After reading the chapter and viewing some examples of media center webpages, I think that the following features would be ideal to include no matter the grade level:
*School and/or media center contact information (address, phone, email)
*Hours of operation
*Staff names (pictures would also be good)
*Media center mission statement
*Basic policies and procedures (maybe not the entire handbook, but parts such as checkout policies, media center rules, and either the information itself or links to the acceptable use policy and materials dealing with copyright and challenged materials)
*Links to reference sources, such as online dictionaries or thesauruses
*Information on citation of resources (or a link to a site that does it automatically with the correct information plugged in)
*Information on books, such as monthly features/themes or new arrivals
*Weblinks for sites that are educationally and developmentally appropriate for students within the school (these may need to be divided up for schools that cover many grade levels, or even for a P-5 school)
*The school’s online catalog
*Information, news, and upcoming events involving or hosted by the media center.
In addition, it’s also important that:
*All links are working and are updated as needed
*The page itself is attractive but not overwhelming with too many visuals or too much information
*Text is large enough to be easily read by those with visual impairments, and in fonts that are not overly fancy.
*Colors are arranged in ways that those with colorblindness can still read text
There are so many more features that can be included on a media center webpage, depending on the area and the ages of the students served, but these are some basic rules of thumb I carried away from my readings.
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Lori,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your thoughts! Contact information is very important. I think that media specialists do not communicate with parents as much as many of instructional personnel in the school. My having the contact information up on a web page it assures that they have an open line of communication.
I also read that about the mission statement, which I haven't read on any other blogs. I like that idea. I think they should also add information directly linked to state standards (GPS) and also to the literacy standards. I think this would help convey the importance of the activities and programs that take place in the media center.
I bet if the media specialist started a reinforcement system through the web page it would get help get patrons to visit. Maybe like the 2,000th visitor gets something! Just a thought... :)
Hi, Lori... you have a good list of musts for a web page that will speak "volumes" about our media centers. There is so much good information that we can include on our pages that it will get cluttered and unwieldy if we don't categorize and use drop down menus or folders of some sort. The general info and mission statement with a few pictures on the home page, then lead off from that. A happenings link to update regularly with events and new arrivals. A resources section to include the vast array of links for students to research or get homework help, and as you mentioned help with citations. A link to an interactive wiki page, and maybe to the media specialist's or teacher's blogs. I like how Jessica suggested prizes to generate lots of visits to the site... how about have a contest every week with brainteasers or who said this? for the quote of the week.
ReplyDeleteYou hit on an important point of keeping links up-to-date. Many people may not think to check their links! If a student, parent, or teacher visits the webpage and begins to come upon broken or old links, they most likely will leave the website. This can be a minor aspect of keeping up a website, but neglecting it can be a major problem for visitors.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you take into consideration student disabilities. We want our media centers to be accessable to those students, but we should also take care to make our websites accessable.