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Whether it's the web, smartphones, Facebook, or the Internet of Things (IoT), library web managers are learning about new technologies and helping libraries adopt and adapt new tech to create [...]

Planning for the future is a necessary but difficult endeavor. Since none of us have a crystal ball, how can we be sure we're getting our strategic planning right? Looking [...]

In my November/December 2017 column, I looked at some tools and techniques to help you benchmark your websites' performance and identify where slowdowns might be happening. This time, I present [...]

The phrase 'fake news' has officially entered the national dialogue. Despite its current high profile, however, the principles behind the lack of skills in evaluating the information we consume has [...]

There comes a time in the life of most websites when they have to pack their bags and move. It might be a move from one server to another or [...]

It's morning. You're rushing to get out the door to get to work on time. But you want to know whether to take an umbrella and how long the commute [...]

Just when you think you have managed to get most of your content providers up-to-speed on writing for the web, along comes a game changer--and this time, it's mobile. Originally, [...]

Your website is a thing of beauty. Sleek, modern, inviting. But what if you were to dig below the surface. Still as pretty? Maybe not. While it's obviously important to [...]

If part of your job involves managing, creating, or contributing to an intranet, I hope you'll agree with me that it's time to check in on the intranet. And if, [...]

Webmasters dedicate much of their time and energy to the user experience. Looking outward is exactly as it should be. However, into the life of every webmaster comes a time [...]

The world of technology Is never boring. There are always new developments to investigate, skills and competencies to be updated, and trends to keep an eye on. All of this [...]

Regardless of how many usability studies you've conducted or how much you've incorporated UX (user experience) concepts into your design process, there's always more to learn. New practices in the [...]

It's lurking around every corner. It's there, behind every pretty webpage, every pithy tweet, every engaging game. It's inescapable, this insidious beast. You may never actually see it, but oh, [...]

Google Analytics (GA) is a powerful tool for analyzing website usage. It enjoys strong uptake in the library world and beyond. Its popularity in libraries is unsurprising--it's free and librarians [...]

As a practicing webmaster, you probably have little time for exploring new research findings about website usability. Your day-to-day activities doubtless take precedence over investigating the latest theories of web [...]

Let's suppose you're planning a library website redesign. Although you feel confident about the visual design and information architecture, setting clear expectations for developers is a bit of a black [...]

Think standards are about as exciting as tax forms? I sympathize. While you may have been hearing something about HTML5 for some time (Jason A. Clark wrote a cover story [...]

AS busy webmasters, we should neither spin our wheels nor reinvent the AAlJ wheel. Rather than spending time rediscovering solutions to our problems, we should tap into the massive community [...]

OCLC has done it again. It's taken an in-depth look at perceptions of libraries and use of information resources and other technologies in its report, 'Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context [...]

Library websites aren't what they used to be. Browsing the Wayback Machine (www.archive.org) for library websites from the past 14 years is like hopping onto a roller coaster with its [...]

Consider these telling statistics: It's estimated that by 2014 mobile internet usage will surpass desktop web usage. It's also predicted that in 2011, for the first time in history, sales [...]

Libraries, to be successful, need to learn from other types of organizations. Most libraries have been careful adopters of innovations and business practices. For example, libraries have learned from bookstores [...]

That the future is mobile is not news. That libraries need to have a presence in the emerging mobile landscape is also not news. The question is how do you [...]

Library spaces are alive, vibrant, highly used, collaborative, and creative. But are they smart? Can they count, measure, listen, respond, or suggest? If this sounds futuristic, it really shouldn't. All [...]

Twitter as a communication medium has hit a tipping point. If your library has the lights on and a website, it needs a Twitter presence. This isn't just social media [...]

Sometimes it's important to step back and look at library services through the eyes of our users. What do they experience when they use your library website to accomplish a [...]

When is the last time you checked in on your link resolver? If you're like most of us, the answer is probably 'not at all recently.' Link resolvers are essentially [...]

Far from being static, the web evolves continuously. It is getting smarter and faster with each passing year. There is no longer one web; there is the web for me, [...]

Next-generation library catalogs have been getting good press for some time now. While uptake of these search tools has increased over the last year, next-gen OPACs are by no means [...]

IN 'Tune It Up, Don't Tear It Down: Website Redesigns' (ONLINE, September/October 2008), I made the case that sometimes a 'redesign' may be too radical a solution to a website's [...]

The mashup ecosystem has expanded rapidly, from a mere handful of data providers and APIs (application programming interfaces) in 2005 to a veritable feast for info junkies of any kind [...]

Increasingly, online information is escaping the text trap and being presented in visual terms. Think about things such as newspaper 'infographics,' car navigation systems, and iTunes' Cover Flow display. Humans [...]

IN our previous column (November/December 2008), 'Social Media Metrics: Making the Case for Making the Effort,' we looked at why it's important to measure your library's social media presence. We [...]

Does the design of most library Web sites keep pace with how users learn and how they expect to see information presented? Traditional media outlets--newspapers and television--are adding more infographics, [...]

Marketing is more important than ever. Although we've strengthened our collections with electronic resources, we face competition. We're no longer the only game in town. While we can argue that [...]

For a library website, 'content' usually connotes information about how to find material, such as articles, books, maps, music, or maybe the procedure for getting a library card, locating the [...]

How effective is your library at sharing stories? You probably have lots of stories that reveal how your services are relevant to your community. But how good are you at [...]

Discovery systems, no longer the new kids on the block, are now integral to the operations of thousands of libraries worldwide. These systems enable library users to access the full [...]

At some point, every person responsible for a library website ponders the question of whether to do a redesign. Hesitation quickly sets in, however, since redesigning a website is a [...]

Here's a myth for you: Creating content and writing for the web are straightforward tasks. If you've tried, you know that writing great content for online readers (or non-online readers, [...]

The umbrella term 'usability testing' for websites encompasses a number of methods on how to determine if users can complete predetermined tasks easily and intuitively. Often, usability testing is synonymous [...]

Library budgets are exploding, and support is at an all-time high. Wait, what? That is generally not the news we hear about library budgets. In fact, libraries are having to [...]

Redesigning your website? Building a mobile site? Thinking of doing either? Stop, breathe deeply, and read this first. You need to know about responsive design before you get too deeply [...]

Tablets, tablets, tablets. The future of computing! Revolutionizing education! Making the world safe for democracy! Two of those are true and one probably not, but it's undeniable that tablets are [...]

Web managers are convinced that they know their sites pretty well. We spend so much time engaged with them, some of us even dream--or have nightmares--about them. In our overworked [...]

There is a digital divide. Not the one between the technology haves and have-nots, though that is very real, but rather one between the physical world and the online world. [...]

Librarians have been talking about it, dreaming about it, for years. We never thought it could actually be delivered, but here it is--shiny, new, and just waiting for us to [...]

Improving website usability and user experience is a basic tenet of my job and probably yours, since you're reading this column. From wire framing to task-based testing to card sorts [...]

What are the top three things library webmasters can do to improve their websites? Panelists at Internet Librarian 2009 were charged with answering this question in session A203, 'Library Website [...]