Why

Our Web site was developed with three goals in mind:

1. To locate and provide easy access to Web sites for the Library's Reference staff, for use in providing reference service to Library patrons.

2. To provide an informative, easy-to-use introduction to the Web for Library patrons using in-house Internet workstations.

3. To make Library resources available outside the Library via the Internet, to Library patrons, other north suburban libraries, and the entire Internet community.

How

Our site began as one staff member's list of links for use by the Reference staff. This was enough, however, to get other staff members interested in the idea of setting up a real Web site, and within a matter of weeks we were hard at work seeking out useful sites, learning HTML, designing pages, converting existing Library text and data files to HTML, etc. The first version of our site went public at the end of September, 1995, but because certain aspects of its design were limited by what we were able to glean from the limited HTML resources we had available at the time, we continued to learn and experiment, trying to find ways to improve the ease-of-use and appearance of our site. The resulting second version was completed by the end of November, 1995.

In early 1997 we began work on the current version of our Web site, which debuted January 26, 1998. Our goals were to:

1. Reorganize the content to make it easier to use (the number of pages had more than tripled since the previous redesign).

2. Take advantage of some of the newer HTML features we had previously avoided because they weren't supported by a majority of browsers.

3. Create a more integrated and professional graphic design for the site.

4. Take advantage of cgi functions for a variety of purposes, including linking the Web site to in-house databases, since we would soon be acquiring our own Web server (until June, 1997, our site was hosted by our regional library system's Web server).

Our entire Web site is created, maintained and hosted on Apple Power Macintosh computers. Since the development of the second version of our site we've used a group of in-house developed Hypercard (no longer available commercially) HTML editors/databases for creating and updating our Web pages (one for each section of the site and for each of two separate staff-only sites). Rather than being designed around simple ways to add tags (via palettes, menus, etc.), the editors' purposes are to keep all of our pages readily accessible in one location (instead of having to re-open a page every time it had to be modified as we were doing with other editors), and, more importantly, to enable a page's author to concentrate solely on the actual content of the page. The entire page structure, including all of the information and graphics at the top of the page, in the sidebar, and at the bottom of the page, are added and customized automatically by the Hypercard editors based on which section of the Web site the page is in and on a series of checkboxes that control various options such as which sidebar buttons to display. The database approach also enables us to make a layout or design change, such as adding a sidebar button for a new section, in one place and then re-generate the entire Web site (over 350 pages) to include that change in a matter of minutes with a single mouse-click. In addition, several pages are generated automatically from other Hypercard databases, such as our magazine list and events calendar. All of our Web graphics were created in PhotoShop or ClarisDraw.

Our server is a Power Mac G4 running WebStar. Netcloak, from Maxum, Inc., is used for page customization and access counts. Links to Hypercard databases (Webrary Links, MatchBook, Song Index, etc.) are handled by a custom Hypercard cgi. The server is monitored by a Power Macintosh G3 running Maxum's PageSentry, and both it and the server are kept up by a PowerKey Pro smart power strip from Sophisticated Circuits.

Who

The Webrary is maintained by the Library's Web Team:

• Kevin Justie, Webmaster and Assistant Director/Head of Automated Services and Technology

• Natalya Fishman, Head of Reference Services

• Karen Hansen, Reference/Readers Services Librarian

• Colleen Ringel, Reference/Electronic Resources Librarian

• Ronnie Rund, Assistant Head of Youth Services

• Robina Button, Youth Services Department

Graphic design of the Library's Web site is by Brian Benson.

www.webrary.org/Inside/aboutwww.html
First published on the Web: 1/26/1998
Last updated: 1/14/2008