Abstract: STARTING POINTS Ten years ago, no one could anticipate the extent to which the World Wide Web would become an essential aspect of library services. Small numbers of librarians took up the Web with a sense of experimentation, adventure, and play. Without conscious forethought, they invented what eventually resulted in today's library websites. As has always been common in the computing world, but not in the library world, the technology continually changed faster than the organizations using it, and the position of library Web manager came into being with no consistent definitions of the responsibilities involved or training required. What does a Web manager do? What does that person need to know? How can a Web manager contribute to the success of a site, and how is that success defined? This report explores these questions. It discusses technical requirements for a server, including decisions many libraries face about hardware, software, and site hosting options. It describes the types of tools used to make both HTML files and dynamic pages, and some of the goals of Web design regarding usability and accessibility. This report emphasizes the importance of standards in the creation and design of websites. Many Web design tools support an increasingly outdated authoring model in which sites look right for almost all users. Web managers who understand and apply the standards discussed here can make sites that look right for almost all users, but that also make sense and work right for all users. More and more libraries include that difference between supporting almost all and all users as an important part of what defines a successful website. This report does not contain product recommendations or reviews. It describes issues that arise in managing library websites. Web managers with an understanding of these issues are better prepared to address questions they will face about creating and running their libraries' websites. What is a Web manager? In this second decade of the Web's existence, many libraries can point with justifiable pride to the ways they have added Web resources to their service offerings. The technology of the Web is compelling, and the benefits of a library's presence on the Web are numerous. But personnel choices about who should guide this presence may be less than clear. Technology changes more quickly than job descriptions; libraries are left to determine what training, job skills, and experience are needed by the person running their Web servers. As librarians integrate the Web more deeply into overall library services, the role of the Web manager often remains grafted onto the responsibilities of some other position. As a result, the definition of a Web manager is nebulous. In simplest terms, a Web manager is responsible for establishing, configuring, maintaining, and upgrading a website. This role is often assigned to someone who also fulfills the duties of any or all of the following positions: * Systems administrator, maintaining server computers * Systems librarian, maintaining library online systems and in-library computer equipment * Web designer, making large-scale decisions about a website's form and structure * Web author, generating the website content As Web services become mission-critical for libraries, the role of the Web manager deserves greater attention and understanding. The Web manager can make systems decisions about server platforms to support, determine Web servers and client software on workstations, and create designs that affect the usability of the site. Using relevant standards In many cases, Web managers are best prepared to make these decisions by understanding the relevant standards affecting a particular aspect of Web services. This report refers repeatedly to standards for HTTP, HTML, stylesheets, and accessibility. …
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 4
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot