If I could create the perfect library website... Or if I could USE a perfect library website it would incorporate these ten features.
1. Ability to create content.
2. Ability to collaborate with librarians or other site users.
3. Ability to leave feedback, comment, or ask questions.
4. Conversation (through Facebook, a Blog etc.) with librarians and other users.
5. Instant message/chat feature for reference help or questions.
6. A library blog - updated routinely.
7. Book reviews or access to other book review sites (Readers advisory is very important!)
8. Tag cloud creation and a way to rate titles.
9. Connection to outside sources like new networks (through RSS)
10. Search feature embedded in every page.
I decided, for this post, to review the Simmons College Library catalog based on my personal criteria, listed above. While the website is a good one, user friendly, easy to navigate, abundant with resources. It hasn't really incorporated as many of the web 2.0 technologies I would like to see. Let's start with what it does have. It does offer a blog that is updated often. It shares information about things on display in the library, projects, and news the librarians think the patrons might be interested in, such as, a new music archive on the National Jukebox with a link, an article/expose/tips on the new New York Times subscription policies. News about library happenings, such as a request for participants in a study about a proposed new library web site. It looks like the blog is updated at least several times a month. The other nice feature is the instant message/chat feature which I've utilized several times during this semester and previous ones.
The web site is unfortunately lacking in basically all of the other features I would like to see. One I find particularly irritating is the "readers advisory" aspect. I know that Simmons is an academic library but they do maintain a fiction section. It's noted in the blog that they have a summer reading display up in the library but as a distance learning student I'll never see that display. It seems to me they could create a virtual display of these same titles and perhaps create book reviews, or incorporate a rating system or tag clouds around the book. They could even blog about a new title or create on online book group where all library users could join in a conversation. I know I've gone off in a tangent about readers advisory services but I think they're really important and libraries, especially academic ones, forget about these essential services. And with 2.0 technologies being so readily available, there's no reason these virtual services couldn't be incorporated.
My second complaint is that there is no way for a user to create, collaborate or have a conversation in the current format of the library site. With so many distance learners it seems these would be essential components. The library also lacks a search feature. Because the site has so much information and so many layers of information that a new user can easily get lost navigating the site. (I did at first) and it would be nice to have a search feature that would allow users to type in queries to get them to the right places within the site or navigate immediately to the area they need based on query.
My final complaint is that there is no access to credible news sources. I think this is an important feature because students can get bogged down in their own insular world and forget that there is a wider world right outside of the library. Having access to news from a variety of sources right on the home page would be a useful for students to remain in touch with what's happening "outside."
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