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This paper presents the major findings from the project “Development of new methods for evaluation of library Web sites on the World Wide Web”. The report includes a brief examination and discussion of quality applied to Web sites in general and concerning library Web sites in particular. Findings from a few empirical surveys are presented. A new list of quality criteria for evaluation of academic libraries is compiled. The list is tested on three Danish academic libraries. Finally, a revised list of criteria is applied to twelve major Danish academic libraries. The findings include the panellists’ scores and their verbal comments. The main conclusion is that the Web sites of the Danish academic libraries in question are above average compared with Web sites in general. They do not, however, come up to expectations as virtual expressions of the quality levels of the libraries. This situation can only be improved if the libraries allocate the necessary resources regarding updating and development of the Web sites. This should be done on the basis of regular user studies and comparative evaluations.

This article sets out to describe the background behind WIT Libraries' recently launched new‐look web site: its origins, implementations and long‐term goals, and explain how the library is using a new web content management system to its best advantage, particularly in terms of compliance with web standards and guidelines.

This case study reports on the use of a web content management system to develop the new library web site. It describes the move from an existing site, where the main focus was on visual impact to the new site, which also focuses on providing open and equitable access to information for all users.

Concludes by stating that the new library web site, as managed by the content management system, adheres to accessibility standards, which the old site, managed in a less efficient way, could not maintain.

The project is still in development. The study provides a short‐term view of one small academic library's experience of implementing a usable and fully accessible web site.

This account of WIT Libraries' experience of working with a content management system to develop a usable and fully accessible web site is likely to be a useful source of practical information for organisations in similar positions, faced with similar challenges of a comparable scale.

Offers practical insights for libraries in similar positions, showing them how successful transference of the library web site to a web content management system can include having excellent compliance with web standards and accessibility guidelines.

Providing a Web site that satisfies the expectations of the National Library’s New Zealand and international users required a re‐evaluation in 2002 of the library’s Web site content, design and navigation. There is a demonstrated public demand for subject‐based and digital information on the Web site as well as for the traditional access to the library’s catalogues. The Web site has also evolved as a result of developments in Web site usability. The design also reflects the library’s description of its services on the new government portal. This has required the library to describe its services, Web pages, catalogues, and key corporate publications using the New Zealand Government Locator Standard metadata set (NZGLS) as well as meeting the library’s own Dublin Core metadata standard framework.

This research aims at conducting a survey of web‐based services offered by Asian national libraries.

To do this, 23 accessible and English language web sites of national libraries in Asia were studied. Direct observation and a checklist including six general services were used for data collection and data evaluation, respectively. In order to determine the detailed services provided by national library web sites, five web sites of the greatest and historical national libraries in the world with appropriate geographical distribution were taken into account.

National Library of Singapore had the first rank in providing its services via a web site for users and was the only national library in Asia that provides more than half of its services (52.29 per cent) via the web site. The national libraries of seven countries: Japan, Malaysia, China, Iran, Israel, Seri Lanka, and Kyrgyzstan provide web‐based services in the range of 25‐50 per cent, respectively in descending order. And the web sites of Asian national libraries (ANLs) were far from ideal and optimal as an online service provider.

Asian National Libraries must use the web facilities for achievement of their target goals and provision of their information services in the best manner. It is also suggested that these libraries should make high use of both traditional library tools like bibliographies and web‐based ones including web forms, chat, videoconferences, and so forth to meet their goals and ideals.

This study provides a unique insight into the situation of provision of web‐based services offered by national libraries in selected Asian countries.

Outlines the library Web page from the remote and internal user points of view. States that the outside user needs to be attracted to the site and find unique material whilst the internal user may require site listings and links which identify material local resources. Discusses ways in which both sets of needs can be satisfied.

Reviews the Web sites of over 2,000 public libraries mainly in the USA, and reports on some of the new ways which have been found to present themselves to their patrons and the World Wide Web audience. Identifies methods such as virtual tours, calendar displays, audiovisual materails, resource listings, book clubs and money‐raising activities. Considers the use of tutorials as a method of support.

Higher education, and in particular libraries, have changed significantly over the last decade due to the adoption of technological advancements such as the Internet and the World Wide Web. The multitude of ways patrons can interact with librarians and library resources has been only the latest step in a very long process which started with traditional snail mail and the phone. As educators, librarians have always been interested in using new tools to improve services. These services are increasingly being made available to patrons who do not physically enter a library building. This paper looks at what library services are currently being offered to students at a distance in order to better plan for the future.

Digital inclusivity is about making web sites available to users regardless of a user’s device or disability. This study seeks to find out how accessible and mobile ready state library web sites are and if there is a relationship between web site accessibility and mobile readiness.

I examined web site accessibility through automated code evaluation and manual code inspection of the web site homepage. I evaluated mobile readiness by comparing how homepages displayed on a desktop computer vs. a smart phone.

Most state library web sites had accessibility problems, including missing alternative text for images (82%), inaccessible forms (54%), and poor contrast between text and background (56%). Only 36% of the sites were mobile ready. A Spearman rho analysis of accessibility and mobile readiness found that the more accessible a site is, the more likely it is mobile ready (and vice versa).

While this study identified accessibility and mobile readiness issues, it does not address why these problems exist. In addition, the unit of analysis was limited to the web site homepage. The study’s results emphasize the need to combine manual code inspection with automated analysis, particularly for images’ alternative text.

The study suggests that state libraries need to take greater care in meeting accessibility standards, particularly easily followed standards such as providing appropriate alternative text for images.

Despite the importance of state libraries in organizing and funding local libraries, there has been little research to date on state library web sites.

A great deal of effort has been invested in promoting high quality Web pages in general. Long lists of criteria of “good” Web pages have been proposed. So far, not many studies have been dealing with the specific problems of library and information centre Web sites. Among these studies the majority have rather been using quantitative methods. What is needed, however, are user‐oriented evaluation studies using qualitative methods dealing specifically with Web sites of libraries and information centres. An ongoing Danish study aims at developing new methods of user‐oriented evaluation of library and information centre Web pages. Main areas investigated are: Design and structure; information quality; links and navigation; visual quality; and updating. The findings from some theoretical considerations and a pilot study are presented. A preliminary evaluation method is discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore recent trends in the application of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 features as exemplified through university library web sites around the world.

The top 100 universities from the ranked list of 200 provided on the Times Higher Education web site were considered for collection of data and from this list a selection was made of 57 of these universities. This selection was based on whether the site was in English and whether it had at least one Web 2.0 feature. For each of these universities their web sites were visited and data on their Web 2.0 features (such as Blogs, RSS, Instant Messaging, Wikis and the like) were collected and analyzed.

Results reveal that 37 university libraries use RSS feeds for dissemination of library news, events and announcements and 15 university libraries provide blog space for users. Whereas wiki is the least applied Web 2.0 technology, with only one university using it, Instant Messaging is another most widely applied feature with 37 libraries already providing reference service through it. Podcast (used in three libraries) and Vidcast (used in six libraries) are yet to become popular facilities to be offered in university library web sites.

The study is based on the university ranking for 2007, as the World Top 200 Universities 2008 was not published until October 2008 when this article was being finalized. However, this does not affect the outcome of the Web 2.0 features being utilized by the universities.

Most of the earlier studies on the subject deal with Web 2.0 tools and how they could be used in the library context. The present paper, however, provides concrete evidence of the application of Web 2.0 in university libraries. As such it should prove of interest to all types of libraries, even though its context is university libraries.