WAC: Home > About WAC > Minutes > February 14, 2005

Web Advisory Committee Minutes, February 14, 2005

Minutes-taker : Gretchen
Attending: James W., Gerald A., Josie M., Suzanne B., Gretchen T., Marie I., Sarah J., Kathy S., Barbara H.
Absent: No one

Agenda :

1. Burt Brinegar from the Office for Students with Disabilities has comments on the accessibility of our library homepage. (Beckett)

Mr. Brinegar indicated to Suzanne that page readers such as JAWS have difficulty interpreting the Libraries' webpage. It was decided that once Web Logic was not being used and the site was revised that we would consult the Office for Students with Disabilities and encourage feedback regarding the site's accessibility.

2. What should happen during UTA Libraries Online downtimes? What is http://continuum.uta.edu:2048/menu and is it useful for any type of user, including library staff? (Howser, Irwin, Jones)
   • UTALO downtime site is at http://library.uta.edu/downtime/
   • From Wed. Feb 9, the downtime site is always available
   • Library IT has been asked to link to the downtime site from http://libstaff.uta.edu/

   The Backdoor to Libraries' Databases available from the Staff Resources page is not particularly useful for accessing databases when the server is down. There are now two links from the Staff Resources page for the purpose of linking to online resources when the Libraries' server is down. When the server is down the homepage will automatically redirect to the downtime site located at the URL http://library.uta.edu/downtime . This page has links to the Libraries' catalog, databases, e-journals, ILL, reserves, etc. 

3. Revised UTALO home page mockup and proposal for revised main navigation (dropdown) menu (Irwin, Jones)

A mock-up of a new design for the Libraries' homepage was presented by Marie and Sarah. Major points of discussion during the meeting were:

• we still need a direct link from the homepage to the catalog's simple search screen - it was proposed that we play around with the design of the "Resources for You" and "Search" elements to make room for a direct link to the catalog
• the main navigation bar should be moved further to the right and made more prominent - if the navigation bar was moved to the right, it would be possible to put the direct link to the catalog above the search element
• there was discussion regarding the size of the picture on the homepage - no consensus was reached about this
• possibly adding an "Ask-a-Librarian" link to the "Search" element
• there will be no sub-menus from the main navigation bar
• in the Service menu option, rather than referring to Reference solely use the "Ask-a-Librarian" service heading
• prior to the next WAC meeting members needed to think about the drop down menus and what the labels should link to, and email these thoughts to the group
  
  
4. Review of Guides & Bibliographies ( http://library.uta.edu/Main/guidesBibls.uta ) -- Which of these are outdated and/or obsolete? (for example: New Print Reference Books -- Spring 2003 http://library.uta.edu/Main/guidesBiblsDetail.uta?GB=gbNewPrintRef ) Identifying outdated/obsolete guides needs to be done prior to content migration (Jones, Irwin)

Many of the Guides & Bibliographies are outdated and need to be either trashed or revised. In an effort to weed through those which are used and those that can be trashed, Marie will be providing Suzanne with usage statistics from the website. Suzanne will then consult with IS staff and let the group know by March 4 th which of the Guides & Bibliographies can be trashed.

5. WAC's current to-do list:
   • (top priority) Content migration (in preparation for Content Management implementation)
   • Content Management implementation with Macromedia Contribute3
   • Main navigation (dropdown) menu redesign
   • Home page layout redesign
   • "Service Request Forms" availability
   • "Today in the Library" (requires new software)
   • RefWorks database-specific use guides
     
     
6. On the table:
   • Determine priority order of the items in #5
   • Determine the priority order of items from #1-4 above, to add to the priorities in #5

   Priorities on this list are actually DLS projects. It is expected that by the time the content management system is ready to go, we will have determined the specifics of the new website design and DLS will concentrate on making those changes. The "Service Request Forms" will be addressed during this process, but they are currently available the UTALO site map. "Today in the Library" in its final format will require new software and therefore may be a ways down the road, but the content management system will make possible a more simplistic version of this element on the homepage. Sarah has not spoken to Jason lately regarding RefWorks guides. Once this list is accomplished, new ideas will added to the priorities list.

7. Other/FYI:
   • OIT Data Center move:
   • Dates (weekend of March 5-6)
   • Impacts on services
   • Services during downtime

   EZproxy will be down during this time, so databases will only be accessible on campus. For online users there will be a temp page that includes telephone numbers, directions, hours, etc. Email will not be working.