Preview & comment on the new Brimbank Libraries website !
Click here to visit the new website then Click here to comment
Welcome to the new look library website- it is now in the testing phase & we invite you to comment by posting a message on this blog.
Please remember that the website is still in development-
- some pages will be incomplete, for example the Kids & Teen pages have only basic content. The content will be developed further by the Childrens & Youth Services team. These pages will have their own headers featuring photos of children & teens
- multilingual pages are limited as we are awaiting translations. To see an example of how they will work, go to LOCATIONS/ Keilor Village & click on the Tieng Viet link on the top right of the page. Content will be available in 11 community languages
- the icons on the eLibrary page will be replaced with photo icons
- the look & feel of the online catalogue will change to be in keeping with the new website look when we go live
Follow the link below to read about some of the new features…..
Check out these features:
- each library has its own webpage with a virtual tour & google map, also its own facebook page
- programs & events are listed on the events calendar & promoted on the random news item embedded in the header of the homepage as well as on banners on relevant pages. Recurring events only have to be added once
- the Good Reads page is now an interactive book blog where patrons can post short reviews & comments. Titles from the Good Reads blog are featured randomly in the Quick Pick section on the homepage. We can add as many titles as we like to this page from our booklists & update as often as required
- there is a search the catalogue link on every page, & also on the facebook pages
- on the ASK US page, the Ask A Librarian section features live chat reference help ( to operate at at selected times only)
- the ePolls feature can be used to seek patron feedback on selected issues
- the eLibrary will allow patrons to browse virtual bookshelves of eBooks, online databases & selected websites
- accessibility features will include enlargeable text size, an A to Z index for easier navigation, alternative text for images, & is designed to comply with W3C standards for use with screen reading equipment
April 29th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Looks good, but I think there should be a more prominent “search the catalogue” link on the home page - suggest that it is included in the main menu on the lefthand side… hang on a minute, I just found it hiding almost out of view on the right hand side. I think you can never have it featured too many times!
May 1st, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The site is great. It clearly shows what each library has to offer with an interesting visual presentation. The only thing I can suggest is to make the site more colourful
May 8th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
the new website is shapping up to be really usefull and user friendly. its picked up a bit from the old site and expading on things that were not exactly the strong points of the previous site. a few thing to pint out is the new side menu. almost the same but renewing the search bar and the the events is good. the site just seems more welcoming overal. your not blown away by huge amounts of tiny writing on each page, the catoluge is more helpfull (if a bit hard to find, i only found it thanks to a previous blog), cool use of the google maps to find libraries and the simple and fresh look of the site. to make a long story short (which is a bit too late now) the site has cut out the frustration of finding most things and added and expnded the tihngs that people are looking for. NEGATIVE… the simple look is good but kids and studens are going tho think it looks boring. needs a better colour, if some one was to get a tittle or authors name wrong when looking int the catoluge by 1 letter i think it would to be helpfull to have a spelling corection tool as to help people find what they want eiser and new location for the catoluge serch bar.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
This is a great site. I like the colour and photos of people it makes the libraries look very welcoming and friendly. It is looking very modern too.
As said previously the catalogue is hard to find you could make it more of a central feature, also the top buttons for renew, reserving etc could be larger or a different colour to see them better. Also the left side menu could maybe be larger and a differnet colour because it doesnt seem to stand out very well. The different branches of these libraries could stand out a bit more for people that want to know whats going on at their particular library.
That said I think it is looking fantastic . I love the colour and vibrancy it shows. It shows our libraries are a modern and friendly place to be.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Just a couple of more comments:
The community languages could be put near the top as this is a large feature of our community.
The ‘join us on facebook, myspace’ could be put along the bottom.
Kids and teens stuff could be on the main page for easy access.
Quick picks is great but could it have a picture of the book (I like pictures!)
I dont know if its just my computer but could the page be larger and take up the screen more, it is showing large space on both sides of the screen, if it could be larger that would be great as things would stand out more and not look too squashy.
Ok thats enough from me for now. I really do love this site it is so modern and the colours are great.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I think the website is great and a real eye opener to see what 2 great minds can really do in such as small amount of time, the only thing that i can see as a problem is the location of links on the side of the site. I think upcoming events and services should be higher up on the list as these are our most important features that we offer patrons, just a suggestion otherwise everything is great, its easy to use and very eye catching.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hi,
I have just checked out your new web page after seeing it updated in Facebook. I think it looks fresh and dynamic and is easy to navigate. I did have a problem when i clicked on the link to the Kids page and it felt like i was being taken away to a whole new page, even the left hand side menu had changed and it didn’t feel like you were still on the library page.
Otherwise good job on freshening up the page it looks fantastic most of it!
Shane
May 14th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
oh also when i clicked on the join us on myspace and facebook at the bottom of the main home screen it took me to a page that barely resembled a the library site.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
The opening Tabs looked Ok.. Well Laid out and clear.
When I clicked on the the tabs it took me back to the old pages. Guess its not all done.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Have you considered online memberships? If that’s not possible, you might want to mention having to fill in an application at the library (that’s if they have to do that of course).
Collections - can you link back to those particular collections in your catalogue. Live link wherever you can!
Can you add ebooks to your catalogue page, it sits nicely with your databases then.
I love your use of delicious, we are doing something similar with Olympic Games links.
Good reads - on my screen it wasn’t immediately obvious that there were reviews there - can you respace it so that the reviews start closer to the top of the page?
Under the Ask Us heading, have the collection links in the body of the page, as well as the sidebar - took me a minute to realise there was something else there. Can’t have too many links!
I am extremely jealous, the website, your use of delicious, your MySpace and Facebook pages are all awesome. Congratulations - job well done!
May 26th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
The new website looks great - love the ‘good read’ tab and also the ease of the catalogue search.
One suggestion is that perhaps there is a specific tab for kids….kids books, dvds activities etc. Libraries cannot be promoted enough to children I believe and a prominent and obvious tab would be helpful I think.
ps - nice neutral colour scheme too…works well to achieve a nice quiet ‘library effect’ online!
June 6th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
my only concern is that it’s quite slow to upload and go to different features as it takes a while for everything to appear on the page…quite frustrating.