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L.PeRCy Library Website Award Winners

The "L. PeRCy" (Library Public Relations Council)Awards honor outstanding publicity produced by libraries. Awards are given in two divisions based on library budget and population served. To encourage participation by libraries of all types and size, entry categories vary from year to year.

WEB PAGE AWARDS
Randolph Township Free Public Library (NJ)
Honorable Mention:
Teton County Library (WY)

TexShare Videos

LibraryThing for Libraries

Congrats! to Danbury Library for being the first to add LibraryThing to their live OPAC

HIP OPAC suggestions from customers

"It would be great if there was some service that guided people to read books similiar to the one they just read. Something like they have on Amazon. Those who purchased "__________" also purchased "_____________". I use that feature on Amazon often to determine the next book I will read.
Comments: I am very impressed with the services that are on the web site. I am an MLIS student and I have been able to get a lot of information for projects directly from the WEb site."

"The search algorithms could be smarter. It's often troubling and difficult to find any items. Check out this site, as an example of an EXCELLENT library catalog. Could this system be adopted?"

"I would love to be able to do more advanced searches of the catalog such as specifying juvenile vs. adult fiction, etc. If there is a way of doing this already I certainly haven't found it!"

"there needs to be a working summary of each book"

"need ability to pay a fine online"

"email notice when books arrive that have been requested"

"Public catalog should allow a patron to browse the subject index. I wanted to browse India subject but could not."

"email reminders on books soon due"

"ability to limit search - example: when searching by author be able to limit to all books published in 2003"

"ability to alphabetize search results"

"The ability to pay fines online."

"The list functionality does not work all the time. I will save off books and create folders etc, but after about a month it all gets deleted. I think I miss some good reading because I cannot remember all of the books I find."

"Continue showing the picture of the book next to the title."

"Bring back the position you are when you put a specific book on hold - especially for the new bestsellers."

"The last several times I have tried to email my book list to my email and nothing came through. And I have the library as an approved sender / receiver."

"IF YOU FORGET YOUR LIBRARY CARD, BE ABLE TO FIND OUT WHAT THE # IS BY SENDING IT TO YOUR E-MAIL. FIRST THE ONLY ACCESS YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR LIBRARY CARD # IS YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS AND THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER. THAT WAY, IF I WANT TO REQUEST SOMETHING OFF THE COMPUTER, I COULD GET JUST GET MY LIBRARY CARD NUMBER OFF THE COMPUTER FIRST RROM MY E-MAIL."

"I would like to have the webpage connect to the renewal login."

" Whenever I try to renew online, the login box only gets me to a location that indicates the page cannot be displayed."

"When I call, only one person is competant to help on internet matters and he has not been available."

"Take the artwork off. Some of it is offensive and it is totally unnecessary. It also slows down the system more than it is already."

"Maybe a feature where you can take a sneak peak into the book (like Amazon has) so you can decide if you want to check the book out."

"Something like Amazon.com's 'If you liked this book, you might also like...'"

"I moved to Montgomery County several years ago from Danbury, Ct. I have continued to receive their e-mails about forth coming books and use their site almost exclusively to search for new books titles to request from you. I've forwarded their site to several friends because I find it easy to navigate, and full of great suggestions. Please look at Danbury Public Library

"There should be an easier way to access an account, for example, you should have a function where people can set up their own usernames and passwords. The library card plus phone number method is cumbersome."

"See a waiting ILL item on the Holds list under My Account"

"Have books designated as "lost" removed from the online catalog until found"

"List of award winning books (ALA, Newbery, etc.) to browse"

"I would like to be able to pull up my children’s Accelerated Reader booklist for their schools."

" View new books online/list"

"I would like to see a list of the books, dvds, audios, etc. that are on order and available soon instead of having to look up each individual title and seeing if that particular item is on order or will be available."

"A "new arrivals" list would be nice. Especially useful if waiting for a book to come out in print."

"Search for new books"

"I'd like to see pictures and description of contents for every item."

"I would like to have a summary or a review of the books. It would let me know what the book was about and if it's something I wanted to read."

