Session: 7212:00 pm - 3:15 pmTechnology; The InternetSUCCESSFUL USES OF THE SCHOOL WEBSITE TO SUPPORT CURRICULUM/RESEARCHTim Gauntley and Kevin Bradbeer Instructional Leaders. Toronto DSB.

School Web sites are great vehicles that provide resources to support curriculum and research. Presenters from the Toronto District School Board have developed a wonderful model of a centrally developed Web site for all schools. Resources that will be shared in this session include a one-stop-shop model for the school library technology program including web searching tools, research toolkits and lesson guides.

Information Anxiety in the Information Age

The School Library Web Site

Richard Saul Wurman. Information Anxiety2. QUE. Indianoplois, 2001.

Thanks to

“Information anxiety is the black

hole between data and

knowledge. It happens when

information doesn’t tell us what

we want to know.”

Explosion of data = increase of meaning

Information Anxiety in the Information Age

The School Library Web Site

• The non-information explosion • Access is the antidote to anxiety

• Warp-speed rules• information is not enough• organization is as important as content• it’s not the what but the how

• Clarification, not simplification

In the long run men hit only what

they aim at.

- Henry David Thoreau

Mission and Goals

Site Development Process

Site Design

Interface Design

Page Design

The MISSION of the School Library Information Centre program is to teach all students to read for breadth and understanding, research with purpose and process, build knowledge with insight and responsibility, and transform their knowledge into wisdom for a lifetime of learning.

Mission and Goals

The overall goal of the School Library Information Centre program is to foster learning and improve student achievement

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students meet provincial expectations and follow board policies and priorities

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students learn in a school library environment that is safe, nurturing, positive, and respectful

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students develop the love of reading for learning and pleasure

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students develop information literacy and research knowledge and skills

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students have equitable access to programs, resources, and technologies of appropriateness and quality

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students use information and apply knowledge with understanding, responsibility, and imagination

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students develop an understanding of the richness and diversity of Canada and the world

Mission and Goals

•ensure that all students develop an appreciation of how libraries build character and foster lifelong learning.

Mission and Goals

1. Site definition and planning

2. Information architecture

3. Site design and criteria

4. Site construction

5. Site marketing

6. Tracking, evaluation, and maintenance

Site Development Process

Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide:Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites. 2nd Edition. Yale University Press. New Haven, 2001.

www.webstyleguide.com

Thanks to

• Provide context or lose the reader.– TL selected sites for quality & depth

• Divide content into logical units.– Web site of linked pages

• Establish a hierarchy of importance among the units (pages)

– structure relations using headers

• Integrate function and aesthetics – Elegant, memorable design

Site Design

• User-centred design with no obstacles

• Clear navigation aids (buttons, frames, subcategories etc.)

• Direct access (two clicks away)• Bandwidth and interaction• Simplicity and consistency• Design integrity and stability

Interface Design

Readers seek:– clarity– order – trustworthiness

in information sources, whether traditional paper documents or Web pages. Effective page design can provide this confidence. Page Design

“If you ask why something works and you push back far enough, eventually everything seems to be based on contrast: the ability to distinguish one thing from another. Composition, sequencing, even legibility all rely on devices that affect the contrast between things.”

— Chris Pulman, The Education of a Graphic DesignerPage Design

The spatial organization of graphics and text on the Web page should:

–engage readers with graphic impact

–direct their attention–prioritize the information they see–make their interactions with the

Web site more enjoyable and efficient.

Page Design