Session A305 Findability: Information Not Location Mike Creech Web Content Manager Ken Varnum Web Systems Manager University Library University of Michigan

Computers in Libraries 2008 Introduction/Overview A Brief History of Our Version of Reality The current collection of sites for the Library System has grown with no particular plan and each one has its own design and architecture. The sites correspond with previous library organizational structures but really make no sense to our users or even to some staff members. Beyond basic information, users need to know which of the libraries holds particular materials and how to use the site of that library.

Computers in Libraries 2008 What We Have Now About 33 sites served from lib.umich.edu About 52,000 pages of content Does not include: Public Health library Digital library Scholarly publishing Institutional repository Every month Average of ~3,000,000 pages viewed Average of ~500,000 users served

Computers in Libraries 2008 My God, What Have We Done?

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Computers in Libraries 2008 "I Can't Find Anything." This is how the problem was presented In discussions with management and staff: Navigation to known objects difficult Search & findability a challenge Branding (as we’ve seen) uneven at best Sense of place totally absent

Computers in Libraries 2008 Phased Approach I.A band-aid Consistent navigation and branding II.Major surgery Reinventing the entire web presence

Computers in Libraries 2008 Short-Term Goals Standard global navigation Extending “MLibrary” branding More consistency in layout Brought content into sharper relief Moved toward unified web site for system

Computers in Libraries 2008 Phase I: MLibrarification This included most of the library sites. Goal: Consistent navigation and sense of place Out of scope defined by Significant programming overhead Significant complexity of pages Volume of usage vs. size of site

Computers in Libraries 2008 More MLibrarification Reviewed navigation elements each site used Created a global scheme to incorporate consistency Extended the MLibrary brand Preserved local autonomy over look and feel of each site’s content during the transition

Computers in Libraries 2008

Long-Term Goals Engineer a more effective search solution Break down the silos that hold our information Create an ordered and consistent navigation scheme Provide users an opportunity to build pathways we did not see

Computers in Libraries 2008 Phase II: Information not Location Eliminating silos Fostering community Highlighting context Improving findability Syndicating content

Computers in Libraries 2008 Phase II: Process Focus Groups Formal Survey One Question Survey Server Access Log and Google Analytics Analysis Initiate on-going conversations with MLibrary stakeholders Review and assess existing content

Computers in Libraries 2008 What We've Found Users want importance to be obvious Users don’t differentiate between silos, tools and services Users come to the library website with a task, not necessarily a resource in mind

Computers in Libraries 2008 Process So Far Generated buy-in from administration Extended the brand across all sites Established Advisory Groups Approach User Interface Design Information Architecture Technology Faculty Communicating with library staff Team blog Staff newsletter

Computers in Libraries 2008 MTagger: Down with Silos!

Computers in Libraries 2008 Collections Five at present MLibrary Mirlyn Digital Images Scholarly Publishing Other In development MBooks Link Resolver

Computers in Libraries 2008 Getting Stuff Out RSS Feeds API JSON PHP Styled HTML

Computers in Libraries 2008 Tagging from Tag Cloud

Computers in Libraries 2008 What Gets Tagged

Computers in Libraries 2008 Who Does the Tagging

Computers in Libraries 2008 Next Steps Select and implement a CMS Select an open-source search tool Develop the information architecture and user interface for the unified web presence Migrate content and applications into the CMS Production server live by end of year

Questions?

Thank You Mike Creech Web Content Manager Ken Varnum Web Systems Manager Slides