"Have the ability to right-click and view book details in a new window. I should be able to generate a book list and view details about each book in the window I choose--same or new. Instead, if I want to compare two books, I have open two windows of the same book list, then click one book title in one window and the second book title in the second window. Again, this is huge pain."

"It would be helpful if maybe the catalog could note if a book is on hold when you click on the title for more information. I noticed that the Harris County Public library system has a feature like that. "

"I would like to place a book on hold before it comes out or immediately when it is at the bookstore."

"Have notification via email when books that are on hold are available.

"Need to be able to search/sort through children's collection only."

"I would like to specifically search only in children's books. Currently, you do not offer that search criteria."

"I don't seem to be able to find dvd details on the site. Videos, yes, but not dvds. Is there any reason for that? I would like to be able to reserve the remaining dvds in a series when I have only been able to find certain ones physically in the library."

" I would like to search by more parameters, i.e., audiobooks and location. Also, I would like to have a short synopsis of the book accompanying the book."

"An auto-complete feature for my library number. I've entered it about an infinity times on this site, and the auto-complete feature of your site doesn't work (I have this set in my IE options, and I DO see auto-completed information on OTHER websites, just not the library site.)"

"ILL directly from Worldcat(it used to be so)"

"Borrow audio books on-line. Overdrive, Inc. "It would be nice to, somehow, access audiobooks on this website so that anywhere you bring your computer, you could listen to them."

"NOT have focus forced on the search box every time the book list page appears. When I do a search and generate a book list, I should be able to click a book title, then click back and have the book list still scrolled down to that book. Instead, I click back and I'm at the top of the book list. If I want to see the next book in the list, I have to scroll down again. This is a huge pain."

opac sucks

Syndetic Solutions

Two New Exclusive Enhancements Available for Library's OPAC Through Syndetic Solutions; Music and Movie Information Provided By Bowker's Partnership With Midwest Tape

Harmonic Lite Flowchart

Website suggestions from customers

"It would be great if there was some service that guided people to read books similiar to the one they just read. Something like they have on Amazon. Those who purchased "__________" also purchased "_____________". I use that feature on Amazon often to determine the next book I will read.
Comments: I am very impressed with the services that are on the web site. I am an MLIS student and I have been able to get a lot of information for projects directly from the WEb site."

"Can you provide something "like the Harris County Library website with a webpage feauturing newly purchased/arrived books, DVDs, etc.? Or a "storefront" showing lists of what CDs, DVDs, or books you have?"

"I am interested in available family history material. Our library is great, but I hope they will be able to do great things with the recent funds left by the geneologist! The ladies in the Geneology Dept. do a good job and are able to help a lot of researchers from the sources and materials our library offer!"

"look at books online"

"look at internet data according to address"

" talk to other libraries by computer"

"see weather reports online"

"volunteer work to assist in broadening your work skills"

"I would like to have a teensite added!!!"

"The calendar of events needs to be a little more in advance"

"Since the Ann Arbor District Library was recently selected by the ALA as the best library Website in the nation ( see their site at: http://www.aadl.org/ ) I asked them for some information about their site. I've copied below the response from their Tech Manager. I don't know if we can apply anything he's said to our site, but maybe the information will be helpful to someone:
Paul, thanks for your interest. Our website was developed by an in-house team, and the graphics and stylesheets were developed by Skidmore Studio, a graphic design firm. Most of the code was developed 'by hand'. Our website is powered by Drupal (http://drupal.org), the awesome open-source CMS, and most of the website services are custom drupal modules. If you have the geeks to do it, you might consider drupal or a similar CMS. Once implemented, it takes all the code and editing out of content creation and allows your contributors to focus on the content.
Thanks again for your interest, and let me know if you have any further questions.
Eli NeiburgerAADL Tech Manager"

"The Home page could be redesigned to be easier to read - perhaps large buttons to search the catalog. This could be helpful for people without much internet experience"

"It would be nice to have different areas on the website just like in the physical library. Like a media library, book library, etc.. That way you can find what you're looking for quicker."

