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Week 3
Hey all,
I'll start this weeks comments with the Jakob Nielsen article, he is an author that has come up a number of times in other classes that I've taken here at Fims. He's clearly an authority on web usability and he knows what he's talking about... this is why I find it so odd that his site and posts are so brutally hard to navigate/read. If he's doing it on purpose just because he can I think it's amusing, if not I'm just confused.
A point he touches on in the article mentioned in the other readings this week is frequency of posts, I think this is terribly important, I personally won't return to a site more than a few times even if I love the content, if that content isn't being updated regularly... Mostly because I wouldn't be getting anything new out of it, but also out of principle.
Putting a picture up is a good idea as well, and I'm getting to that, sadly finding one where I don't look like an ass is proving difficult.
The Scout article brought up a good point as well, which was to determine whether or not a blog was right for your company. I think this is an important point to make. I worked in a few libraries that were very gung-ho about getting a blog up and running...mostly because it was the hip thing to do in libraries. Granted a blog could have worked in either one, but the blog would have had to be incorporated in the right way for the right purpose using the correct format. A blog for the sake of having a blog is mostly likely doomed.
I also liked the two articles dealing with the ethics of blogging. I think these were very interesting and relevant. Initially I was under the impression that blogs were not as constrained by issues surrounding citation, accuracy and other traditional checks and balances that the press is subject to. Upon further consideration however I've decided/been convinced that blogs are even more subject to these forces. Blogs unlike print and television media are a dime a dozen, if you alienate your audience with bad information you've likely lost them forever as such ethics become a crucial aspect of any blog.
Grant
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CASE STUDIES
Darien Library Blogs
The first blog I looked at this week was the Darien library blogs. My initial impression was that the site looked pretty sharp and well organized. I liked the text links to a variety of blogs with rss feeds. I liked that they were the latest posts. I really liked the visual representations of each blog on the right side of the page, the icons were sharp and representative.
After looking around a little more I decided that I really did like the site being segmented into different blogs, I find on a lot of library sites I have to sift through a lot of information to find something I'm interested in or looking for. This breakup immediately limited the need for one layer of comprehensive meta data and made the site easier to navigate.
Most of the blogs were updated relatively frequently, apart from the directors blog, this was nice. Plus some of the areas didn't need to be updated all that often because they were limited to how often events were occurring. Overall I thought this was a very impressive site that would serve as a good model if I was ever to design a blog...
The Garfield County Public Library System's
blog was nice looking but lacked the organization that I saw in the Darien site. It was also not updated as frequently. I liked the train picture... Although I'm not sure what it had to do with anything, maybe Garfield was a big train town.
MabryOnline.org blogs
This was an interesting blog, very different from the other examples because it wasn't necessarily representing an organization in the same way. This blog compiled a number of individual teachers blogs from within an organization, consequently the quality and frequency of blogs varied quite a bit as a result. Some blogs were updated quite frequently, while others were very stale.
Virginia Commonwealth University - Library Suggestion Blog
I really liked this blog! I think using a blog as a suggestion box is a very useful, practical and appropriate application for blogs in a library. I like how transparent it makes the process, and how it allows the community a chance to voice feedback to an institution they are very vested in, which essentially exists to serve them.
Grant
Hi Grant,
Funny that you noticed this about Jakob's website as I did, back in my 523: Web Design class when my professor featured this as one of his "bad design" case studies. haha. I found it odd that his boring-looking site mostly consists of a list of links, but perhaps it is a (lame) joke that exemplifies what not to do...although most people reading his site are probably aware of these things...
Grant – I too was puzzled by the unattractiveness of Nielson’s site. I noticed this when we read him for Web Design and Architecture as well. The only excuse I can make for him is that included in usability is not only good navigation and readability, but also the potential for users with slower connections and not-so-up-to-date software to use it. This means not using a lot of the tools that make websites look savvy. Also, certain features make it hard for those using assistive technology - i.e. tables or pop-up information. This doesn’t necessarily make up for the strange layout of information and colour choice, but I can’t explain it any other way. I’ve also been surprised when looking at websites for international organizations like the united nations, because the design doesn't have a very slick, professional look. Here again, I wonder if it is an accessibility question, as not everyone has as powerful a connection as we do. Or perhaps Nielson is just having a good time, who knows.
"A blog for the sake of having a blog is most likely doomed" -- couldn't have said it better myself, Grant! That's usually one of the first things I tell librarians when I talk about 2.0 tools -- yes, they're shiny and fun, but don't implement them because of that! Start with the problem you are trying to fix and choose the tool accordingly. I've seen my fair share of "doomed" blogs that suffered their demise because the institution didn't think past the implementation and "cool" factor. It's sad!