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Idaho Librarian |
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| Contents On My Mind... |
Teens, the Internet, and Library Websites By
Michael Samuelson Editor's Note: Michael Samuelson is a library assistant at the Boise Public Library and networking assistant at the Idaho State Library where he maintains the LiLI website (www.lili.org). He acknowledges the efforts of the volunteers who made Teen Bailiwick and the Zone Online a reality: Dylan, Erin, Jeremy, Katy, and Matt. In the fall
of 2000 I was asked to work with a group of teen volunteers to create a
young adult section for Boise Public Library’s website (www.boisepubliclibrary.org).
I’d expressed interest in such a project, feeling the Internet
was a medium that excited teens, and one we could use to attract them to
library services, if not to the library building itself. I held only minimal experience with web design, having previously helped with the kid’s section of the library’s website. But during the lull that follows summer reading in August I’d used slow moments at the reference desk to take a few web design tutorials on the Internet and the medium captured my imagination. At the end of this article I’ve included the addresses for some of these tutorials. Forming the Design Team Dylan Baker, one of our Youth Services pages, aided in the recruitment of volunteers. He brought in friends and fellow students from his high school by posting flyers and arranging a public address announcement to advertise the project. Other members came from the library’s Youth Advisory Board. The YA Board, led by librarian Linda Brilz, is active at BPL, having putting on plays and after-hours scavenger hunts in the library, and the members who participated in our web team brought a lot of energy with them. The
volunteers numbered about a dozen in the beginning, but this figure
dwindled as studies, judo, or the realization that ours would not be a
pyrotechnic Flash extravaganza of a web site pulled them away.
In the end, I worked with a continuous core of five individuals. We met on
Thursday evenings, usually the slowest night of the week, in the
library’s computer lab, or in a back office where I could peek out the
door and see if the librarian on the desk needed backup. I worked only 19
hours a week as a library assistant, so most of my time during an average
week was spent on the reference desk or working on statistics or special
reports. I had very little
prep time. About half of the
work that went into the site occurred in our weekly two-hour meetings. The
other half I took where I could. Some
things just had to wait. Designing the Site I began
with little web design knowledge, but I had a library, the Internet, and a
room full of teenagers whom I could consult.
I learned by doing, and by making mistakes.
I was not afraid to tell my volunteers, “I don’t know –
I’ll find out,” or to ask them, “How do you do that?”
When I hit snags in our meetings there was always some other aspect
of the site we could work on. If
I didn’t yet know how to work with frames in a web page, we’d go on to
discuss the use of fonts on the site and by the next week I’d have
learned about frames. Building a
website is not a linear process. I
learned this early on. It’s
a recurrent process informed by the author’s purpose and the
audience’s needs. These two
elements cannot be separated: they converse with each other in all
decisions that go into a site, from choices in layout, to selections of
content. You juggle from one
hand to the other, until the thing is perfected and the look, content, and
layout of your site draw together. In our
first meeting, I explained the audience and purpose of our site.
I stressed that though there may be a number of great sites we
could link to and which teens would be excited about, we had to think
about how appropriate these links would be for the library.
Our purpose was the library’s purpose.
We had to balance the entertaining with the educational.
I think this proved to be one of the most important things the
volunteers took from the project: learning to think from the point of view
of an organization and with the restraint that entailed. This was something very new to them, but I think they struck
the balance exceptionally well. My role in
designing what would come to be called Teen Bailiwick, after the
volunteers ran wild with a thesaurus one evening, was that of facilitator,
organizer, task-monger, and final authority. The
volunteers were the creative genius behind the site.
I’d point them in a direction and let them go.
Our first meetings consisted of brainstorming lists of resources
we’d like to have on the site, and then searching the web to locate
those resources. We had enough computers for each of us, so we each took a
section of the list. We
didn’t find everything we’d hoped for, but did find sites we hadn’t
thought of, and things balanced out. Setting Content Boundaries After we
compiled pages of URLs in this search-engine-style of brainstorming, I
found time between meetings to evaluate our findings.
