Thing 15: Web Presence

What perfect timing for Thing 15! One of my professional goals for this school year is to make my library webpages more dynamic and pleasing to the eye in hopes of raising usage. I was already familiar with the top 3 suggested sites: WordPress.com, Blogger.com and Weebly.com

WordPress was introduced to me at a conference I attended some time ago, and although I created an account, I never used it.  Blogger is what I use for this blog, and I have a working knowledge of how it works.  I used Weebly extensively as the web-editer of a non-profit I volunteer with... so these were not new for me to explore.

HOWEVER.... I am one of the lucky few librarians (it seems) that CAN edit and manage my own library webpage. Considering my professional goal, and the task at hand for Thing 15, I decided to take the initiative to learn how to update my own library webpages (for real!) for my thing 15 project.

I contacted my tech support guy at OPALS (my library webpage provider) and set up a couple of webinar training sessions with him to learn the "ins and outs" of my webpage. I knew there was a lot I could do, but just hadn't made the time to learn how yet.

After the webinar sessions, I played around with what I had learned and began updating my Middle School library webpage. After a few minor "goofs", I was able to start updating the site with my own design plan - I learned how to add items, move items, re-size items, add web links, you name it!

Since I manage two buildings, it's easy to see the change in my page.

I've gone from the District-issued generic site still visible for my High School at:
 http://www.millbrookcsd.org/highschool/library

to my new and improved OPALS version, now active for my Middle School library and viewable at
http://mms.dboces.opalsinfo.net/bin/home

My Middle School page is still a work in progress, as I want to add more student content as well as images, but I feel it's much better than my old page!  Next up will be the update/migration for my High School page to OPALS as well.

I think it is crucial for library's to have a web presence. Students expect it. They look for resources online, and want that instant availability they've grown used to. My goal for my library webpages is to be informative, visually appealing, and at the forefront of student & faculty thinking when starting a project.

As for a professional portfolio, the way I organize my teaching materials could be easily manipulated into a portfolio. I use keynote presentations for most lessons and units of study, so I could easily pull highlights from each of my courses to compile an electronic or printed portfolio. I could also upload the files into one online source if I chose to.

Thank you, "Thing 15" for motivating me to finally get my webpage updates underway!