This topic actually comes up pretty regularly on lists for web types;
wonder if we could put together some type of sharing resource where we
all talk about how we made the case to split off the library's web
site? I feel like it's a battle so many of us have fought and can
therfore help our colleagues fight...

Nina

On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Sarah Thorngate
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Matt,
>
> Our website is part of the main campus CMS (Sitecore). There are also links
> to it on the intranet/student portal, which drive quite a bit of the
> traffic.
>
> A few others have alluded to this, but you can look to my library's website
> as an example of how horribly wrong things can go when university marketing
> has control of the library's website. We're in the process of moving away
> from the campus site to our own site, using Drupal. I spent the last year
> convincing our marketing and IT departments to allow this, so feel free to
> email me offlist if you want to talk strategy. I would say that the two
> most effective pieces of my argument were site analytics and examples from
> aspirant schools.
>
> Sarah
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 9:33 AM, Nina McHale <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> Matt,
>>
>> Can totally see how this is a nuisance for staff, and it would make me
>> die on the inside, too! As a short term measure, could you set up and
>> advertise an alias (something like library.institutiondomainname.edu)
>> to get directly to the web site, or would that not work with the
>> portal?
>>
>> Also, do you have access to web analytics to help build a case? It's
>> hard to say "these are low" if you don't have a favorable benchmark to
>> compare them to, but there might be some more leverage there, too.
>> Maybe reach out to a similar institution and see if they'll share and
>> benchmark web analytics with you?
>>
>> And ew, SharePoint. :D At my last academic library, that's what campus
>> IT used for the main campus site, but unit webmasters were allowed to
>> opt out, and the library took the opportunity to move to Drupal.
>>
>> I'd also suggest chatting with any ExLibris user communities out there
>> and seeing how others are integrating those tools into their websites
>> and seeing what web platforms they're using.
>>
>> Nina
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 8:11 AM, Matthew Sherman
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> > This is actually becoming an announce to our employees because we have to
>> > spend so much time explaining where the library site is.  We are pretty
>> > much an Ex Libris shop at the moment, Primo, Metalib, SFX, all locked
>> > behind Sharepoint.  I am not sure what the main campus site is using for
>> a
>> > CMS, but I suspect it is more flexible than Sharepoint for web
>> > development.  We only get a moderate amount of non-student or staff
>> > traffic, but where the site currently is located is not intuitive and
>> makes
>> > it hard for students to want to use.  The make the UX/IA part of me die a
>> > little inside.  We have definite interest among many of the library staff
>> > to get it freed and more visible, but we are having to figure out what it
>> > takes and how to sell it to all of the requisite parties involved.
>>  Thanks
>> > for the input.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 9:53 AM, Nina McHale <[log in to unmask]
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> Matt,
>> >>
>> >> Not odd at all! I've dealt with this issue for most of my career. In
>> >> the three academic libraries I've worked in, the library's site was
>> >> NOT part of the overall college/university portal. In fact, it was
>> >> more the case that we (me, the web person, and my supervisors) were
>> >> establishing our autonomy apart from the overall institutional web
>> >> presence with campus IT. Library sites need separate navigation,
>> >> information architecture, and content management and strategy.
>> >> Administrators outside of the library and campus IT don't always
>> >> understand how complex library sites have become, so explaining this
>> >> is a good first step. Find some sites for similar institutions that
>> >> you like, and show them as examples. If you present it as a positive
>> >> move--and point out that you might be able to take some work off your
>> >> IT department's hands by taking on the library site yourself--they'll
>> >> likely be more willing to consider it. Approach them as partners.
>> >>
>> >> As far as burying the library's site behind a log in, how much
>> >> non-student traffic do you have in your building? You might be able to
>> >> make a case, based on that and what your mission to serve your
>> >> community is/might be, to bring it out from behind authentication.
>> >>
>> >> Other questions for you:
>> >>
>> >> -Do you have any kind of proxy authentication for journal/article
>> >> databases in place in addition to the portal authentication? If not,
>> >> you'll obviously have to consider that.
>> >> -What platform is the school on? Would you choose something
>> >> similar--another instance of the same software--or go out on your own?
>> >> Do you have the skills/staff to do that? Where would you host it?
>> >>
>> >> Nina
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 7:40 AM, Matthew Sherman
>> >> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >> > Hi Code4Libbers,
>> >> >
>> >> > Slightly odd question for you academic library folks.  Why does your
>> >> > library have its website where it is on the university site?  For
>> >> context,
>> >> > the library I currently work at has our library site hidden within the
>> >> > campus intranet/portal, so that students have to log into a web
>> portal to
>> >> > even see the search page.  This was a decision by the previous
>> director
>> >> who
>> >> > was here before my time and an assortment of us librarians think this
>> is
>> >> a
>> >> > terrible setup.  So I wanted to kick out to the greater community to
>> give
>> >> > us good reasons for free to the website to more general access, or
>> help
>> >> us
>> >> > to understand why you would bury it behind a login like they did.  All
>> >> > thoughts, insights, and opinions are welcome, they all help us develop
>> >> our
>> >> > thinking on this and our arguments for any changes we want to make.
>> >>  Thanks
>> >> > everyone and have a good week.
>> >> >
>> >> > Matt Sherman
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Nina McHale
>> >> @ninermac
>> >> Developer, Aten Design Group
>> >> atendesigngroup.com
>> >>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nina McHale
>> @ninermac
>> Developer, Aten Design Group
>> atendesigngroup.com
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sarah Thorngate
> Digital Services Librarian
> North Park University
> [log in to unmask]
> 773-244-4562



-- 
Nina McHale
@ninermac
Developer, Aten Design Group
atendesigngroup.com