It’s necessary to evaluate web sites designed for teens
carefully. Many fun and slick
sites exist for the purpose of advertising or harvesting data to sell to
marketers. These are sites
where teens are required to fill out surveys or register before they can
use the site’s features. Due
to recent federal laws, it is now illegal for websites to collect
information from children thirteen and younger; however, sites aimed at
teens are impacted little by this. In
evaluating web sites for teens, it helps if you can get down – yes, down
with the current trends, but also down to the bottom of the page where the
“privacy policy” and the “about us” links reside. A site’s
privacy policy will tell you the site’s stance on collecting private
information from and about its users.
It’s always a good idea to review a site’s privacy policy
before you link to it. The “about us” link can help when it’s not apparent who is behind a site. If there isn’t an about us page, or if it does not divulge the site sponsor’s identity, or if you just have a bad feeling, then don’t link to the site. Look at the privacy policy. Let the site go if you can’t get a clear sense of its purpose – that means it wasn’t a good site. All well-conceived and helpful sites have and convey a strong sense of purpose. You’ll know it when you see it. After I
vetted the list of links, we worked as a group to organize the site, group
topics, and design a layout. We worked on the look and graphics for the site.
We agreed we wanted a slick look to attract young adults.
Since there were enough computers for each volunteer, each of us
worked on a design for the Teen Bailiwick logo and for a generic subject
logo. We then each presented
our designs to the group, and voted.
The design that won was made by Matthew Jensen, who has since
become a page at BPL. There
were a lot of great designs, but Matthew’s was the group’s favorite.
It has a spacey, surfer sort of vibe. After three months’ worth of Thursday evenings, we finally fit everything together. We had a website – and a pizza party! We had enjoyed working on the website so well, we weren’t ready to stop. So after we took a break for a few weeks, we began working on the Zone Online, a web version of the Youth Advisory Board’s Zone Newsletter. What Next? I won’t go into details, but this site has proven to be more of a
challenge than Teen Bailiwick. While
Bailiwick is mostly static, the Zone Online requires seasonal updates –
which have proven difficult, given that much of the site’s content
consists of book, movie, and music reviews written by teens.
The Zone Online provides actual content, though it is related to
library materials. Content
takes time to produce, and movie and music reviews age swiftly. Reviews of last season’s releases can really date a site. We’ve had
a difficult time getting enough reviews, so the Zone Online lags a bit.
We’ve had no submissions e-mailed to us, as we’ve encouraged on
the site. This must seem too
much like homework. We have
considered other ideas. One
was to partner with a teacher in a local school and have his or her
students submit reviews as either a class project or for extra credit.
This would be an opportunity for teen writers to have their work
published in a meaningful way. But
to be honest, we haven’t yet explored that route.
With 19 hours a week, I didn’t have the time to contact teachers
or make school visits. And
then I took another position in the library.
Youth Services’ librarians’ already have most of their time
spoken for, so the fate of the Zone Online is unclear.
Dylan has graduated, but he returned for the Christmas break and
has been working at the library, so hopefully, with his help – and if we
can get enough reviews from the Youth Advisory Board, the site will be
updated before you read this article.
Hopefully. In Conclusion... On November
9th of 2001, Katy Wolf, one of our very driven volunteers,
published an article on the library’s teen activities, including the
website, in the Idaho Statesman. I’d
suggest looking for her article. It
is on page two of the Local section.
Katy shares some striking statistics, and her energy is apparent in
the writing. Time of
course, is the major obstacle between you and the creation of a teen
website for your library. The
Internet may not have existed when you signed on for the job, but it’s
here and it is another point from which your patrons can access your
library and its services – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Internet is a way to reach out to teens, the lost generation of
library patrons. You can find
the time. If you’re
strapped, though, I’d recommend avoiding the online newsletter model and
sticking with creating a guide of links to the best of the net.
I’d encourage you, too, to involve teens in this process.
You’ll all learn something. If you’ve never worked web pages, try visiting these web sites:
It’s quite simple. These tutorials break it down in the language of the layperson, and using what you learn from them, you can easily build a simple website. If your
Idaho library does not have a web page, visit http://www.lili.org/staff/webpages.html
or contact me at mlsamuel@isl.state.id.us
to find out how LiLI can help. I’m
also willing to assist when you get stuck on a page you’re designing,
but be forewarned, you’ll get the library treatment: I won’t do the
work for you, but I’ll get you started and on track. To get to the Teen Bailiwick homepage, visit www.boisepubliclibrary.org and click the blue “Teen” button at the top of the page. |