"The green font of the website is diffcult to read.

"NOT have every link on the http://www.countylibrary.org/ homepage open a new window. It's highly atypical web behavior and really annoying."

"One thing that I couldn't figure out how to do, was to cancel an ILL request that I had made?? I ended up sending an e-mail to the library in hopes they would be able to cancel it for me? Did I over look something that I could have done this myself?"

" You need a logon on your home page. It's a pain to have to drill down before it asks you"

"Exactly where would I go to request that the libary purchase some material..ie DVD's?"

"The home page is rather plain and bland. There are no photos/graphics other than the library logo. The light green and blue coloring should be changed to something a little more bold and easier to read."

Web 2.0 metalists

Complete List of Web 2.0 Products and Services

List of Web 2.0 Lists

lists lists lists web2.o lists lists lists

The Big Categorized List of Nearly Everything Web 2.0

Web2.OList

koolWEB 2.0

LJ L2

Hungry for a plate of Library 2.0?

netvibes - meebo’s partner-in-crime

ALA 2006 Library Webpage Winners

$6,000,000+ budget

Best Of Show - Ann Arbor Ditrict Library
Honorable Mention - Tacoma Public Libary

$2,000,000-5,999,999

Best of Show - Hedberg Public Library
Honorable Mention - Davenport Public Library

$500,000-1,999,999

Best of Show - Vogel Library, Wartburg College
Honorable Mention - Madison-Jefferson County Public Library

$0-499,999

Best of Show - Pineville-Bell Public Library
Honorable Mention - Campbell County Public Library

examples of slideshow photos/events on webpage

Harford County Public Library

Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County

Tacoma Public Library

Santa Monica Public Library

Kansas City Public Library

King County Library System

Pasadena Public Library

City of Farmers Branch

ever changing photos on our webpage

see the sidebar for 1 way to do photos on our webpage

anybody that wants to play around with the html, feel free to login as montgomerycountylibrary and click on template to play and edit the html to increase the size or move it somewhere else, don't worry if it gets messed up, I can recreate it, you can also preview it before it is saved

if you forgot the password, I can email it to you

also, if you would like to login to our countylibrarydotorg flickr account I can email you the password

CMS vs Dreamweaver via Luke

"When you use Dreamweaver you're creating mostly static HTML pages, which you then upload to a server.

A content-management system (CMS), is how you create and manage a totally database-driven site. You use (generally) web-based tools to log into the system, create/delete/modify content, create the "look and feel" of the site, specify how you want that content laid out on the pages, etc. All of the pieces -- the chunks of content you create (images, chunks of text, etc.), the stylesheets that determine
the layout, the way you order them on the page, etc. -- are all components that are stored by the system, mostly in a database (but also sometimes as discrete files). The "page" that the user sees is usually not "assembled" until the user requests it. At that time, the CMS application receives the request, retrieves and assembles the different components from the database as needed to fulfill that request, and then hands off the compiled page to the webserver, which then sends it to the
user. That's why a CMS can be so flexible and dynamic! A single piece of content can easily appear on different pages across the site, and if it is updated in one place, it updates everywhere. CMSes are very good at allowing you to distribute the work of updating the website across the whole organization, because they typically provide an easy way for people to update designated content (instead of having to deal with static HTML files and FTP) and the administrator can set up the security to determine which employees have permission to update which areas of the site. Many CMSes also have lots of optional plug-ins or modules that you can use to add different kinds of functionality to your site -- like displaying RSS feeds, or calendars of events, or tracking usage statistics, or displaying slideshows, or offering an on-site chat service, or even internationalization for managing content on a multilingual site.

Not all CMSes are open-source, but there are some very good ones out there. Take a look at this article to see if it's helpful for you:

Open source tools for content management

Hope this helps... Let me know if I can help with other questions."

Luke Rosenberger, Technology Librarian
Automated Library Services, DSTC
North Harris Montgomery Community College District
5000 Research Forest Dr
The Woodlands TX 77381-4399
tel 832-813-6652
luke.rosenberger@nhmccd.edu