Crash Course in Web Design for Libraries

Citation

du Preez, M. (2007), "Crash Course in Web Design for Libraries", Online Information Review, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 539-540. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710780494

Librarians communicate with their patrons and staff in many ways, including web pages posted on the worldwide web and intranets. Yet planning, HTML coding and publishing web pages can be a daunting task to most people. Charles Rubenstein's exciting new book gently introduces web design and publishing, and takes reader on an adventure into the creation of a website for the fictitious/mythical Red Rose Library (www.redroselibrary.com)

Rubenstein developed the Red Rose Library website as an example of a library's website. It provides many of the services available in a normal library and which librarians would like to feature on their libraries' websites. In the text of Crash Course in Web Design for Libraries, Rubenstein guides readers through the development of a variety of pages for the Red Rose library as a means of learning how to create their own web pages. The author also advises on how to link these pages together, creating a website that will function internally on the library's intranet or which can even be posted on the web. The book is filled with tips and techniques on how to present one's library through the broadcast medium of the worldwide web.

The text is intended to be used as a stand‐alone, user‐friendly workbook for individuals who have no programming background but have an interest in the rapid development of professional‐looking web sites. The examples in Rubenstein's book were created using Microsoft WordPad™ (Version 5) and viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer™ (Version 6) in the Microsoft Windows™ XP environment. The focus is on the creation of HTML pages useful in libraries and information centres using the hypothetical Red Rose Library as a demonstration site.

The task of chapter 1 is to give readers the tools to jump right into creating a web page so that they do not have to wait too long before they have their first page up and running. The rest of the book is designed to ease readers into good design of web pages using HTML techniques without expensive software. Rubenstein first uses Microsoft Word™ with its built‐in word‐to‐web converter, and then creates HTML pages using Microsoft WordPad™ and simple HTML elements to tag the information. Microsoft Internet Explorer™ is used as the standard web page viewer or browser. Using these two methods of creating web pages allows Rubenstein to explain the effectiveness of both methods in web page creation.

Apart from teaching HTML coding, Rubenstein also describes how to use tables creatively in a website and includes forms for patron interactivity – like the inclusion of a Sudoku puzzle. In conclusion, Chapter 10 looks at a variety of techniques that could be used to further enhance web pages. These include adding image maps to create navigation bars and hypergraphics, adding marquees and transitions to web pages, web page accessibility for patrons with limited sight, and how to optimise search engine use to get web pages noticed by vendor search engines such as Google.

Crash Course in Web Design for Libraries is an easy‐to‐follow guide to web page design. It is filled with creative ideas in planning and designing a successful website. It will be a handy reference for busy webmasters who need to refresh their memories when they make additions or deletions, or add new material to their websites. It may even be used as a handout when presenting a workshop on web design.