Here are my favorite academic libraries of 2014. I expected this year’s sites to be: Unified – I wanted a seamless, integrated research experience. I looked for cross-platform search tools, integration with courses, and built-in, non-siloed research guides. Instructive – I wanted the site to teach me how to be a better researcher. I looked for embedded…
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Top 10 Academic Library Websites 2012
My annual review of academic library websites. This year I reviewed sites based on the following 10 criteria: Help with research: If I’m a novice researcher and need to find scholarly sources but don’t know what a “database” is, can I learn to find what I need? ILL: Can I request a book without needing…
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Here is my annual review of public library websites. This year I reviewed over 200 sites using a simple 4-question usability test: Is the library open on Sundays? How do I get a library card? Does the library have a copy of Huckleburry Fin? [note spelling] Does the library have a storytime for a 4-year-old…
Continue readingBest Academic Library Websites 2012 – Part I
I have begun a quest to discover the most intuitive and usable virtual library spaces. This post is the first in a series highlighting some of the best academic library sites as I stumble across them. Here are two questions I ask myself as I look at a site: 1) If I was an undergraduate…
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This post is a follow-up to my previous post “Top 10 Academic Library websites.” Though I work in an academic library, I believe there is much to be learned from looking at public library sites, especially because of their focus on user services. Here are my top 10 favorite public library websites: 1) Johnson County…
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