Web Working Group Retreat

Many more people use the WSU Libraries' web site on a daily basis than use any of our physical sites. This is why I didn't mind spending an entire day (well 9:30 am- 3:30 pm, but you get the idea) working with fellow library employees to improve our web presence.

The Web Working Group, of which I am a member, met today to plot and plan ways to make our web site easier to use. The WWG is one of the busiest and most energetic groups in the Libraries (probably in all of WSU, if that's not too immodest) and we get a lot done in terms of maintenance and upgrades to things like our online catalog and our article search tool. But today we talked about the big picture our our web, and are hoping to make some very large improvements in terms of how easy it is to use. I can't go into much detail yet, but we are planning to

• Make our public pages patron-focused
  
• Evaluate what pages/features on our website people find most useful and make getting to those pages easier
  
• Work with the new WSU web page templates to make our front page cleaner, with fewer links
  
• Work towards migrating to a Content Management System so that pages are maintained consistently

Awfully ambitious of us, and how we make all of this happen will depend a lot on the information we gather in the next few weeks, but it's highly satisfying to be part of such a positive plan for the future. And my colleagues on theWWG deserve a lot of praise for their dedication and determination.

All comments and input about ways to improve our web pages are welcome - just send them to Erica Carlson Nicol