and present information that youth can effectively search and engage with. The four primary design factors to account for are: 1. A child-centered, youth-oriented approach (Druin, 1999; Bilal, 2002; Large, Beheshti, & Rahman, 2002; Large, Beheshti, Nesset, & Bowler, 2004) 2. Allow youth to control the pace and create their own, unique paths (Cooper, 2005) 3. Ability to leave a footprint (Bauman, 2009; Large et al., 2002; Dubroy, 2010) 4. Simple layouts (Cooper, 2005; Nielson, 2002). Youth-oriented design layouts include Bright colors Site mascots Creative icons A fun name Animation and graphics A logo in upper left corner Homepage search box with keyword searching

Results 82% had websites (240 of 300) Only 13% of sites appeared to be developed specifically for students

Low Ratings for Three Domains Cognitive The two factors that rated highest were age-appropriate graphics and vocabulary (M=5.0 out of 10) and access to electronic resources including databases, online reference, and e-books (M=4.4). Bright and engaging colors that attract attention and keep the youth interested (M=3.3), well thought-out portal names (M=2.9), creative and significant icons (M=2.6), and animation (M=.82) rated very low. Affective Sites rated low for the opportunity to play and learn (M=3.1), encouraging exploration (by being open-ended) (M=2.3), active designs (M=1.8), user control (M=1.7), allowing for and responding to child input (M=1.5), the ability to leave their footprint on the site (M=.60), and opportunities for social interaction (M=.60) rated very low.

Design: Use of Best Practices The most common features available were access to: databases (76%, n=120) information literacy resources (77%, n=123) Library hours (47%, n=74) OPAC (Open Public Access Catalog) (62%, n=98), book recommendations and reviews (46%, n=73) library news and events (45%, n=71) library policies (40%, n=64) personal accounts (39%, n=62).

School Librarian Perspectives Websites Designed for Students

School Library Primary Services and Resources Services & Resources Provided by School Libraries Response Percent Response Count Books, Journals, other Printed Materials100%80 Online Databases93%74 Instruction/Training90%72 Computers/Technology90%72 Studying88%70 Meeting Space85%68 Technology Support75%60 CDs or other Media74%59 Testing61%49 Socializing60%48 Access to Social Media18%14 Access to Gaming14%11

Priorities vs. Patron Usage School Library ServicesLibrary PriorityPatron Usage 1.Books, journals, and other print material Computers or other technology Instruction or training Studying Online databases Technology support Meeting space

Who Manages School Library Websites?

Training and Resources Desired

What you can do 1. Put together a user group of students Top five ways they use the school library Site designs they would like to see Create a feature checklist for student, teacher, parents, administration PriorityStudents Teachers Admin.ParentsOther 1Hours Contact Information News & Events Contact Information 2 Personal Account Consultation HoursResourcesHoursResources 3Database Arrange for Instruction Contact Information Policies and Procedures 4TechnologyDatabase 5Events Policies and Procedures

Step 2: Get a cool name Within you domain you can create whatever name you want!! It’s called a redirect where both URLs will work.

Step 3: Information Architecture What do users use the most now (site analytics)? Use your feature checklist as a “checklist” Top usability standard: Prioritization of Functionality Top things go up top Do not make users hunt for what they want the most Map it out HomeCollectionServices My Account News & Events ILS Request Technology Instruction Calendar Newsletter Book Club

Step 4 PriorityStudents Teachers Admin.ParentsOther 1Hours Contact Information News & Events Contact Information 2 Personal Account Consultation HoursResourcesHoursResources 3Database Arrange for Instruction Contact Information Policies and Procedures 4TechnologyDatabase 5Events Policies and Procedures HomeCollectionServices My Account News & Events ILS Request Technology Instruction Calendar Newsletter Book Club

PriorityStudents Teachers Admin.ParentsOther 1Hours Contact Information News & Events Contact Information 2 Personal Account Consultation HoursResourcesHoursResources 3Database Arrange for Instruction Contact Information Policies and Procedures 4TechnologyDatabase 5Events Policies and Procedures Home CollectionServices My Account News & Events ILS Request Technology Instruction Calendar Newsletter Book Club About Us Contact Policies About Me

Step 4: Wireframe it! Spartan Power Home CollectionServices My Account News & Events About Us Search Quick Links Databases Consultations News Calendar Technology Welcome! Smiling Image of You How awesome you and school library are… Photo Gallery Upcoming Events New Books Contact InformationHoursFeedback Social Media Icons

Step 5: Create it! Use freeware Wordpress ( – hosted alreadyhttps://wordpress.com/ Weebly ( – hosted alreadyhttp:// HTML Editors Use Dreamweaver (Adobe Creative Cloud SeaMonkey Composer HTML Editor ( – need hosting

Step 6: Test it with User Group Create scenarios based on your feature checklist You are a teacher looking for a consultation… Starting from the home page, locate the program overview and determine when the UNCG LIS program was founded. Starting from the home page, what is the address and phone number of the LIS department? Note: Good usability tasks are not designed to be hard or difficult – that is the “test” is not one of degree of difficulty or “challenging” the user. The explicit goal is can the user find what they are looking for based on what you have deemed to be the most important information goals of the sit? If it is extremely easy, that is great news for you and your site.

Thank YOU! Any Questions? Resources Youth as Design Partners (Chow, Smith, & Sun, 2012) ( Web Design and Usability MOOC (Chow, 2014) ( The Usability of School Library Websites (Chow, Morris, & Lam, 2014) ( iew?usp=sharing) iew?usp=sharing School Website Checklist ( sp=sharing) sp=sharing This Presentation ( Wkk/view?usp=sharing ) Wkk/view?usp=sharing Dr. Anthony Chow, Send out a survey to your school community as part of my research

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